King Island

Although the climate of King Island is fairly raw, its wildlife draws many visitors. Every spring millions of mutton birds can be observed here in their breeding colonies. The sea elephants which were formerly numerous here have now been almost exterminated, but it is still possible to observe other species of seal.

The inhabitants of the island live mainly by dairy farming and mining scheelite for its wolfram content. Seaweed is also harvested.

There are regular flights to from Melbourne and from Wynyard in northern Tasmania to Currie, on the west side of King Island.

40km north of Currie is the Lavina Nature Reserve (area 6800ha), established to protect the coastal vegetation. There are a number of wrecks off the