Rottnest Island, Kingdom of the Quokka

Islands worldwide are grand experiments in nature, with their isolation creating unique conditions for animals to diverge from the norm. But some islands take evolutionary twists to the extreme. On the far west of the Australian continent with the limitless Indian Ocean beyond, there is a set of islands whose inhabitants defy all laws of nature.

The three islands lie side by side, but each is ruled by a different animal. One by a unique marsupial the Quokka, the second by a penguin and the third by one of the world’s most venomous snakes, as though evolution has divided the real estate equitably. And on the islands each animal has become stranger than ever, with a set of features so unique they are bizarre. One of the world’s happiest, yet most vulnerable marsupials, the Quokka thrives only on Rottnest Island. In almost plague proportions over ten thousand of the strange relic wallabies live here. How do they survive here in such inhospitable conditions and nowhere else? Like the Galapagos, Rottnest and its surrounding islands hold secrets that defy reason. Only now will they be revealed with an exclusive and intimate look at the life cycle of the Quokka and the other animals intertwined in their lives on the islands and in the fringing ocean. Filmed & photographed using the latest high-tech equipment we delve into to the heart of the underlying mysteries of the islands. Specially adapted starlight night-vision cameras have allowed us to capture animal behaviour throughout the night to build a complete picture of life on this unique set of islands and reveal exactly how these extreme experiments in evolution operate. For the first time ever, we’ll reveal the secrets of Rottnest Island Kingdom of the Quokka.