Albino wallaby thriving on Tassie island

With their dainty but damaging pink claws and snow-white fur the albino wallaby looks more like a fantasy book character than an Australian marsupial.

The rare genetic mutation of the red-necked or Bennett's wallaby is the result of an imbalance of melanin which gives the creatures pink eyes, claws and nose.

They are sensitive to sunlight, often have vision problems and are prone to cancer, meaning their survival rates are not good.

But on Bruny Island, south of Hobart, there is a thriving population of up to 200.

"Normally these (animals) would be born and they would be predated on or they would just die fairly early but here there's no predators and locals think they are kind of cute," nature park operator Tonia Cochrane told AAP.

"That means they live to reach breeding age and pass on the gene and there is quite a decent-sized community of them here on the island."

There is no discrimination within the wallaby community, with breeding between albino and the standard brown wallaby quite common, Dr Cochrane added.

The albino creature is one of the most popular animals among visitors to the island.

"They are just so unusual," she said.

"They're like something out of Alice In Wonderland ... they don't quite look real."