I keep hearing that baby echidnas are called “puggles”. Is this true?
No. An echnidna is an Australian native marsupial, one of the two species of egg-laying mammals known as monotremes (the other is the platypus). Baby echnidnas are not called “puggles”. The misunderstanding began when a Kangaroo Island biologist recently referred to baby echnidnas as “puggles” because their appearance is similar to that of the toy Puggles sold by The Lost Forests. Unfortunately the misnomer stuck and has been spreading ever since; it has even been taught to children in schools. The woman who initially wrongly applied the term to echidnas has since acknowledged Tony Barber’s ownership of the Puggle name in a documentary screened on ABC TV. It is incorrect to refer to baby echidnas as “puggles”, and although The Lost Forests dosen’t mind the term being used in this way, in the interest of correctness the name should not be applied to those animals since the name is wrong. Puggles are soft toys manufactured by The Lost Forests and originally designed by Tony Barber – baby
