As part of Science Week , the ABC Radio National program What the Duck?! has been running a vote for Australia's most underrated animal. There is a shortlist of 10 and the winner will be announced at noon today.
The shortlist is
• Dugong
• Palm Cockatoo
• Great Desert Skink
• Marsupial Mole
• Turtle Frog
• Short-finned Eel
• Rakali
• Velvet Worm
• Ghost Bat
• Giant Cuttlefish
Each animal has a short soundbite about them here.
Of course I'm voting for the rakali because the CSIRO has published a book about it for children. This might be a good list for the CSIRO to consider for future titles as they certainly underrated. If I asked my young students before they had read Rakali of the Riverbank by Stephanie Owen Reeder and Rachel Gregg, they knew very little about any of them except dugongs and that is probably because the library has books on dugongs and they do study sea animals.
PS I thought I published this yesterday, but have just seen that I didn't. By now you know the rakali did win.
I have this book to give you. Hope you haven’t bought it!
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