Example: "Kangaroos are endemic to Australia." I wouldn't know what endemic meant in any other occasion, but since I know that kangaroos are only found in Australia I can assume endemic means: "Found only in a specific location."
Actually, it means 'of or related to disease' so the sentence means: kangaroos are a plague upon Australia... which isn't really what you'd walk away with if that were the only sentence you had to go on.
Sorry, @Sack-a-Doo!, but your definition is a little restricted. Going back to the Greek... En (in) & demos (the people) = endemic = 1. (of a disease or condition) regularly found among particular people or in a certain area. 2. (of a plant or animal) native or restricted to a certain place. Other uses of the suffix -demic do tend to emphasize the medical. Pan (all) & demos = pandemic = an epidemic of infectious disease that has spread through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. Epi (upon or above) & demos = epidemic = the rapid spread of infectious disease to a large number of people in a given population within a short period of time, usually two weeks or less. ETA: And to return to the OP, you could also say that, while snakes are endemic to Australia, they are also endemic to the jungles of South America; but they are not endemic to Ireland.
Not by any definition I've come across... In my experience, it's basically a technical synonym for 'native', as used in the OP. In epidemiology, you can describe disease as endemic - the normal background level of a disease present outside of outbreaks (~= the opposite of epidemic). Edit: beaten to the punch!
Damn! Google has let me down. Who'd'a thunk it. Still, if I wanted to be clear, I'd say: Kangaroos are native to Australia. That's just good writin’.
