Rare blind mole spotted in Australian outback
By Tiffanie Turnbull
An extremely rare blind, hairy mole has been spotted and photographed in the Australian outback.
The northern marsupial mole, or kakarratul, lives in one of the most remote parts of the nation and is so elusive that authorities don’t even know how many there are.
The palm-sized creatures have silky golden locks, no eyes, a stumpy tail and flipper-like hands.
Sightings of marsupial moles usually occur only a few times each decade.
This mole was stumbled upon by Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa Martu rangers – Aboriginal traditional owners who use cultural and local knowledge to look after their land – while they were working in the Great Sandy Desert, which is about 1,500km (932 miles) from Perth.
The creatures are so uncommon that their existence remains a mystery to most people, says desert wildlife expert Gareth Catt.
“[I know] somebody who spotted one but didn’t know what it was – they thought it was a baby guinea pig,” he tells the BBC.
The burrowing animals live within sand dunes in isolated deserts and spend very little time on the surface.
