Cat Island (Tasmania)
|
Cat Island is the hatchet shaped island in the bottom right | |
  Cat Island (Tasmania) (Tasmania) | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Bass Strait |
| Coordinates | 39°57′S 148°21′E / 39.950°S 148.350°ECoordinates: 39°57′S 148°21′E / 39.950°S 148.350°E |
| Archipelago | Babel Island Group |
| Area | 39 ha (96 acres) |
| Country | |
|
Australia | |
| State | Tasmania |
Cat Island is a granite island, with an area of 39 ha, in south-eastern Australia.[1] It is part of Tasmania’s Babel Island Group, lying in eastern Bass Strait off the east coast of Flinders Island in the Furneaux Group,[2] and is part of the Babel Island Group Important Bird Area.[3]
Fauna
Seabirds and waders recorded as breeding on the island include little penguin, short-tailed shearwater, silver gull, Pacific gull, crested tern, sooty oystercatcher, pied oystercatcher and Australasian gannet. Resident reptiles include White's skink and tiger snake. The rakali has also been recorded on the island.[2]
Gannet colony
The historically important breeding colony of Australasian gannets, with an estimated 5,000-10,000 birds at the beginning of the 20th century, declined to extinction by the mid-1980s as a result of, at first, human intrusion, followed by fires, disturbance and, finally, predation by white-bellied sea-eagles.[2]
References
- ↑ Small Bass Strait Island Reserves. Draft Management Plan, Department of Primary Industries,Water and Environment. Tasmania, October 2000, retrieved 2012-02-04
- 1 2 3 Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. ISBN 0-7246-4816-X
- ↑ "IBA: Babel Island Group". Birdata. Birds Australia. Retrieved 2011-06-10.