Animals in Christmas Island

Christmas Island is an island territory of Australia, set in the Indian Ocean. This is a tropical island, with a warm climate that is tempered by trade winds off the coast. The population here is sparse, making it a great place to view a wide range of wild animals that are indigenous to this pretty area. Because of the island's seclusion, many of the animal and insect species found here are unique to the island and can be found nowhere else.

Several species are unique to Christmas Island, including the Christmas Island shrew, the Christmas Island black bat, and the Christmas Island pipistrelle, which is another species of bat that is dangerously close to extinction. Christmas Island is also home to several land birds, including the Christmas Island imperial pigeon, the Christmas Island hawk owl, and the Christmas Island goshawk. Sea birds unique to the island are the Abbott's booby and the Christmas Island frigate bird. In fact, the sea birds found on Christmas Island are a natural draw to

Christmas Island is the exclusive home to several reptiles and amphibians, including the Christmas Island blind snake, the Christmas Island Whiptail Skink, and Lister's gecko. Along the coast, you will find the Christmas Island red crab, famous for its unusual breeding migration that involves literally millions of crabs each year in December.

The cliffs that rise up sharply along the coast provide caves and grottos all over the island, offering dwelling areas for over a dozen different cave denizens, including shrimp in the underwater caves and on land, you will find the whipscorpion, and an ostracod, among others. These caves, of course, are also home to many insects that are indigenous to the island, including the cave dwelling beetle, a bush cricket, and several species of spiders that call Christmas Island their home.