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Kangaroo Island

KangarooIsland Kangaroo Island is located 15km south west of the tip of the southern Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia. The Island is up to 55km wide and 155km long, covering an area of 4,400 square kilometres, and has a coastline of some 457km.

Kangaroo Island is home to a resident population of 4,384 people. The administrative and service centre of the Island is Kingscote, inhabited by 1,693 people. Penneshaw services the
Dudley Peninsula; Parndana supports the centre of the Island, and there are smaller townships and service facilities at Baudin (formerly American) Beach, Vivonne Bay and American River.

The Island is accessible by sea and air. A commercially operated scheduled vehicle and passenger ferry operates between Cape Jervis on the mainland (1.5 hour drive south of Adelaide) and Penneshaw on the Island. The crossing duration is 45-50 minutes and there are multiple daily services all year round. Scheduled flights of around 20 minutes duration operate between Adelaide and Kingscote airports, with multiple daily flights all year round.

Kangaroo Island had an estimated gross regional product in 2001/2002 of $135 million (Econsearch 2003). The value of agricultural industries in 2001/2002 was estimated at $69 million (Econsearch 2003), and tourism (on Island expenditure) at $53 million. Major Industries on the island include livestock and wool production, cropping, commercial fishing, honey, viticulture, cheese, free range chickens and eggs, eucalyptus, lavender and olive oils, aquaculture, plantation and farm forestry and horticulture.

(Source- Kangaroo Island NRM Board and Kangaroo Island Regional Development Board)