Hunter Island, the largest island in the Hunter Group, lies six kilometers off the north-west tip of Tasmania. The island is 7330 ha in size, approximately 25 km long and 6.5 km wide at its widest point. It is a reserve under the Nature Conservation Act 2002. The highest point of the island lies at 90 m above sea level, from where low undulating hills roll away to the coast. The native vegetation is largely intact with only 860 ha cleared for grazing and residential use. Heathlands and coastal scrub make up nearly 80 per cent of the native vegetation, with swamp forests, buttongrass moorlands, native grasslands, woodlands, muttonbird colonies, saltmarshes and lichenfields providing a wide range of habitats. Hunter Island shows evidence of 23 000 years of continuous occupation by Aboriginal people and has been inhabited by non-Aboriginal people for approximately 170 years. Many different owners have grazed cattle on the island lease since 1853.