Kangaroo Island, in Aboriginal mythology, Karta - the land of the spirits - a place of mystery. Renowned for its diversity of wildlife, named by early mariners for that unique Australian - the Kangaroo. Once exploited by marauding sealers and South Australia's first settlement, the Island is now protected in vast expanses of park and wilderness’.

An island 155 km long and 55 km wide with 540 km of coastline, Kangaroo Island is located 14 km south of Fleurieu Peninsula off the coast of South Australia.

Kangaroo Island enjoys a Mediterranean climate – cool temperate with a distinct winter rainfall pattern and with mild conditions in winter and summer.

More than half of the Kangaroo Island is covered in native vegetation and 30% of the island is managed as National Parks and wilderness.

Kangaroo Island was separated from the mainland of Australia approximately 9,500 to 10,000 years ago and the plants and animals of the island have evolved in relative isolation over this period – resulting in a high number of endemic species (species not found anywhere else in the world) – approximately 45 plant species, 6 bird species and one mammal. Many rare species of animals can also be found on Kangaroo Island - including the Australia’s Fur-seal, the Australian Sea-lion, the Kangaroo Island Dunnart, the Southern Brown Bandicoot as well as many bird species – notably, the Hooded Plover, the Glossy-black Cockatoo, the Cape Barren Goose, the Bush Stone- curlew, the Osprey, the White-bellied Sea-eagle and the Shy Albatross and the Sooty Albatross.

Other interesting species include the Kangaroo Island Kangaroo, the Tammar Wallaby, the Brush-tailed Possum, the Little Pygmy Possum, the Short-beaked Echidna, the Heath Goanna and the Black Tiger Snake.

Kangaroo Island is a unique place – a mysterious place with a diverse ecology, wildlife, landscapes and seascapes and an unusual cultural history – the disappearance of the Aboriginal inhabitants, the Kartan Aboriginal culture, discovery by English and French mariners and sealers and whalers in the early 19th Century and the first official settlement in South Australia.  

Kangaroo Island has a strong economy based primarily on agriculture, fishing and tourism that supports a population of 4,300 residents and over 150,000 visitors each year.

Kangaroo Island can be accessed by ferry and by air.