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Quokkas: The World’s Happiest Animal
In 1658, Samuel Volkersenn, the skipper of a Dutch vessel, the Waeckende Boya, described a remarkable island just off the coast of Western Australia in his journal. He carefully reported the geographical features of the island, its latitude and longitude, and also the existence of a small, unusual animal he and his crew had never seen before. According to Volkersenn (1899), "here certain animals are found...resembling a civet-cat, but with browner hair†(p. 77). Nearly 40 years later, in 1696, another Dutch explorer by the name of Willem de Vlamingh visited the island and came across the little creatures Volkersenn had described, mistakenly believing them to be giant rats. He gave the island the nickname 't Eylandt 't Rottenest, which translates to "rat nest" in Dutch (de Vlamingh), and the name has remained ever since.
The small animals both explorers described, more commonly known as quokkas, are the only mammal native to Rottnest Island. Quokkas are macropods, existing in the same zoological family as kangaroos and wallabies, yet the quokka, with its small, furry body and round face more closely resembles a domestic housecat rather than its much larger cousins (Wilson 69). However, like kangaroos and wallabies, quokkas have well-developed hind legs which allow them to hop and jump easily and even climb trees when necessary. Quokkas are nocturnal animals, preferring to sleep during the day beneath prickly plants called Acanthocarpus press which provides safe shelter due to their sharp spines and thorns (Poole et al. 516).
Quokkas are herbivores, consuming many different kinds of shrubs and grasses around their habitat. A 2015 study conducted by Poole et al. found that Guichenotia ledifolia, a small shrub that produces soft blue and pink flowers, is one of the quokkas’ favorite foods, making up a significant portion of their diet (510). Despite a lack of fresh water on the island, quokkas get most of their water intake from the vegetation in the area and human visitors are encouraged to never feed quokkas any outside food because any interruption in their normal diet can quickly lead to malnutrition and dehydration.
Although susceptible to natural predation from foxes, dingoes, and wild cats, the biggest threat to quokkas’ population is extreme climate change. According to Spencer Turney, widespread and devastating wildfires are unfortunately common in Australia and its surrounding islands, natural disasters which severely affect local animal populations, especially quokkas (p. 1). As Dr. Rochelle Steven explained, in 2015 alone a bushfire in Northcliffe wiped out nearly 90% of the quokka population, leaving only about 90 quokkas out of roughly 500 still alive (p. 1). However, despite these hardships, the quokka is not currently listed as an endangered species; rather it is listed as "vulnerable†meaning the population is smaller than it has been in past years but there is evidence the population could recover given time.
One promising sign of potential population growth is the quokka's quick gestation cycle. Female quokkas give birth twice a year and usually produce a single joey just 27 days after mating. A female quokka typically reaches sexual maturity after 18 months and can give birth to up to 17 joeys in her lifetime. When it's born, the joey is tiny, hairless, and blind and lives inside its mother’s pouch for up to six months before it is large enough to survive on its own. Despite the relative protection of its mother’s pouch, it is not uncommon for a joey to fall out of the pouch if the mother is being pursued by a predator, providing ample distraction for the mother to get away and hide. While this may sound cruel, it prevents both mother and joey from becoming prey and allows the population to proliferate.
In recent years, Rottnest Island and its quokkas have become an extremely popular tourist destination with people flocking from all over the world to see the little animals for themselves. Because of their exposure and positive interaction with humans, quokkas are usually very friendly and approachable but can bite or become aggressive if they feel threatened. In the mid- 2010s "quokka selfies†began flooding social media sites like Instagram and Facebook with visitors to the island eagerly taking photos with the little animals. Due to their friendly nature and smiling faces, quokkas have been dubbed as "the world’s happiest animal†(Turney 2020) and have caused a significant increase in tourism to both Australia and Rottnest Island.
Photos of the animals became so popular that even the fact-checking website, Snopes, had to comment on the matter, verifying the existence of quokkas because so many readers had written in claiming the little creatures were too cute to be real (Evon 2020). However, despite their popularity, tourists are still required to take precautions when encountering quokkas. Due to their vulnerable status and the fact that they are still wild animals, visitors are discouraged from handling quokkas in any way and trying to pet them. Heavy fines and even prison sentences can result from improper visitation or anything deemed cruelty to animals.
More education and conservation efforts are needed to ensure the quokka population continues to grow and thrive but with the added tourism to Australia’s western shores, the outlook is good for these furry little marsupials. Despite Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh mistook them for giant rats, quokkas have truly become some of Australia’s most sought-after and photographed animals.
Works Cited
Evon, Dan. "Is the Quokka a Real Animal?" Snopes.com. Web. 6 March 2020.
Heeres, J. E. The Part Borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia, 1601-1765. 1899.
London: Luzac and Co.
Poole, Holly L., Laily Mukaromah, Halina T. Kobryn, and Patricia A. Fleming. "Spatial Analysis
of Limiting Resources on an Island: Diet and Shelter Use Reveal Sites of Conservation
Importance for the Rottnest Island Quokka." Wildlife Research 41.6 (2014): 510.
Steven, Rochelle. "The Future Is Looking up for Australia's Happiest Animal." WWF. 29 Jan.
2021
Turney, Spencer. "Where Are the Quokkas? New Study Explains What Happened to the
"Happiest Animal in the World"." Vanderbilt University. Vanderbilt University, 21 Feb.
2020.
Wilson, Don E. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Johns
Hopkins U, 2005.
