Grace Lee, Meet the Quokka on Rottnest Island (ANIMAL 2021)

Australia’s most adorable and cutest animal -Quokkas. They are the happiest animal on the earth. The photos have been taken on a photo competition winning trip on Rottnest Island. Rottnest Island is the primary home of the quokka. It is an A-Class Reserve renowned for its high conservation and community values. All plants and animals on Rottnest Island are protected by law. When Dutch explorers first encountered the West Coast of Australia in the late 17th century, captain Willem de Vlamingh thought quokkas were giant rats, and labelled the island ‘Rotte nest’ after the Dutch words for ‘rat nest’. The name ‘quokka’ itself comes from an Indigenous word, ‘gwaga’, in the local Nyungar dialect. Around 10,000 of these furry little fellas inhabit ‘Rotto’ today, as the locals call it, Very small populations also survive in the mainland’s south-west forests such as those near Northcliffe. Overall the species is listed as vulnerable due to predation by feral animals (cats and foxes), altered fire patterns and habitat loss.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.