Rabbit Island (Bass Strait)

Rabbit Island is a small, granite island 1.6 km off the north-eastern coast of Wilsons Promontory, Victoria, Australia.[1]

This article is about the island off Wilsons Promontory, Victoria, Australia. For other uses, see Rabbit Island (disambiguation).

Rabbit Island
Rabbit Island is located in South Gippsland Shire
Rabbit Island
Rabbit Island
Geography
LocationBass Strait
Coordinates38°54′42″S 146°30′39″E
Area30 ha (74 acres)[1]
Length866 m (2841 ft)[1]
Width466 m (1529 ft)[1]
Highest elevation59 m (194 ft)[1]
Administration
Australia
StateVictoria

The island, to the mean low-water mark, is part of the Wilsons Promontory National Park[2] and is proclaimed as a Remote and Natural Area under the National Parks Act. The surrounding waters to a distance of 300 m from the mean low-water mark are part of Wilsons Promontory Marine Park.[3]: 1 [4] The island is part of the Wilsons Promontory Islands Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for breeding seabirds.[5]

The island was named in 1842 by Captain John Lort Stokes[6] after the numerous rabbits, descendants of those left by sealers to provide a food supply for sailors.

References
  1. Norman, F. I.; Harris, M. P.; Brown, R. S.; Deerson, D. M. (November 1980). "Seabird islands No 86, Rabbit Island, Wilsons Promontory, Victoria" (PDF). Corella. 4 (4): 77–78.
  2. "Wilsons Promontory National Park". Parks Victoria. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  3. Parks Victoria (2006), Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park and Wilsons Promontory Marine Park Management Plan (PDF), ISBN 0731183460
  4. "Wilsons Promontory Marine Park". Parks Victoria. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  5. "Important Bird Areas factsheet: Corner Inlet". BirdLife International. 2017.
  6. Bird, Eric. "Place Names on the Coast of Victoria" (PDF). The Australian National Placename Survey (ANPS). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2011.


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