Kangaroo Island Wildlife

Kangaroo Island is home to a large range of wildlife species and is often regarded as one of the best locations to view wildlife in Australia.

Kangaroo Island is Australia’s third-largest island, measuring 145km (90 miles) east to west and 55km (34 miles) north to south at it’s widest point, totalling 4409km² (1702miles²) in area. Nearly half of the original vegetation has been retained and over one third of the land is protected across 30 National and Conservation parks. These are connected by roadside and creek-line corridors which carry excellent wildlife habitat across the landscape.

Over 90% of the Island is mallee and woodland dominated largely by Eucalyptus and the balance shrubland, fernland and forest. This provides habitat for a rich variety of animals.

Kangaroo Island Wildlife List

We have compiled a list of species, organised into four categories.

LAND MAMMALS

MARINE MAMMALS

REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS

BIRDS

LAND MAMMALS

MARINE MAMMALS

REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS

BIRDS

Kangaroo Island separated from mainland Australia around 10,000 years ago, due to rising sea level after the last glacial period. Due to this long isolation, many animals are local sub-species and one, the sooty dunnart, is unique to Kangaroo Island. Other than domestics, there are few introduced species: Koalas and Platypus (released in the 1920s), cats, goats, pigs and deer, a few rodents; Bearded Dragons, Shingleback and Blue-tongued Skinks. Notably, foxes and rabbits which have had much impact elsewhere in Australia have not been established.

The marine environment is equally diverse with more variation in lifeforms in Island waters than along the entire length of the Great Barrier Reef and much of this is now protected in a network of marine parks. Key marine species other than marine mammals include Blue Groper and the ornate Leafy Sea-Dragon. Key wildlife encounters offered by Exceptional Kangaroo Island on small group tours are with Kangaroo Island Kangaroos, Tammar Wallabies, Short-beaked Echidnas, Australian Sea-lions and Long-nosed Fur Seals, with a series of secondary encounters experienced on an opportunistic basis.

SEASONAL SIGHTING OPPORTUNITIES

SUMMER (DECEMBER - FEBRUARY)

In December, black swans move in large numbers to the sheltered waters around American River as the freshwater wetlands dry up. Australian and New Zealand fur-seal breeding peaks in January with fierce territorial battles which can be viewed by visitors from the safety of the boardwalk at Admiral’s Arch. Hooded dotterels nest on many of the Island’s sandy beaches in January. Watch out for the Island’s largest terrestrial predator, the threatened Rosenberg’s goannas on the roadside. They are active Island-wide as February is courtship and egg-laying season. The lime green and yellow shades of new growth transforms thousands of hectares of mallee wilderness across the Island.

AUTUMN/FALL (MARCH - MAY)

Glossy black cockatoos begin to choose their nesting hollows in preparation for their annual nesting (April through June and in October). Little penguins return in April to start their annual breeding, with males selecting burrows and renovating them in the hope of attracting a female. Black Swamp in Flinders Chase National Park becomes alive in May with Cape Barren geese selecting nesting territories.

WINTER (JUNE - AUGUST)

June sees Southern Right Whales make their annual visit to the protected waters around Kangaroo Island and they head back south to Antarctic waters in October. Black Swans nest on their large an elaborate nests in the wetlands and along the rivers in June. Short-beaked Echidna mating trains are seen occasionally across the Island during winter with one female doggedly pursued by up to ten males. In August, migratory waders arrive from their Northern hemisphere summer breeding (best sites include American River, Murray Lagoon and Reeves Point). Kangaroo Island Kangaroos and Tammar Wallabies have their joeys emerging from the pouch and starting to explore in August.

SPRING (SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER)

Shearwater migration – in September, hundreds of thousands of birds move past the South Coast of the Island in a continuous stream rising and falling on the air currents above the ocean swell (best site for viewing is any of the lighthouse promontories). In November, Australian sea-lions use the broader Summer beach to bask on the sand in between fishing trips to the continental shelf. Tiny terrestrial orchids can be found flowering in deep protected leaf litter in many habitat types across the Island. These are part of a flora of almost 900 native plant species, nearly 50 of which are found nowhere else on earth. On the Eastern end of the Island, striking white or pink-tinged Centenary Starburst (Thryptomene ericaea) dominates the roadsides.

COMMON NAME	LATIN NAME	STATUS	CHANCE OF OBSERVATION
Western Pigmy Possum	Cercartetus concinnus	Common	Extremely Low
Little Pigmy Possum	Cercartetus lepidus	Uncommon	Extremely Low
Sooty Dunnart	Sminthopsis aitkeni	Rare (endemic)	Extremely Low
Tammar Wallaby	Macropus eugenii	Common	Extremely High
Kangaroo Island Kangaroo	Macropus fuliginosus fulinginosus	Common	Extremely High
Southern Brown Bandicoot	Isoodon obesulus	Vulnerable	Extremely Low
Common Ringtail Possum*	Pseudocheirus peregrinus	Common	Extremely Low
Common Brushtail Possum	Trichosurus vulpecula	Common	Extremely High
Koala*	Phascolarctos cinereus	Rare	Extremely High
Platypus*	Ornithorhinchus anatinus	Vulnerable	Low (Summer/Autumn)
Short-beaked Echidna	Tachyglossus aculeatus	Common	High
House Mouse*	Mus domesticus	Common	Low
Bush Rat	Rattus fuscipes	Common	Low
Swamp Rat	Rattus lutreolus	Uncommon	Low
Brown Rat*	Rattus norvegicus	Uncommon	Low
Black Rat*	Rattus rattus	Common	Low
Yellow-bellied Sheathtailed Bat	Saccolaimus flaviventris	Rare	Low
Little Mastiff Bat	Mormopterus planiceps	Common	Low
White Striped Mastiff Bat	Tadarida australis	Common	Low
Chocolate Wattled Bat	Chalinolobus morio	Common	Low
Gould’s Wattled Bat	Chalinolobus gouldii	Common	Low
Large Forest Eptesicus	Eptesicus darlington	Rare	Low
King River Eptesicus	Eptesicus regulus	Common	Low
Lesser Long-eared Bat	Nyctophilus geoffroyi	Common	Low
Feral Cat*	Felis Catus	Common	High
Feral Goat*	Capra hircus	Common	Low
Feral Pig*	Sus scrofa	Uncommon	Low

COMMON NAME	LATIN NAME	STATUS	CHANCE OF OBSERVATION
Southern Right Whale	Balaena glacialis australis	Endangered	Low (Winter)
Pygmy Right Whale	Caperea marginata	Rare	Extremely Low
Bryde’s Whale	Balaenoptera edeni	Rare	Extremely Low
Fin Whale	Balaenoptera physalus	Rare	Extremely Low
Common Dolphin	Delphinus delphis	Common	Low
Killer Whale	Orcinus orca	Rare	Extremely Low
Pilot Whale	Globicephala melaena	Rare	Extremely Low
Bottled-nosed Dolphin	Tursiops truncatus	Common	High
Pygmy Sperm Whale	Kogia breviceps	Rare	Extremely Low
Dwarf Sperm Whale	Kogia simus	Rare	Extremely Low
Sperm Whale	Physeter macrocephalus	Rare	Extremely Low
Southern Bottled-nosed Whale	Hyperoodon planifrons	Rare	Extremely Low
Gray’s Beaked Whale	Mesoplodon grayi	Rare	Extremely Low
Curvier’s Beaked Whale	Ziphius cavirostris	Rare	Extremely Low
Strap-toothed Whale	Mesoplodon layardii	Rare	Extremely Low
New Zealand Fur Seal	Arctocephalus forsteri	Rare	Extremely High
Australian Fur Seal	Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus	Rare	Moderate
Australian Sea-lion	Neophoca cinera	Rare	Extremely High

COMMON NAME	LATIN NAME	CHANCE OF OBSERVATION
Loggerhead Turtle	Caretta caretta	Low
Green Turtle	Chelonia mydas	Low
Leathery (Luth) Turtle	Dermochelys coriacea	Low
Tawny Dragon	Ctenophorus decresii	Moderate (Summer/Autumn)
Bearded Dragon*	Pogona barbatus	Extremely Low
Marbled Gecko	Phyllodactullus marmoratus	High
Thick-tailed Gecko	Underwoodisaurus milli	Extremely Low
Lined-wormed Lizard	Aprasia striolata	Extremely Low
Russett Skink	Egernia multiscutata
White’s Skink	Egernia whitei	High
Three-toed Skink	Hemiergis decresiensis
Four-toed Skink	Lampropholis guichenoti
Garden Skink	Lerista bougainvilli	High
Common Blue Tongue*	Tiliqua scincoides scincoides	Extremely Low
Rosenberg’s Sand Goanna	Varanus rosenbergii	Extremely High (Summer/Autumn)
Pygmy Copperhead Snake	Austrelaps superbus	Low (Summer/Autumn)
Black Tiger Snake	Notechis ater niger	Moderate (Summer/Autumn)
Brown Tree Frog	Litoria wingi	Moderate
Bull Frog	Limnodynastes dumerili	Moderate
Marble Frog	Limnodynastes tasmaniensis	Moderate
Painted Frog	Neobatrachus pictus
Brown Toadlet	Pseudophryne bibroni
Brown Froglet	Ranidella signifera

Kangaroo Island Wildlife