Who will we meet?

Living things are all around us if we know where to look. There are lots of animals that live at Centennial Park. Percy is a possum who lives in Centennial Park who needs shelter, food and water to survive. 

Meet Percy the Brushtail possum! Percy lives in Centennial Parklands and like all creatures, she gets what she needs to survive from the place where she lives. What do creatures need to survive?  

1. Shelter  
2. Food
3. Water  

What other creatures live in Centennial Parklands?

1. Bats: Bats are nocturnal which means they sleep during the daytime and are active at night.  Bats are the only mammals that can fly! 
   Grey-headed flying foxes are bats that eat fruit and nectar and can be found hanging from tree branches in Lachlan Swamp at Centennial Parklands.
2. Birds: There are 130 species of birds that live in Centennial Parklands. Some birds live in the trees and some live on the ponds. 
   Yellow-tailed black cockatoos are seasonal visitors to Centennial Parklands.  During autumn, these large black cockatoos form flocks that move around Sydney in search of food.
3. Invertebrates: Invertebrates are animals that do not have backbones and include insects, worms and spiders. 
   Golden orb weaving spiders build beautiful webs that are golden in colour. While these spiders are not harmful to humans, other spiders can be. It is always safest to look and not touch!
4. Lizards: Lizards are reptiles and are cold-blooded; they get their energy from the warmth of the sun. Lizards like to hide on cloudy days but come out to sunbathe when sun is shining.  
   Blue tongue-lizards have, you guessed it, a bright blue tongue!
5. Frogs: Frogs are amphibians; they live part of their life in water as eggs and tadpoles, and the other on land as adult frogs. 
   The Eastern dwarf tree frog is a very small frog that has a mighty voice!  The males call in spring and summer often before and after heavy rain.
6. Turtles: Turtles are reptiles that live in the water.  Like all reptiles, they are cold-blooded. In winter, turtles have a long sleep on the bottom of the pond or beneath a fallen log and wake up in spring. On sunny days, Sydney basin turtles can be seen sunbathing on rocks and logs in the ponds at Centennial Parklands.
7. Eels: Eels are fish that live their entire lives under water.  They breathe through gills and swim with fins. In autumn, adult long-finned eels go on a great journey from the ponds of Centennial Parklands to the ocean to lay their eggs.  Once hatched, baby eels make the great journey back to the ponds where their parents came from!