Massive Echidna Found After Being Clipped By A Car In Tasmania

An absolute chonker of an echidna has been discovered in Tasmania after it was hit by a car.

We know that wildlife comes in all shapes and sizes however this one is humungous.

A photo has been uploaded by Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary in Brighton and it's gone viral on social media, with everyone loving the mildly overweight animal.

Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary/Facebook

The Sanctuary wrote on Facebook: "Quite possibly the fattest echidna we have ever seen!

"This fine lady was clipped by a car, but luckily only had a couple of minor bruises! She has now been released."

Well, thankfully it's a-okay and will hopefully go on to enjoy a fruitful and albeit slightly slower-paced lifestyle. While we all might find this a bit funny, there can be some serious consequences if an animal is too overweight and it can affect the way that they live.

Just take this owl found in the UK as an example; it was too fat to even be able to fly.

Suffolk Owl Sanctuary/Facebook

The bird was rescued from a ditch after a passerby thought it was injured. The landowner took the animal to Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, hoping the experts could nurse it back to full health.

All that was needed for the owl was a better diet and some exercise.

Staff at the sanctuary said the bird was 'simply extremely obese' and 'unable to fly effectively', and set about making it lose between 20 and 30 grams. If only our weight loss goals were that small.

According to the BBC, while 240 grams might not sound like a lot of weight, it's actually around a third heavier than what you'd normally expect for a Athene noctua.

Suffolk Owl Sanctuary/Facebook

The sanctuary wrote on Facebook: "This is extremely unusual for wild birds to get into this condition naturally, so we needed to investigate some obvious scenarios - the first being that she was possibly an escaped aviary bird. Sadly there was no indication of rings or chip identification, and asking around in the local area didn't give us any leads."

Head falconer Rufus Samkin added: "Where she was found is very productive land, and it's been a mild winter and there's a lot of food around - voles, mice. We think she's just done incredibly well for herself and overindulged."

After it lost the weight it was released back into the wild, where it could eat up as much wildlife as it wanted.

Topics: News, Animals, Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie