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The Great Sandy Desert is the second largest desert in Australia. It is in the north of Western Australia.
(the largest Australian desert is the Great Victorian Desert)
photograph © [2007] Jupiterimages Corporation
It is flat, hot and mostly dry, but some rain falls in the desert when the monsoons cross the north of Australia from September to April (a monsoon bring rain and thunderstorms) In winter, it gets very cold at night. There are open grasslands, mainly spinifix, with some trees.
a bilby
Native animals living there include bilbies, thorny devils, lizards, goannas and red kangaroo, but these are endangered because of feral animals such as foxes feral cats that also live in the desert. Camels and rabbits also are a threat because they eat the native plants that are food for native animals.
Groups of Australian Aboriginal people live in the desert. There are mining settlements too.
A large crater caused by the impact of a meteorite can be seen there. It's called the Wolfe Creek crater.
For general information about deserts go to this kidcyber page:
biomedesert.htm
These sites also have information about Australia's Great Sandy Desert:
http://www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com/great-sandy-desert.html
http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/gr/Great_Sandy_desert
http://www.alicespringsdesertpark.com.au/kids/desert/index.shtml
If you use any of this information in your own work, acknowledge this source in your bibliography like this: Thomas, Ron. & Sydenham, Shirley. The Great Sandy Desert [Online] www.kidcyber.com.au (2011)
May 2011 © kidcyber