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They have been described as the "world's happiest animal" and a photo of a Quokka snapping a selfie has proven why.

Around the size of a cat, with the tail of a rat, the nocturnal marsupials can only be found on Australia's Rottnest Island and a handful of smaller islands around the coast of Western Australia.

See Also Rottnest Island travel guide

Part of the kangaroo and wallaby family, it has become something of a tourist attraction and visitors flock to the island to try snap a photo with the friendly quokka.

So when Campbell Jones was on a bike ride around the Rottnest, and spotted a cute quokka, he stopped for a picture.

"As I walked back to my bike, the quokka chased after me," Jones, 21, told Channel Seven.

"I put down the GoPro [camera] and it jumped at me as if to say come 'come back'."

Wanted a hug too?! Copyright for this picture is held by @rottnestfastferries , please direct all usage requests to emily@rottnestfastferries.com.au A post shared by Campbell Jones (@cambojones2020) on Jan 25, 2017 at 10:04pm PST

"They [the quokkas] just walk up to you," he said.


"They are pretty friendly little things. We just went down to take photos of them and snagged [captured] a beauty, I suppose. It has been humbling that so many people wanted the photos."

Quokkas, famous for posing in selfies, are native to Rottnest Island where about 10,000 live a sheltered life free from predators or traffic.

They are classified as a vulnerable species and have been almost completely wiped out on the mainland.

Campbell isn't the first tourist to snap a selfie with a quokka. Allan Dixon, who has been described as the "real life Dr Dolittle", regularly posts photos with the marsupial... along with other epic animal selfies.

Stuff.co.nz