What is a quokka?
A quokka is a small wallaby about the size of a domestic cat, found mainly on Rottnest Island off Perth, Western Australia. It is famous for its smiling face in selfies.
Quokkas weigh about 2.5 to 5 kilograms and have round faces, small ears and short tails. They are mostly active at night, feeding on grasses, leaves and shrubs.
Most quokkas live on Rottnest Island, where there are no foxes or cats. Smaller populations survive on Bald Island near Albany and in pockets of forest and swamp on the mainland in southwest Western Australia.
Quokka selfies
Quokkas became internet stars when tourists began posting smiling selfies with them. Touching or feeding quokkas is illegal and can result in fines.
Quokkas are listed as vulnerable.
Rottnest Island got its name from Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh, who thought quokkas were giant rats and called the island Rotte nest, or rat's nest.
Fire, land clearing and introduced predators have reduced mainland populations, and conservation programs protect remaining habitat in places such as the Northern Jarrah Forest. Like other macropods, females carry a single joey in a pouch for around six months. Rottnest's quokkas cope with dry summers by surviving on little water and shrinking their activity in the heat, and their population there numbers in the thousands.
Did You Know?
Quokkas can climb small trees and shrubs to reach leaves.