The Stunning Flora and Fauna of Tasmania’s Western Exposure

The mountains and sub-alpine regions of Tasmania are home to a wide variety of flora and fauna, some of which you will only find in Tasmania.

Separated from the mainland, Tasmania remains the most isolated of all the states and territories within Australia and has an enviable reputation for its outstanding wilderness and rugged coastline, especially on the west coast.

Even within Tasmania’s relatively small geographic area – the west is the most remote and supports only a fraction of the population. A large part of western Tasmania is protected by a series of five National Parks whose conjoined borders form the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. This covers about one fifth of the state, some 1,584,000 hectares.

Spring and summer are particularly special seasons in the wild, sub-alpine regions, and the Spring colours of the Scoparia (known locally as bushman’s curse for its sharp, spiky leaves) are a real treat. Scoparia is endemic to Tasmania and is often found amongst communities of ancient relic forests such as Pencil Pines and King Billy Pines.

These semi-alpine plant communities have become much rarer due to long-term drying of the Australian continent. Because of this arid and windswept landscape, bushfires started by lightning are now even threatening remote tracts of the areas within the National Parks and World Heritage Area.

Featuring rugged coastal areas, button grass plains and alpine areas, Tasmania is a truly diverse island for its size…and is one of the most mountainous islands in the world in terms of number of peaks. The wildlife is also diverse and often unique to the “Apple Isle”. Short-beaked echidnas are found in most places in Australia as a nocturnal resident, but the Tasmanian population are active during the day as well – often spotted foraging on the roadside for their favourite snack: ants.

The west is also home to a large population of Tasmanian pademelons (Thylogale billardierii), also known as the rufus-bellied pademelon or red-bellied pademelon. Smaller in size than most wallabies, they will often observe us setting up camp from their rainforest home in the lush Tarkine.

This species is only found in Tasmania, but they do have close relatives in Northern Australia and Papua New Guinea.

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