Cat Island (Tasmania)

The Cat Island, part of the Babel Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 39-hectare (96-acre) unpopulated granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying off the east coast of Flinders Island, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia.[1][2][3]

For other places with the same name, see Cat Island.

Cat Island
An aerial photo of Cat Island, bottom right; with the much larger Babel Island pictured in the background. Storehouse Island is pictured bottom centre.
Cat Island is located in Tasmania
Cat Island
Cat Island
Location of the Cat Island in Bass Strait
Geography
LocationBass Strait
Coordinates39°57′S 148°21′E
ArchipelagoBabel Group, part of the Furneaux Group
Area39 ha (96 acres)
Administration
Australia
StateTasmania
Demographics
Populationunpopulated

Cat Island is part of the Babel Island Group Important Bird Area.[4]

Fauna
Cat Island used to be an important breeding site for Australasian gannets.

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.[3]

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.[3]

See also

References
  1. "Cat Island (TAS)". Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
  2. "Small Bass Strait Island Reserves. Draft Management Plan". Department of Primary Industries,Water and Environment, Tasmanian Government. October 2000. Archived from the original on 30 March 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  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
  4. "IBA: Babel Island Group". Birdata. Birds Australia. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-10.


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