Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the

Kaurna The Kaurna people (, ; also Coorna, Kaura, Gaurna and other variations) are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kaurn ...

people), is

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's third-largest

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

, after

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and Melville Island. It lies in the state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, southwest of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. Its closest point to the mainland is Snapper Point in

Backstairs Passage The Backstairs Passage is a strait in South Australia lying between Fleurieu Peninsula on the Australian mainland and Dudley Peninsula on the eastern end of Kangaroo Island. The western edge of the passage is a line from Cape Jervis on Fleurieu ...

, which is from the

Fleurieu Peninsula The Fleurieu Peninsula () is a peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia located south of the state capital of Adelaide. History Before British colonisation of South Australia, the western side of the peninsula was occupied by the ...

. The native population of

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

that once occupied the island (sometimes referred to as the Kartan people) disappeared from the archaeological record sometime after the land became an island following the

rising sea levels Rising may refer to: * Rising, a stage in baking - see Proofing (baking technique) *Elevation * Short for Uprising, a rebellion Film and TV * "Rising" (''Stargate Atlantis''), the series premiere of the science fiction television program ''Starga ...

associated with the Last Glacial Period around 10,000 years ago. It was subsequently settled intermittently by sealers and whalers in the early 19th century, and from 1836 on a permanent basis during the

British colonisation of South Australia British colonisation of South Australia describes the planning and establishment of the colony of South Australia by the British government, covering the period from 1829, when the idea was raised by the then-imprisoned Edward Gibbon Wakefield ...

. Since then the island's economy has been principally agricultural, with a

southern rock lobster ''Jasus edwardsii'', the southern rock lobster, red rock lobster, or spiny rock lobster, is a species of spiny lobster found throughout coastal waters of southern Australia and New Zealand including the Chatham Islands. It is commonly called '' ...

fishery and with tourism growing in importance. The largest town, and the administrative centre, is Kingscote. The island has several nature reserves to protect the remnants of its natural vegetation and native animals, with the largest and best-known being

Flinders Chase National Park Flinders Chase National Park (formerly Flinders Chase) is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located at the west end of Kangaroo Island about west-south west of the state capital of Adelaide and west of the municipal ...

at the western end.

Description

The island is long West/East and between from its narrowest to widest North/South points. Its area covers . Its coastline is long, and its highest point of 307 metres (1007 ft) is in Flinders Chase National Park, west of the junction of the Playford and West End Highways. The second highest point is Mount MacDonnell at

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. It is separated from

Yorke Peninsula The Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located northwest and west of Adelaide in South Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula is separated from Kangaroo Island to the south by Investigator Str ...

to the northwest by

Investigator Strait Investigator Strait is a body of water in South Australia lying between the Yorke Peninsula, on the Australian mainland, and Kangaroo Island. It was named by Matthew Flinders after his ship, HMS ''Investigator'', on his voyage of 1801–1802 ...

and from Fleurieu Peninsula to the northeast by

. A group of islets,

the Pages The Pages is an island group in the Australian state of South Australia consisting of two small islands and a reef located in Backstairs Passage, a strait separating Kangaroo Island and the Fleurieu Peninsula. The island group has been loca ...

, lie off the eastern end of the island.

History

Aboriginal use

Kangaroo Island separated from mainland Australia around 10,000 years ago, due to rising sea level after the last glacial period. Known as (Karta) Pintingga ('Island of the Dead') by the mainland Aboriginal peoples, the existence of

stone tools A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone Ag ...

and

shell midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and eco ...

s shows that Aboriginal people once lived on Kangaroo Island. It is thought that they occupied it as long ago as 16,000 years before the present and may have only disappeared from the island as recently as 2000 years ago. There is however evidence of the Kartan people on the mainland, for instance at Hallett Cove. A mainland Aboriginal dreaming story tells of the Backstairs Passage flooding:

"Long ago, Ngurunderi's two wives ran away from him, and he was forced to follow them. He pursued them and as he did so he crossed Lake Albert and went along the beach to Cape Jervis. When he arrived there he saw his wives wading half-way across the shallow channel which divided Naroongowie from the mainland. He was determined to punish his wives, and angrily ordered the water to rise up and drown them. With a terrific rush the waters roared and the women were carried back towards the mainland. Although they tried frantically to swim against the tidal wave they were powerless to do so and were drowned."

European settlement

On 23 March 1802, British explorer Matthew Flinders, commanding , named the land "Kanguroo ''(sic)'' Island", due to the endemic subspecies of the

western grey kangaroo The western grey kangaroo (''Macropus fuliginosus''), also referred to as a western grey giant kangaroo, black-faced kangaroo, mallee kangaroo, sooty kangaroo and (when referring to the Kangaroo Island subspecies) Kangaroo Island grey kangaroo, is ...

, ''Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus'', after landing near

Kangaroo Head Kangaroo Head is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located at the north-west tip of Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island. It was named by the British explorer, Matthew Flinders, on 23 March 1802. Description Kangaroo Head i ...

on the north coast of the

Dudley Peninsula Dudley Peninsula (known as Presquila Gallissoniere and as the MacDonnell Peninsula from 1857 to 1986) is the peninsula forming the eastern end of Kangaroo Island in the Australian state of South Australia. It was occupied by Aboriginal Austr ...

. He was closely followed by the French explorer Commander

Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 1754 – 16 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. Biography Early career Born a comm ...

, who was the first European to circumnavigate the Island and who mapped much of the island (which is why so many areas have French names). Although the French and the British were at war at the time, the men met peacefully. They both used the fresh water seeping at what is now known as Hog Bay near Frenchman's Rock and the site of present-day

Penneshaw Penneshaw is a township in the Australian state of South Australia located on the northeast coast of the Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island about south of the state capital of Adelaide. It is the island's main ferry port with regular services ...

. Baudin named the Island ''Île Borda'', in honour of

Jean-Charles de Borda Jean-Charles, chevalier de Borda (4 May 1733 – 19 February 1799) was a French mathematician, physicist, and Navy officer. Biography Borda was born in the city of Dax to Jean‐Antoine de Borda and Jeanne‐Marie Thérèse de Lacroix. In 17 ...

, although the French chart published by

Louis de Freycinet Louis Claude de Saulces de Freycinet (7 August 1779 – 18 August 1841) was a French Navy officer. He circumnavigated the earth, and in 1811 published the first map to show a full outline of the coastline of Australia. Biography He was born at ...

after Baudin's death referred to the Island as ''Île Decres''. A community of

sealers Sealer may refer either to a person or ship engaged in seal hunting, or to a sealant; associated terms include: Seal hunting * Sealer Hill, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica * Sealers' Oven, bread oven of mud and stone built by sealers around 18 ...

and escaped

convicts A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...

existed on Kangaroo Island from 1802 to the time of South Australia's colonisation in 1836. A sealing gang led by Joseph Murrrell are reported landing at Harvey's Return in 1806–07, and they established a camp on the beach. The sealers were rough men and several kidnapped Aboriginal women from

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and mainland South Australia. The women were kept prisoner as wives and virtual slaves. At least two contemporary accounts report of (Taplin 1867, Bull 1884) reputed crossings of Backstairs Passage from Kangaroo Island to the mainland by kidnapped women seeking to escape from their captors. 'A fine specimen of her race' was pointed out to

J. W. Bull John Wrathall Bull (23 June 1804 – 21 September 1886) was a settler, inventor and author in the early days of colonial South Australia.H. J. Finnis (1966)''Bull, John Wrathall (1804-1886)''/ref> History Early life and emigration Born in ...

as having swum the passage in 1835, and a woman and her baby were found dead on the beach after a presumed crossing in 1871. In 1803, sealers from the American brig built the schooner , the first ship built in South Australia, at what is now

American River , name_etymology = , image = American River CA.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = The American River at Folsom , map = Americanrivermap.png , map_size = 300 , map_caption ...

. In 1812,

Richard Siddins Richard Siddins (1770–1846) was an Australian master mariner, harbour pilot and lighthouse keeper. Biography Richard Siddins was born in 1770 (the exact place and date of birth is unknown) and died on 2 July 1846 in New South Wales, Aus ...

reached Kangaroo Island on the , which was engaged in

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

harvesting on the island. When she was wrecked later that year, 30 tons of the mineral was recovered from her cargo. Most ships of the "

First Fleet of South Australia In 1836, at least nine ships in 1836 carried the first European settlers from England to the south coast of Australia for the establishment of the City of Adelaide and the province of South Australia. Although not all of the ships sailed toge ...

" that brought settlers for the new colony first stopped at Nepean Bay. The first was commanded by Captain

Robert Clark Morgan Robert Clark Morgan (13 March 1798 – 23 September 1864) was an English sea captain, whaler, diarist, and, in later life, a missionary. He captained the '' Duke of York'', bringing the first settlers to South Australia in 1836. His life in the ...

on 27 or 28 July 1836; , under Robert Ross, arrived a day or two later. The arrival of the , under

John Finlay Duff John Finlay Duff (1 April 1799 – 18 May 1868) was a ship's captain and businessman in the Colony of South Australia. History Duff was born in Dundee, Scotland in 1799, son of John Duff and his wife Elisabeth, née Finlay, of a ship owning fam ...

, in November that year, was notable for the deaths of E. W. Osborne and Dr. John Slater, who perished on an exploratory trek from Cape Borda to Kingscote. A number of shore-based bay whaling stations operated on the coast in the 1840s. These were located at Doyle’s Bay, D’Estrees Bay and Hog Bay.

Shipwrecks and lighthouses

Numerous ships have been wrecked on the Kangaroo Island coastline. The earliest was the cutter ''William'' (20 tons), which was wrecked while trying to enter Hog Bay on 23 August 1847. The largest vessel lost was ''Portland Maru'' (5,865 tons), which sank at Cape Torrens on 20 March 1935. The greatest loss of life occurred with the wreck of ''

Loch Sloy ''Loch Sloy'' was a Scottish sailing barque that operated between Great Britain and Australia from the late 19th century until 1899. Her name was drawn from Loch Sloy, a freshwater loch which lies to the north of the Burgh of Helensburgh, ...

'' on 24 April 1899 at

Maupertuis Bay Maupertuis Bay (french: Baie Maupertuis) is a bay in the Australian state of South Australia located on the south-west coastline of Kangaroo Island. It faces to the south-west and extends for a distance of about from an unnamed headland in th ...

, when 31 people were drowned, and one initial survivor subsequently perished. Twenty-seven people drowned at West Bay in September 1905, when ''

Loch Vennachar ''Loch Vennachar'' was an iron-hulled, three-masted clipper ship that was built in Scotland in 1875 and lost with all hands off the coast of South Australia in 1905. She spent her entire career with the Glasgow Shipping Company, trading betwee ...

'' was wrecked. The first lighthouse built was erected at Cape Willoughby in 1852; this was also the first lighthouse to be erected in South Australia. This was followed by the Cape Borda Lightstation in 1858, the

Cape du Couedic Lighthouse The Cape du Couedic Lighthouse is a lighthouse in South Australia located at Cape du Couedic on Kangaroo Island. History Before construction could begin, a jetty was built in Weirs Cove, north of the lighthouse, and a flying fox erected to hau ...

in 1906 and Cape St Albans Lighthouse in 1908. All lighthouses continue to be operational.

Economy

Townships

The biggest town on Kangaroo Island is Kingscote. Originally established at Reeves Point on 27 July 1836, it is South Australia's first colonial settlement. It was later suggested that Kingscote could serve as the capital of South Australia, but the island's resources were insufficient to support such a large community, so the settlement of Adelaide was chosen. There are several smaller towns on the island.

, the second largest town on Kangaroo Island, has a population of around 300 and is located on the north eastern tip of the Dudley Peninsula, on the eastern end of the island. It contains the ferry terminal, which brings most of the visitors to the island, along with all the necessary freight to sustain the local population.

Parndana Parndana is a town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia located on Kangaroo Island about southwest of the state capital of Adelaide and about southwest of the municipal seat of Kingscote. History Parndana was established a ...

, in the centre of the island, has a population of about 150, but most do not live in the town; they are sprawled within a few kilometres. The historic area to the south-east of the township, known as the Research Centre to locals, was home to the research station that was set up in the 1940s and 1950s to research the viability of agriculture in the area and still has a small settlement of about 20 people.

American River , name_etymology = , image = American River CA.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = The American River at Folsom , map = Americanrivermap.png , map_size = 300 , map_caption ...

, on the north coast between Kingscote and

, has about 300 residents. Penneshaw and Parndana each have basic facilities, including a general store and fuel and are home to hotels. Facilities such as banking and large supermarkets are available in Kingscote and

Population

According to the 2021 Census, the island has a population of 4,894. Population growth has slowed in past years, with the attraction of mainland Australia for younger adults being the key factor. Censuses show the number of residents aged 55 and over increased from 24.1% in 2001 to 29.8% in 2006, 34.9% in 2011, 41% in 2016, and 43.5% in 2021.

Agriculture

The economy is mostly

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

(grapes, honey, wool, meat and grain). Traditionally, sheep grazing has been the key element in agriculture on the Island; however, in recent times, more diverse crops, such as potatoes and

canola Close-up of canola blooms Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, ...

, have been introduced. Cattle farming has grown as well, with good quality beef cattle being grown in the higher rainfall areas. Tourism and fishing also play significant roles, with the island experiencing over 186,000 visitors per annum, and some of the best southern rock lobster being sourced from the island's rugged south coast. Kangaroo Island has South Australia's only

eucalyptus oil Eucalyptus oil is the generic name for distilled oil from the leaf of ''Eucalyptus'', a genus of the plant family Myrtaceae native to Australia and cultivated worldwide. Eucalyptus oil has a history of wide application, as a pharmaceutical, ant ...

distillery, with oil distilled from the

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Kangaroo Island narrow leaf mallee. The future of over 19,000 hectares, which had been planted (or were due to be planted) with blue gum for future harvesting, is now in doubt, following the collapse of Great Southern Plantation Ltd. in May 2009.

Wine industry

The island has 30 wine growers and 12 wineries. The first vineyard was planted near Eastern Cove in 1976 and the first wine made in 1982. This was blended with Tolleys

Barossa wine The Barossa Valley wine region is one of Australia's oldest and most premier wine regions.K. MacNeil ''The Wine Bible'' pg 792 Workman Publishing 2001 Located in South Australia, the Barossa Valley is about 56 km (35 miles) northeast of ...

and sold from the cellar door of Eastern Cove Wine as KI-Barossa blend. The Florance vineyard was established under supervision of B. Hayes, who produced its first wine – Eastern Cove Cygnet – and introduced it at the University of South Australia in 1990. The wine carried a Kangaroo Island appellation label as first wine 100% of the region.

Ligurian bees

Kangaroo Island is noted for its

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

and its Ligurian honey bees. The island has the world's only pure-bred and disease-free population of this type of bee. The exporting of pure-bred queen bees is a notable industry for the island. For this reason, there are significant quarantine restrictions on bringing bee products and bee-handling equipment onto the island. ''The Advertiser'', 24 December 1883, reported "A few weeks since the Chamber of Manufactures forwarded an order to Mr. Carroll, a bee master, near Brisbane, for a swarm of

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

n bees." ''The American Bee Journal'', 25 November 1885, stated "Several pure colonies were reared from this one, he first hive from Queenslandand two of them were sent to Kangaroo Island, where they appear to thrive well." An almost word perfect report in the ''British Bee Journal'', 1 November 1885, added "They came from the apiary of Mr. Chas. Fullwood." A. E. Bonney quickly commenced queen bee breeding near

at his Upper Kensington apiary in January 1884. In the ''South Australian Advertiser'', 7 March 1884, Bonney stated "About three weeks ago I divided the original colony, and the Chamber of Manufactures now possesses three good swarms of Ligurians; two of these will probably be ready to send out towards the end of the month." And on 9 May 1884 "To show that I think highly of the Ligurians, I may say that in March I imported two more colonies from Queensland. … During Easter holidays Mr Justice Boucaut took one queen

red and mated in Adelaide Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

in a full colony to Mr Buick, of American River, Kangaroo Island." From the South Australian Advertiser, 1 August 1884 "On June 25 the original hive of Ligurian bees, imported by the chamber from Queensland, was sent safely to Mr Turner, at Smith's Bay, Kangaroo Island."

Tourism

Kangaroo Island is one of South Australia's most popular tourist attractions, attracting over 140,000 visitors each year, with international visitors, primarily from Europe, accounting for more than 25% of these visits. There were 114 businesses operating in the sector in June 2016 and the visitor expenditure reached $123 million in December 2017. The expenditure is expected to reach the mark of $168 million by December 2020. Some of the most popular tourist spots are: *

Seal Bay Conservation Park Seal Bay Conservation Park is a protected area located on the south coast of Kangaroo Island in the Australian state of South Australia. It is the home of the third largest Australian sea lion colony in Australia. It is one of the most pop ...

with ranger guided walks among basking Australian

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

s. *

which includes

Remarkable Rocks Flinders Chase National Park (formerly Flinders Chase) is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located at the west end of Kangaroo Island about west-south west of the state capital of Adelaide and west of the municipal ...

, Admiral's Arch, lighthouses at Cape Borda and

Cape du Couedic Cape du Couedic is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located on the southwest tip of Kangaroo Island in the locality of Flinders Chase. It was named after a French naval officer, , by the Baudin expedition to Australia dur ...

, and multiple walking trails and camping areas. * Cape Willoughby * Kelly Hill Caves * Little Sahara, huge sand dunes on the south coast. * The lookout Mount Thisby (officially designated Prospect Hill in 2002 to honour Matthew Flinders' original naming) with a 360-degree view around the island. * Murray Lagoon with its abundant aquatic bird life. * The Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park at Duncan includes local wildlife like

koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the womb ...

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern ...

little penguin The little penguin (''Eudyptula minor'') is a species of penguin from New Zealand. They are commonly known as little blue penguins or blue penguins owing to their slate-blue plumage and are also known by their Māori name . The Australian lit ...

s and reptiles, but also animals such as

brown capuchin monkey The tufted capuchin (''Sapajus apella''), also known as brown capuchin, black-capped capuchin, or pin monkey is a New World primate from South America and the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Margarita. As traditionally defined, it is one of th ...

common marmoset The common marmoset (''Callithrix jacchus'') also called white-tufted marmoset or white-tufted-ear marmoset is a New World monkey. It originally lived on the northeastern coast of Brazil, in the states of Piaui, Paraiba, Ceará, Rio Grande do ...

dingo The dingo (''Canis familiaris'', ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (Basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage of dog found in Australia (continent), Australia. Its taxonomic classification is de ...

es,

meerkat MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. In 2003, South Africa submitted an expression of interest to host the Square Kilom ...

s and

serval The serval (''Leptailurus serval'') is a wild cat native to Africa. It is widespread in sub-Saharan countries, except rainforest regions. Across its range, it occurs in protected areas, and hunting it is either prohibited or regulated in ran ...

. * Kangaroo Island Penguin Centre (formerly Kangaroo Island Marine Centre) at Kingscote is now closed but a local tour operator, Kangaroo Island Hire a Guide, is still organising nocturnal tours from Kingscote. * Raptor Domain (In-flight bird of prey presentation and reptile show) * The Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary koala walk and Nocturnal tour offer visitors a chance to see the local wildlife. * A number of farms that sell honey from the Ligurian bees * The Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Oil Distillery which manufactures eucalyptus oil using a very old furnace Kangaroo Island is also considered to be one of South Australia's best locations for scuba diving, with many popular locations along the north coast. Many of South Australia's iconic marine species can be seen there, including the

Leafy seadragon The leafy seadragon (''Phycodurus eques'') or Glauert's seadragon, is the only member of the genus ''Phycodurus'' and is a marine fish in the family Syngnathidae, which includes seadragons, pipefish, and seahorses. It is found along the sou ...

. Penneshaw jetty is known for its Gorgonian corals and there are many other timber jetties and shipwrecks that can be dived and enjoyed around the island.

Local government

The

Kangaroo Island Council The Kangaroo Island Council is a local government area in South Australia that covers the entirety of Kangaroo Island, 13 km off the coast of the mainland. The council was formed on the 28 November 1996 by the amalgamation of the District ...

provides

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

for the entire island and was formed in 1996, following amalgamation of the previous District Councils of Kingscote and

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

. Kangaroo Island is in the federal

Division of Mayo The Division of Mayo is an Australian electoral division located to the east and south of Adelaide, South Australia. Created in the state redistribution of 3 September 1984, the division is named after Helen Mayo, a social activist and the fir ...

and in the state

Electoral district of Mawson Mawson is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. It covers the entirety of Kangaroo Island, and parts of the local government areas of Alexandrina Council, the City of Onkaparinga, and the District Counci ...

. A 2005 enquiry into the financial sustainability of local government in South Australia determined that 26 out of 68 councils in South Australia were considered unsustainable in the long term. Among these was Kangaroo Island Council, due to its large land area, extensive road network, low population and high tourism visitation. A long term financial plan adopted by council included a rate increase of 2% above CPI for the ten years from 2010. On 13 May 2010, a development plan was authorised, representing a comprehensive review of Kangaroo Island's planning regulations.

Lifestyle

Safe swimming is possible on the northern beaches, such as Emu Bay, Stokes Bay or Snellings Beach, and at Island Beach on the Dudley Peninsula. The south coast has dangerous undertows and is more suitable for stronger and experienced swimmers only. An ocean pool with easy shore and pontoon access exists at Kingscote and is free to use.

Sports

The island is home to the

Kangaroo Island Football League The Kangaroo Island Football League (KIFL) is an Australian rules football competition based on Kangaroo Island in South Australia, Australia. It is an affiliated member of the South Australian National Football League and is zoned to the So ...

and has several other organised sporting competitions.

Electricity supply

Kangaroo Island is connected to the main South Australian

power grid An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...

by a pair of 33kV subsea cables across Backstairs Passage. The original 30-year-old 10,000 kVA cable was retained when the second cable, with double its capacity, was laid in 2018 at a cost of $45 million. Before the new cable was commissioned,

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

conducted a study to assess the viability of renewable energy technology being used to independently generate the island's power with a combination of

wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...

, solar and

biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...

. Although the study concluded that it was indeed possible for the island to sustainably produce its own power for around the same price as the new cable,

SA Power Networks SA Power Networks is the sole electricity distributor in the state of South Australia, delivering electricity from high voltage transmission network connection points operated by ElectraNet. It is the successor to the Electricity Trust of S ...

ultimately decided against the idea. The Kangaroo Island power station has three 2MWe

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

3516B

diesel generator A diesel generator (DG) (also known as a diesel Genset) is the combination of a diesel engine with an electric generator (often an alternator) to generate electrical energy. This is a specific case of engine generator. A diesel compression- ...

s capable of providing a combined 6MW through the Kingscote substation to provide stability of supply if the submarine cables are unavailable.

Transport

Sea transport

Kangaroo Island is reliant on ferry services for the majority of its transport to and from the mainland. Ferry services are currently provided by two companies,

Kangaroo Island SeaLink Kangaroo Island SeaLink is a South Australian ferry company and tour operator owned by Kelsian Group, which has plied the crossing from mainland South Australia to Kangaroo Island since 1989. From 1989 to 1994, Kangaroo Island Sealink was own ...

which uses two ferries, the ''

Sealion 2000 ''Sealion 2000'' is a vehicular ferry operated by Kangaroo Island SeaLink on the 18 kilometre Cape Jervis to Penneshaw route across Backstairs Passage along with the ''Spirit of Kangaroo Island''. These two ferries provide the main form of transp ...

'' and the ''

Spirit of Kangaroo Island ''Spirit of Kangaroo Island'' is a vehicular ferry operated by Kangaroo Island SeaLink on the 18 kilometre Cape Jervis to Penneshaw route across Backstairs Passage along with the ''Sealion 2000''. These two ferries provide the main form of transp ...

'', to provide freight and passenger services, and Kangaroo Island Connect, which commenced services in June 2018 and provides passenger services only. From 1907 to 1961, was the prime freight and passenger vessel operating between Port Adelaide and Kingscote. Following withdrawal from service of ''Karatta'',

RW Miller R. W. Miller was an Australian company that had interests in coal mining, pubs and shipping. The company was named after its founder Robert William Miller (1879-1958). History R. W. Miller was founded in 1923 as a colliery proprietor and coal de ...

operated the MV ''Troubridge'', in later years as a joint venture with the South Australian Government. ''Troubridge'' was a roll on, roll off vessel of 1,996 tons, which used specially designed loading gantries at Port Adelaide,

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...

and Kingscote. ''Troubridge'' operated until 1 June 1987, when it was replaced by the Government run A$23 million '' Island Seaway''. Built locally in Port Adelaide by Eglo Engineering, ''Island Seaway'' used the same loading platforms as ''Troubridge''. ''Island Seaway'' was severely criticised as being unsuitable for the Backstairs Passage crossing. Seventy-five sheep and cattle died on the inaugural trip due to carbon monoxide poisoning, and the ship was once described as 'steering like a shopping trolley'. The vessel subsequently underwent a A$1 million refit of its propulsion system in September 1989 which improved its reliability. ''Island Seaway'' began to experience competition from

which began services from Cape Jervis to Penneshaw in 1989. SeaLink acquired the ferry service originally introduced by Peter March. His "Philanderer Ferries" pioneered the crossing from Cape Jervis to Penneshaw, with ''Philanderer 3'' being a passenger and vehicle carrying catamaran style vessel. In the 1980s, two passenger only services, ''Hydroflite H33'', and ''Islander'', operated for a short time from Glenelg to Kingscote. SeaLink has outlasted several competing companies since it began operations. Boat Torque, a Western Australian company, operated ''Superflyte'' from 1994 until 1997, sailing from Glenelg to Kingscote. Kangaroo Island Ferries had a short-lived venture with ''SeaWay'', which travelled from Wirrina Cove to Kingscote from September 2004 until February 2005. ''SeaWay'' could not handle rough weather as well as SeaLink vessels which impacted the service's reliability. Under different proprietorship, ''SeaWay'' recommenced services in August 2007. However, in May 2008, the operator of ''SeaWay'' announced suspension of services until October 2008, citing increased fuel prices. In June 2008 the ''SeaWay's'' operating company was placed in administration and the vessel advertised for sale. With the introduction by SeaLink of the ''Island Navigator'', the fate of ''Island Seaway'' was sealed, with the service subsequently withdrawn and SeaLink drawing on Government subsidies to operate all freight services to and from the Island. SeaLink now holds a virtual monopoly on sea transport to Kangaroo Island, primarily due to its long term lease of the Cape Jervis berth. Sealink's agreement with the SA Government, expiring in 2024, precludes other operators from using the Cape Jervis facility for one hour before, and one hour after any scheduled SeaLink service. Kangaroo Island residents have expressed displeasure with the exclusive arrangement granted to SeaLink.

Air transport

Guinea Airways operated the first commercial service to Kangaroo Island, commencing in the 1930s. In 1959, the airline was acquired by

Airlines of South Australia Airlines of South Australia refers to *A subsidiary of Ansett Airlines that operated from 1959 until 1986, and *An independent airline that operated between 1987 and 2005. History Ansett subsidiary (1960-1986) The original Airlines of S ...

(ASA), a subsidiary of Ansett. The airline's final service was on 4 April 1986. ASA primarily operated

Convair Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee, was an American aircraft manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft. In 1953, i ...

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

and

Fokker F-27 The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...

aircraft. A

Piaggio P166 The Piaggio P.166 is an Italian twin-engine pusher-type utility aircraft developed by Piaggio Aero. The aircraft model name was Portofino, and is also known as Albatross in South African military service. Design and development The basic P.16 ...

was used infrequently in the 1970s, whilst Rossair operated

Cessna 402 The Cessna 401 and 402 are a series of 6 to 10 seat, light twin-piston engine aircraft. This line was manufactured by Cessna from 1966 to 1985 under the name Utiliner and Businessliner.Montgomery, MR & Gerald Foster: ''A Field Guide to Airplane ...

s in an arrangement with ASA to replace the F27s in off-peak times. Following the withdrawal of ASA,

Kendell Airlines Kendell Airlines was a regional airline in Australia, in the 1990s the largest in the country. It served major regional centres in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania from Melbourne, Adelaide, and Sydney. Many of its ser ...

(another Ansett subsidiary), operated 19-seat Fairchild Metroliners and 34-seat

SAAB Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB * Saab Automobile, a fo ...

aircraft to the Island. Upon Ansett's ultimate demise in 2002, Regional Express (Rex) acquired the Kendell aircraft and has continued services to

Kingscote Airport Kingscote Airport is located southwest of Kingscote, South Australia, the main town on Kangaroo Island, in the locality of Cygnet River, South Australia, Cygnet River. The airport is the sole airport for Kangaroo Island. The airport is served ...

. In competition with the larger aircraft, and generally with more flexible timetables, a succession of smaller airlines from the 1970s tried with varying success to maintain a 'second string' presence. Island Air and Pagas operated briefly in the 1970s, whilst the most successful,

Emu Airways Emu Airways was an airline based in Adelaide in Australia operating tourist flights to nearby Kangaroo Island. It was part of the RegionalLink Airlines group which also included Airnorth and Airlines of South Australia (ASA). Code data *I ...

, commenced in 1980 and made its final flight in November 2005 . Emu flew

Piper Chieftain The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engined aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also license-built in a number of Latin American countries. Ta ...

aircraft to Kingscote, American River, Penneshaw and Parndana, before air regulations dictated abandonment of all airstrips except Kingscote. Air Kangaroo Island (formerly Air Transit), flew

s to the Island in the 1990s . From 1986 to 1990, Lloyd Aviation operated

Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian general purpose 15–21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use. The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max ...

aircraft, before flying the

Short 330 The Short 330 (also SD3-30) is a small turboprop transport aircraft produced by Short Brothers. It seats up to 30 people and was relatively inexpensive and had low maintenance costs at the time of its introduction in 1976. The 330 was based on ...

. For several years in the 1980s, Commodore Airlines (eventually becoming State Air) offered another alternative service. QantasLink briefly operated a service after the demise of Emu Airways, commencing 18 December 2005, but withdrew less than six months later. QantasLink also operated direct flights from Kangaroo Island to Melbourne, the first time the route was operated. In January 2007, Air South commenced four services daily using Titan nine seat aircraft, but ceased flights in October 2009. In June 2017, Qantas announced direct Qantaslink flights to Kangaroo Island from Adelaide and Melbourne from December 2017, offering five flights a week from Adelaide over the peak summer months, reducing to three flights a week after Easter, and two flights a week from Melbourne over the peak tourist season in December and January. An $18 million upgrade of the Kingscote Airport was completed in May 2018.

Rail transport

Around 1938, the Salt Company on Kangaroo Island used a rail tractor built by W. Day & Sons of

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at ...

to transport salt on a short narrow gauge railway between its factory and the port in Muston. Salt was obtained from Muston Lake, White Lagoon, Salt Lagoon and smaller lagoons near Kingscote. It was sold to domestic and industrial users, e.g. for fish and meat preservation and tanning. The salt exports from Kangaroo Island to Adelaide rose from 13 tons in 1843 to 20,000 tons in 1913. Plans for further railway lines did not pass the planning stage.

Environment

Climate

Having a

warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

('' Csb''), the winters between June and September are mild and wet, the summers usually warm and dry. Tempered by the ocean, particularly on the coastline, maximum temperatures in summer rarely exceed . Average temperatures in August range between and in February, the hottest month, between . Between May and September the island receives two-thirds of its annual rainfall, varying from in Kingscote to around near Roo Lagoon on the top of the central plateau. The wettest month is July.

Conservation

Sea lion and pup in Seal Bay - Kangaroo Island

Nearly half of the island has never been cleared of vegetation, and a quarter of it is conserved in

National Park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

s, Conservation Parks, and five Wilderness Protection Areas. The main protected areas are: *

Cape Gantheaume Conservation Park Cape Gantheaume Conservation Park, formerly the Cape Gantheaume National Park, is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located on the south coast of Kangaroo Island. Attractions include Murray Lagoon and D'Estrees Bay. It ...

* Cape Bouguer Wilderness Protection Area *

Ravine des Casoars Wilderness Protection Area Ravine Des Casoars Wilderness Protection Area is a protected area located on the west end of Kangaroo Island in South Australia about west of Kingscote. It was established in 1993 on land previously part of the Flinders Chase National Park. ...

Because of its isolation from mainland Australia,

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

es and

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

s are absent from and prohibited from entering the island. The

Kangaroo Island kangaroo The western grey kangaroo (''Macropus fuliginosus''), also referred to as a western grey giant kangaroo, black-faced kangaroo, mallee kangaroo, sooty kangaroo and (when referring to the Kangaroo Island subspecies) Kangaroo Island grey kangaroo, is ...

, Rosenberg's sand goanna,

southern brown bandicoot The southern brown bandicoot (''Isoodon obesulus'') is a short-nosed bandicoot, a type of marsupial, found mostly in southern Australia. It is also known as the quenda in South Western Australia (from the Noongar word ''). Taxonomy George Shaw ...

tammar wallaby The tammar wallaby (''Notamacropus eugenii''), also known as the dama wallaby or darma wallaby, is a small macropod native to South and Western Australia. Though its geographical range has been severely reduced since European colonisation, the ...

common brushtail possum The common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula'', from the Greek for "furry tailed" and the Latin for "little fox", previously in the genus ''Phalangista'') is a nocturnal, semiarboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae, native to Austr ...

short-beaked echidna The short-beaked echidna (''Tachyglossus aculeatus''), also called the short-nosed echidna, is one of four living species of echidna and the only member of the genus ''Tachyglossus''. It is covered in fur and spines and has a distinctive snou ...

, Australian sea lion and long-nosed fur seal are native to the island, as well as six

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...

and

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

species. The sole

vertebrate species is a small marsupial carnivore, the

Kangaroo Island dunnart The Kangaroo Island dunnart (''Sminthopsis aitkeni'') is a dark sooty-grey coloured dunnart species first described in 1969, with paler underparts of its body. It has an average body length of 170–198 mm, a snout to anus length of 80– ...

. Feral cats are a major threat to endangered endemic native fauna, including the Kangaroo Island dunnart, the Kangaroo Island echidna, and the Southern brown bandicoot. And also, because of their ability to spread livestock diseases such as

Sarcocystis ''Sarcocystis'' is a genus of protozoan parasites, with many species infecting mammals, reptiles and birds. Its name is dervived from Greek ''sarx'' = flesh and ''kystis'' = bladder. The lifecycle of a typical member of this genus involves two ...

and

Toxoplasmosis Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by ''Toxoplasma gondii'', an apicomplexan. Infections with toxoplasmosis are associated with a variety of neuropsychiatric and behavioral conditions. Occasionally, people may have a few weeks or months ...

, a program to eradicate an estimated population of between 3,000 and 5,000 cats within the next 15 years was started in 2016. With the then intention to eliminate all cats, Mayor Peter Clements said: "We have to reach a point where we don't have any cats on this island. The feral cat is an apex predator. It is ruining our species here on the island and we are totally committed to eliminating all cats." Registration and microchipping of cats is mandatory. The

, common ringtail possum and

platypus The platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the sole living representative or mono ...

have been introduced and still survive there. The introduced koalas have flourished, to the degree that their preferred food source, the

manna gum ''Eucalyptus viminalis'', commonly known as the manna gum, white gum or ribbon gum, is a species of small to very tall tree that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has smooth bark, sometimes with rough bark near the base, lance-shaped to c ...

, is at risk of local extinction. The idea of a

cull In biology, culling is the process of segregating organisms from a group according to desired or undesired characteristics. In animal breeding, it is the process of removing or segregating animals from a breeding stock based on a specific tr ...

of the burgeoning koala numbers is distasteful to the public, and the state government prefers to use sterilisation for

population control Population control is the practice of artificially maintaining the size of any population. It simply refers to the act of limiting the size of an animal population so that it remains manageable, as opposed to the act of protecting a species from ...

. Although

chlamydophila pneumoniae ''Chlamydia pneumoniae'' is a species of ''Chlamydia'', an obligate intracellular bacterium that infects humans and is a major cause of pneumonia. It was known as the Taiwan acute respiratory agent (TWAR) from the names of the two original isola ...

is widespread in most koala populations, the disease is not present on Kangaroo Island due to its isolation from other colonies.

Conflict between conservation and development

Conservation interests have come into conflict with proponents of various development proposals made since the 2000s. These include a helipad in the island's south-western wilderness, a

southern bluefin tuna The southern bluefin tuna (''Thunnus maccoyii'') is a tuna of the family Scombridae found in open southern Hemisphere waters of all the world's oceans mainly between 30°S and 50°S, to nearly 60°S. At up to and weighing up to , it is among ...

pen on the north coast of the island (which resulted in the withdrawal of the proposal), The Cliffs Golf Resort near Pennington Bay (for which Crown land was considered for private sale or lease to developers) and a port proposal at Smith Bay to facilitate timber exports and cruise ship visitation.

Birds

An endemic species of

emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus '' Dromaius''. The emu ...

, the

Kangaroo Island emu Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

, became extinct between 1802 and 1836. The island is the last South Australian refuge of an

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the

glossy black cockatoo The glossy black cockatoo (''Calyptorhynchus lathami''), is the smallest member of the subfamily Calyptorhynchinae found in eastern Australia. Adult glossy black cockatoos may reach in length. They are sexually dimorphic. Males are blackish br ...

(''Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus'').

Kangaroo Island Important Bird Area

Kangaroo Island has been identified by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) because it supports populations of the vulnerable

fairy tern The fairy tern (''Sternula nereis'') is a small tern which is native to the southwestern Pacific. It is listed as " Vulnerable" by the IUCN and the New Zealand subspecies is " Critically Endangered". There are three subspecies: * Australian fai ...

, the

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

bush stone-curlew The bush stone-curlew or bush thick-knee, also known as the Iben bird (''Burhinus grallarius'', obsolete name ''Burhinus magnirostris'') is a large, ground-dwelling bird endemic to Australia. Its favoured habitat is open plains and woodlands, whe ...

hooded plover The hooded dotterel or hooded plover (''Thinornis cucullatus'') is a species of bird in the family Charadriidae. It is endemic to southern Australia, where it inhabits ocean beaches and subcoastal lagoons. There are two recognised subspecies whi ...

and

western whipbird Western whipbird may refer to the following bird species and subspecies: * ''Psophodes nigrogularis'', the black-throated whipbird ** subspecies: ''Psophodes nigrogularis nigrogularis'', 'western heath' ** subspecies: ''Psophodes nigrogularis obero ...

, and the

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

-restricted

rock parrot The rock parrot (''Neophema petrophila'') is a species of grass parrot native to Australia. Described by John Gould in 1841, it is a small parrot long and weighing with predominantly olive-brown upperparts and more yellowish underparts. Its h ...

and

purple-gaped honeyeater The purple-gaped honeyeater (''Lichenostomus cratitius'') is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is endemic to semi-arid southern Australia, where it inhabits Mallee, tall heath and associated low eucalypt woodland.Menkhorst, P., ...

. It also supports over 1% of the world populations of

Cape Barren geese The Cape Barren goose (''Cereopsis novaehollandiae'') is a large goose resident in southern Australia. Etymology The species' common name is derived from Cape Barren Island, where specimens were first sighted by European explorers. It is known ...

, black-faced cormorants,

Pacific gull The Pacific gull (''Larus pacificus'') is a very large gull, native to the coasts of Australia. It is moderately common between Carnarvon in the west, and Sydney in the east, although it has become scarce in some parts of the south-east, as a re ...

s and

pied oystercatcher The pied oystercatcher (''Haematopus longirostris'') is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird native to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. The similar South Island pied oystercatcher (''H. finschi'') occurs in New Zealand. ...

s, and sometimes of

musk duck The musk duck (''Biziura lobata'') is a highly aquatic, stiff-tailed duck native to southern Australia. It is the only living member of the genus '' Biziura''. An extinct relative, the New Zealand musk duck or de Lautour's duck (''B. delauto ...

blue-billed duck The blue-billed duck (''Oxyura australis'') is a small Australian stiff-tailed duck, with both the male and female growing to a length of 40 cm (16 in). The male has a slate-blue bill which changes to bright-blue during the breeding se ...

freckled duck The freckled duck (''Stictonetta naevosa)'' is a waterfowl species endemic to Australia. The freckled duck has also been referred to as the monkey duck or oatmeal duck. These birds are usually present in mainland Australia, but disperse to coas ...

Australian shelduck The Australian shelduck (''Tadorna tadornoides''), also known as the chestnut-breasted shelduck or mountain duck, is a shelduck, a group of large goose-like ducks part of the bird family Anatidae. The genus name ''Tadorna'' comes from Celtic root ...

s, chestnut teals and

banded stilt The banded stilt (''Cladorhynchus leucocephalus'') is a nomadic wader of the stilt and avocet family, Recurvirostridae, native to Australia. It belongs to the monotypic genus ''Cladorhynchus''. It gets its name from the red-brown breast band fo ...

Little penguin colonies

Little penguin The little penguin (''Eudyptula minor'') is a species of penguin from New Zealand. They are commonly known as little blue penguins or blue penguins owing to their slate-blue plumage and are also known by their Māori name . The Australian lit ...

colonies at Penneshaw and Kingscote can be accessed by joining guided nocturnal tours. Both colonies are currently in decline. Several colonies elsewhere on the island are believed to now be extinct, or contain only 'a few' birds. Historic colonies on Kangaroo Island include Cape Gantheaume, Ravine des Casoars and Harvey's Return. In 1950 and 1972, author Mervinia Masterman claimed that little penguins could be found at Flinders Chase in "thousands". She described the population utilizing the limestone caves at Ravine de Casoars as "innumerable" and described watching "dozens" come ashore at Sandy Beach. Penguins were also present at Hanson Bay on the island's south coast in the 1950s. The decline of penguin populations has prompted expanded monitoring regimes from 2011 to the present. The 2013 Kangaroo Island little penguin census revealed that numbers had decreased by 44 to 100 percent at all surveyed colonies over the prior two years. The census included eight survey sites.

Fires

2007 bushfires

Kangaroo Island with burn scars, Dec 2007

Lightning strikes on Thursday 6 December 2007 caused several fires on the Island. Before being contained on 16 December 2007 over 20% of the Island had been burnt totaling , principally within National Park and Conservation Reserves. The most serious outbreak occurred in

, with 630 square kilometres (or 85% of the total park area) having been burnt.

2020 bushfires

2020-01-08_Kangaroo_Island_Fire_Terra_MODIS-7-2-1-LABELS-EN

In January 2020 the island was one of many places nationwide affected by bushfire as part of the 2019–2020 Australian bushfire season. Across Kangaroo Island, several fires burnt in excess of , about 52 percent of the island. A bushfire emergency warning was issued on 3 January 2020 as the fire advanced towards Vivonne Bay and the town of was evacuated. The fires were not declared contained until 21 January. Two people died on Kangaroo Island due to the fires. A number of wildlife species, some unique to Kangaroo Island and some already endangered before the 2019–2020 bushfires, might be facing extinction in the wild as a result of the fires. Among these, an estimated 80% of the previously 50,000 koalas living on the island died in the fires. The

was again damaged, in the

2019–20 Australian bushfire season The 201920 Australian bushfire season (Black Summer), was a period of bushfires in many parts of Australia, which, due to its unusual intensity, size, duration, and uncontrollable dimension, is considered a megafire. The Australian National ...

Fossils

The northern coast of Kangaroo Island contains important fossil-bearing deposits, dating from the late Lower

Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...

, such as the

Emu Bay Shale The Emu Bay Shale is a geological formation in Emu Bay, South Australia, containing a major Konservat-Lagerstätte (fossil beds with soft tissue preservation). It is one of two in the world containing Redlichiidan trilobites. The Emu Bay Shale ...

(late

Botomian Cambrian Stage 4 is the still unnamed fourth stage of the Cambrian and the upper stage of Cambrian Series 2. It follows Cambrian Stage 3 and lies below the Wuliuan. The lower boundary has not been formally defined by the International Commission on ...

, 517 million years old). A variety of primordial marine arthropods left their remains in this Burgess shale type preservation, but the larger grain size of the Emu Bay rock means that the quality of preservation is lower. A few genera of non-biomineralized arthropods, among them ''Squamacula'', ''

Kangacaris ''Kangacaris'' is an extinct genus of soft-shelled trilobite-like arthropod of the nektaspid order from the Lower Cambrian (Botomian). ''K. zhangi'' is known from South Australia, and ''K. shui'' from South-West China. Etymology The generic na ...

'', and the megacheiran ''Tanglangia'', are known only from the Emu Bay Shale and

Chengjiang Chengjiang (; earlier Tchinkiang) is a city located in Yuxi, Yunnan Province, China, just north of Fuxian Lake. Administrative divisions Chengjiang City has 2 subdistricts and 4 townships. ;2 subdistricts * Fenglu () * Longjie () ;4 towns C ...

. The site is also the source of magnificent specimens of

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the At ...

s such as ''

Redlichia takooensis ''Redlichia takooensis'' is a species of redlichiid trilobite from the lower Cambrian-aged Emu Shale of Kangaroo Island, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of ...

'', '' Emuella polymera'', '' Balcoracania dailyi'', ''Megapharanaspis nedini'', ''Holyoakia simpsoni'', and '' Estaingia (=Hsuaspis) bilobata''. ''

Balcoracania ''Balcoracania dailyi'' is a small (typically about ) trilobite of the family Emuellidae. Its fossils have been found in south Australia and Antarctica. It can be recognised by a short field between the front of the axis in the head (or glabella ...

'' and ''

Emuella ''Emuella'' is a genus of trilobites of the family Emuellidae. Its fossils have been found in South Australia. It can be recognised by touching glabella and frontal border, and the sub-pentagonal head, as compared to, a short field between the fr ...

'' are the only known genera of the distinctive ''

Redlichiina Redlichiina is a suborder of the order Redlichiida of Trilobites. The suborder contains three superfamilies: Emuelloidea, Redlichioidea and Paradoxidoidea. These trilobites are some of the oldest trilobites known. They originated at the begin ...

'' family ''

Emuellidae Emuellidae are a small family of trilobites, a group of extinct marine arthropods, that lived during the late Lower Cambrian (late Botomian) of the East Gondwana supercontinent, in what are today South-Australia and Antarctica. Emuellidae can b ...

'', known for possessing the greatest number of thoracic segments known for Trilobita as a whole (a record of 103 in one ''Balcoracania'' specimen), and so far entirely restricted to Australia and Antarctica. The

depositional environment In geology, depositional environment or sedimentary environment describes the combination of physical, chemical, and biological processes associated with the deposition of a particular type of sediment and, therefore, the rock types that will be ...

of the majority of Burgess-Shale-type assemblages is outer shelf, deeper water. The Emu Bay Shale in contrast, appears to represent deposition in restricted basins on the inner shelf, indicating that soft tissue preservation occurred in a range of environmental settings during the Cambrian. Some Emu Bay fossils display extensive mineralization of soft tissues, most often of blocky

apatite Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals, usually hydroxyapatite, fluorapatite and chlorapatite, with high concentrations of OH−, F− and Cl− ions, respectively, in the crystal. The formula of the admixture of the three most common e ...

or fibrous calcium carbonate, including the oldest phosphatized muscle tissue – along with records from

Sirius Passet Sirius Passet is a Cambrian Lagerstätte in Peary Land, Greenland. The Sirius Passet Lagerstätte was named after the Sirius sledge patrol that operates in North Greenland. It comprises six places in Nansen Land, on the east shore of J.P. Koch F ...

in Greenland, the first thus far reported from the

. Mid-gut glands are preserved three-dimensionally in calcium phosphate in the arthropods ''Isoxys'' and ''Oestokerkus'', as in related species from the Burgess Shale. Fossilised footprints indicate

Australian megafauna The term Australian megafauna refers to the megafauna in Australia during the Pleistocene Epoch. Most of these species became extinct during the latter half of the Pleistocene, and the roles of human and climatic factors in their extinction are ...

, such as the

Diprotodon ''Diprotodon'' (Ancient Greek: "two protruding front teeth") is an extinct genus of marsupial from the Pleistocene of Australia, containing one species, ''D. optatum''. The earliest finds date to 1.77 million to 780,000 years ago, but most speci ...

, Sthenurinae, and

Thylacine The thylacine ( , or , also ) (''Thylacinus cynocephalus'') is an extinct carnivorous marsupial that was native to the Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea. The last known live animal was captured in 1930 in Tasman ...

were once distributed on the island.

References

External links

*
1803 map of Kangaroo Island by Louis de Freycinet (1779–1842). Royal Geographical Society of South Australia

South Australian Tourism Commission site for Kangaroo Island

ABC Radio National, ''Hindsight'' program "Kangaroo Island unearthed" broadcast 29 March 2009
* Online guide t
Kangaroo Island bird wildlife
an
vertebrates wildlife
{{Coord, 35, 50, S, 137, 15, E, type:isle_region:AU-SA_scale:1000000, display=title IBRA subregions Islands of South Australia Australian soldier settlements Whaling stations in Australia Seal hunting

Description

History

Aboriginal use

European settlement

Shipwrecks and lighthouses

Economy

Townships

Population

Agriculture

Wine industry

Ligurian bees

Tourism

Local government

Lifestyle

Sports

Electricity supply

Transport

Sea transport

Air transport

Rail transport

Environment

Climate

Conservation

Conflict between conservation and development

Birds

Kangaroo Island Important Bird Area

Little penguin colonies

Fires

2007 bushfires

2020 bushfires

Fossils

See also

References

External links