Tasmanian Devil

The Tasmanian devil is a muscular Australian marsupial about the size of a small dog. It is known by this name because of its scary screams, eerie growls, black colour, foul odour, bad temper, and aggressive behaviour. The Tasmanian devil is the world's largest carnivorous (meat-eating) marsupial.

The Tasmanian devil lives only on the island of Tasmania off the southern coast of Australia. It is endangered and near extinction.

Tasmanian Devil Appearance What does a Tasmanian Devil Look Like?

Photo: Tasmanian devil sniffing out its next meal

The Tasmanian devil is a muscular animal about 60cm in length and 30cm tall at its shoulders. It weighs up to 12 kilograms. The Tasmanian Devil's body is covered with black fur, except for a prominent white streak of fur on its chest and sometimes white markings on its rump. It has a large head with a short muzzle with long whiskers and extremely powerful jaws for an animal of its size. Its front legs are longer than its rear legs. It has a short thick tail in which it stores its body fat for use as a reserve during hard times. The adult male is usually larger than the adult female. The Tasmanian devil has a lifespan of about six years.

The Tasmanian devil is closely related to the Quoll, the only other carnivorous marsupial.

Tasmanian Devil Habitat Where do Tasmanian Devils Live?

Tasmanian devils live in the forests and woodlands of Tasmania, Australia. They make their lairs in hollow logs, caves, and the disused burrows of other animals.

Since the arrival of large European settlements, they are now also found close to farms where they attack livestock and near main roads where they scavenge on road-kills.

Fossil evidence suggests that the Tasmanian devil once lived on mainland Australia but became extinct there about 400 years ago. Two theories have been put forward for its extinction on the mainland. The first is that the climate became too dry for them. The second is that the introduced Asian dog, the dingo, out-competed the smaller Tasmanian devil for food and led to its extinction Dingoes could not cross the sea between the mainland and Tasmania; thus, the devils on Tasmania were spared.

Tasmanian Devil Diet What Do Tasmanian Devils Eat?

The Tasmanian devil prefers to eat the bodies of dead animals rather than catching its prey. The Tasmanian devil's diet may include wombats and small mammals such as wallabies, birds, fish, insects, frogs, and reptiles. In farming areas, it also feeds on the carcasses of dead sheep, cattle, and chickens.

Typically Tasmanian devils will consume about 15% of their body weight in food each day. But being an opportunistic predator, it will also gorge itself when there is abundant food consuming up to 40% of its body weight in these instances. Its powerful jaws and teeth enable it to chew through the toughest skin and bone. It consumes all parts of a carcass including, skin and most bone and fur. It is the only Australian animal capable of defeating the spiny defences of the echidna, which it consumes spikes and all. It is a nocturnal carnivorous marsupial that forages for food alone.

The Tasmanian devil is a scavenger but can hunt down animals as large as a small kangaroo.

When a group of devils feeds together, they emit terrible spine-chilling screams and screeches as they aggressively devour the carcass. These sounds can sometimes be heard up to two kilometres away.

Tasmanian Devil Reproduction & Life Cycle Tasmanian Devil Babies

Tasmanian devils mate in March and April. The males fight boisterously and ferociously with each other for the right to mate with a female. The female will mate with the most dominant male. Tasmanian devils are polygamous, with both the male and female mating with more than one partner during the mating season. A male will attempt to guard the partner to prevent female infidelity.

After a gestation period of 21 days, the female Tasmanian devil gives birth to 20 to 30 babies. The babies, each weighing between 0.18 to 0.24 grams, are the size of a grain of rice. They are pink in colour, deaf and blind. But as is the case with most marsupials, they have relatively well-developed front limbs (and no back ones), and an excellent sense of smell and direction to navigate a perilous journey to its mother’s backward-facing pouch. They do this by laboriously crawling through their mother’s fur to her pouch.

Even though the female has a large litter of up to 20-30 babies, she has only 4 nipples in her pouch, so competition is fierce, as the little neophytes race a distance of about 7.6 cm from the birth canal to the mother’s rear-facing pouch and latch on to an available nipple. Once a neophyte suckles on a nipple, the tip of the nipples engorges, expands to fit tightly like a plug, inside the baby’s mouth. This ensured that the successful neophyte can’t be dislodged by a competing sibling or that it won’t get knocked out of its mother’s pouch. The unsuccessful neophytes soon die and fall away from the pouch. It is a clear example of a case of the survival of the fittest.

The babies that successfully latched on to nipples remain inside their mother’s pouch for four months, after which they are ejected from the pouch. They are still nursed by her and remain in the safety of their mother's den. Towards the later stages, they may accompany their mother when she goes hunting, often clambering onto her back for a free ride and a first-hand look at the world. When they are about nine months old, their mother abandons them.

Tasmanian devils become sexually mature at the age of two years. Females average four breeding seasons in their lifetime and can produce about 12 viable offspring in that time.

Tasmanian Devil Predators, Diseases Tasmanian Devil Cancer

Tasmanian devils are are endangered by a rare cancer called devil facial tumour disease (DFTD). The Tasmanian Devil Facile Tumour Disease (DFTD) is a contagious, transmittable cancer first detected in wild Tasmanian devils in 1996. Since then, it has devastated vast numbers of these animals, bringing them to the brink of extinction. The virus is believed to be transmitted from one devil to another when these animals bite and nip each other on the face and neck during feeding and mating. Once infected, an animal quickly grows huge hideous looking tumours on its face and jaw, which prevents it from eating. The infected animal then starves to death because it cannot eat or dies from organ failure once the cancer metastasises. The typical survival rate, once infected, is less than six months.

The Tasmanian devils are also threatened by habitat loss, competition from introduced animals such as foxes and cats, and collisions with motor vehicles. As many as 2,000 Tasmanian devils die as a result of vehicle impact.

Tasmanian devils were exterminated by European settlers up until the early 20th century because they were seen as a threat to livestock.

Tasmanian Devil Facile Tumour Disease (DFTD)

Tasmanian Devil Conservation Status Is the Tasmanian Devil Endangered?

The Tasmanian devil, found only on the island of Tasmania today, has seen a drastic decline in its population. In the mid 1990s the population was estimated at around 150,000 animals, but by 2016 this number had declined to about 35,000. The primary cause of their decline is the Tasmanian devil Facial Tumour Disease (TDFTD), which has wiped out large numbers of them. They have been protected since 1941.

Tasmanian Devil Sounds What Does A Tasmanian Devil Sound Like?

The Tasmanian devil screeches, growls, screams, and generally scares its opponents with loud, aggressive sounds. It is one of the most vocal marsupials.

Tasmanian Devil Name How did the Tasmanian Devil Get its Name?

The Tasmanian devil got its name from early European settlers who thought its frightful screeches and growls were the sounds of the devil himself. The settlers referred to this small boisterous creature as 'Beelzebub's pup'. Beelzebub is a biblical name for the devil. The word "Beelzebub" was too hard for most people to pronounce, and even fewer people knew what it meant. So the name evolved into Native devil and finally to the Tasmanian devil.

Scientific name - Sarcophilus harrisi (From the Latin names "sarco" meaning flesh and "philus" meaning creature/animal attached to. So Sarcophilus means a creature that likes flesh or meat. Harrisi is the latinised rendition of "Harris" the surname of the first person to formally identify and catalogue the Tasmanian devil.

Tasmanian Devil Cartoon

Taz, the Tasmanian devil, is a character in Warner Bros Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons.

Originally appearing in 1964, it gained much popularity in the 1990s. The character is depicted as a ferocious creature with a terrible short temper that grunts and growls and eats through everything.

Taz bears no physical resemblance to a real Tasmanian devil. The only similarities may be its appetite and some of the sounds it makes.

Taz bears no physical resemblance to a real Tasmanian devil. The only similarities may be its appetite and some of the sounds it makes.