Badger Island (Badger Island)
Badger Island, part of the Badger Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 1242 ha unpopulated low-lying granite and limestone island, located in Bass Strait, lying west of the Flinders and Cape Barren islands, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia.
The island is private property and is extensively grazed by livestock and macropods. It contains a homestead, jetty and airstrip. It is also part of the Chalky, Big Green and Badger Island Groups Important Bird Area.
Besides Badger Island, other islands that comprise the Badger Group include the Goose, Inner Little Goose, Little Badger, Little Goose, Mount Chappell, and Beagle islands, and the North West Mount Chappell Islet.
Introduced plants, grazing and burning have had a heavy impact on the original vegetation, of which there are remnant communities of Poa and Stipa species at the western end of the island, as well as patches of Melaleuca and Casuarina scrub.
Recorded breeding seabird, wader and waterbird species include sooty oystercatcher, pied oystercatcher and Cape Barren goose, for which it is a major breeding site. White-bellied sea eagles have also nested on the island. Reptiles present include the metallic skink, spotted skink, White's skink, eastern blue-tongued lizard, mountain dragon, tiger snake and white-lipped snake. Native mammals found there are the red-necked wallaby and Tasmanian pademelon. Tasmanian devils were released on the island in 1998–99. Exotic mammals, apart from cattle and sheep, are the house mouse and feral cats.
The island is private property and is extensively grazed by livestock and macropods. It contains a homestead, jetty and airstrip. It is also part of the Chalky, Big Green and Badger Island Groups Important Bird Area.
Besides Badger Island, other islands that comprise the Badger Group include the Goose, Inner Little Goose, Little Badger, Little Goose, Mount Chappell, and Beagle islands, and the North West Mount Chappell Islet.
Introduced plants, grazing and burning have had a heavy impact on the original vegetation, of which there are remnant communities of Poa and Stipa species at the western end of the island, as well as patches of Melaleuca and Casuarina scrub.
Recorded breeding seabird, wader and waterbird species include sooty oystercatcher, pied oystercatcher and Cape Barren goose, for which it is a major breeding site. White-bellied sea eagles have also nested on the island. Reptiles present include the metallic skink, spotted skink, White's skink, eastern blue-tongued lizard, mountain dragon, tiger snake and white-lipped snake. Native mammals found there are the red-necked wallaby and Tasmanian pademelon. Tasmanian devils were released on the island in 1998–99. Exotic mammals, apart from cattle and sheep, are the house mouse and feral cats.
Map - Badger Island (Badger Island)
Map
Country - Australia
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The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south east Asia approximately 65,000 years ago, during the last ice age. Arriving by sea, they settled the continent and had formed approximately 250 distinct language groups by the time of European settlement, maintaining some of the longest known continuing artistic and religious traditions in the world. Australia's written history commenced with the European maritime exploration of Australia. The Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon was the first known European to reach Australia, in 1606. In 1770, the British explorer James Cook mapped and claimed the east coast of Australia for Great Britain, and the First Fleet of British ships arrived at Sydney in 1788 to establish the penal colony of New South Wales. The European population grew in subsequent decades, and by the end of the 1850s gold rush, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and an additional five self-governing British colonies established. Democratic parliaments were gradually established through the 19th century, culminating with a vote for the federation of the six colonies and foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and wealthy market economy.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
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AUD | Australian dollar | $ | 2 |
ISO | Language |
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EN | English language |