Great Dog Island (Tasmania)

Great Dog Island, also known as Big Dog Island, is a granite island, with an area of 354 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of Tasmania’s Great Dog Island Group, lying in eastern Bass Strait between Flinders and Cape Barren Islands in the Furneaux Group. It is private property and has been severely affected by grazing livestock, fire, muttonbirding and the introduction of exotic animals.

Flora and fauna

The island’s vegetation is dominated by the grass "Poa poiformis", aided by the burrowing and fertilising activities of the shearwaters in conjunction with regular burning-off. However, at the north-eastern side of the island, there is a remnant mixed forest community, rare within the Furneaux Group, of Manna Gum and "Acacia verticillata" with various species of "Allocasuarina", "Melaleuca" and "Leptospermum".

Recorded breeding seabird and wader species are Short-tailed Shearwater (about 300,000 pairs), White-faced Storm-Petrel, Sooty Oystercatcher and Pied Oystercatcher. Reptiles present include the Metallic Skink, Spotted Skink, Eastern Three-lined Skink, Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard, Lowland Copperhead and Tiger Snake. A native mammal recorded from the island is the Rakali, along with introduced mice, rats and feral cats.Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). "Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features". Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. ISBN 0-7246-4816-X]

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