Tasmanian Devils

Tasmanian devils are found only on the Australian island of Tasmania. The mother teaches her young by example, taking them with her on hunting expeditions. They often ride on her back for these outings. The father is not involved in the raising of the young.

Tasmanian devils do not harm humans in any way.

The Tasmanian devil performs the useful function of helping to keep the environment clean by eating carrion (dead animals). This limits the prevalence of flies and the possibility of diseases resulting from decaying flesh of other animals.

From about 1996, the Tasmanian Devil has been threatened by a fatal form of cancer called "Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD)" which has killed more than 90% of adults in high density areas and 45% of adults in medium to low density areas resulting in an "Endangered" classification. Since then, the Threatened Species Scientific Advisory Committee has recommended moving the Tasmanian Devil up the "Endangered Species" list. A number of groups have combined to fund, study, analyse and come up with a cure for DFTD. You can find out more about it or assist by going to the attached Web Page and selecting one of the options.

Tasmanian devils breathe in the same way that humans do. The air travels through the mouth/nose, down the trachea, through the bronchi, through the bronchioles, and into the alveoli, which make up the lungs. In the alveoli, some of the oxygen in the air that was breathed in is given to the blood stream, and the air gains the carbon dioxide that the blood stream wants to get rid of. The new air travels backwards through the places that I wrote above and is breathed out the mouth.

When first born, Tasmanian devils are just the size of a bean, less than 2cm in length. They are pink, hairless, blind and completely unable to survive unless they are attached to one of the mother's teats inside the pouch.

Yes: a Tasmanian devil has a tail almost half the length of its body. For example, female Tasmanian devils have an average head and body length of 57 cm, with a tail of around 24.5 cm in length.

The Tasmanian Devil has an average body length of 55 - 90 cm (22 - 35 inches), which includes its short tail. Females are smaller, and do not usually exceed 80cm in length. Its height is only around 30 cm.

The Tasmanian Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is a fatal condition which causes cancers around the face and head of Tasmanian Devils. It first appears as small lesions and lumps around the animal's mouth which grow quite quickly, inhibiting the Devil's ability to feed. They slowly starve to death, whilst their their bodily functions gradually break down. It spreads from animal to animal through them biting each other, and given that this is natural behaviour for Devils, it means that the disease can quickly spread through a population.

Whilst there is no actual cure for the disease yet, scientists have identified the genetic marker that causes Tasmanian devils to be predisposed to the disease, and this will go a long way towards finding a cure. Also, scientists have recently reported promising results in cancer cures from a drug manufactured from a certain type of brushwood in the North Queensland tropical rainforests. This has worked successfully in trials on cancerous tumours in cats, dogs and horses, and as well as being hoped to be a potential cure in human cancers, it is also hoped to be able to be used against DFTD.

Yes and no: Tasmanian devils get their name from the blood-curdling screeching sounds they make when fighting over food and territory. However, it is not a high-pitched screech, but a loud, deep, throaty sound which is quite chilling in the middle of the night. Click on the related link, and the "vocalisation" to hear the sound. (The link does not always work.)

The Tasmanian Devils are strictly carnivorous, eating insects, small prey such as snakes, birds, fish and mammals up to the size of a wombat, and carrion (carcasses or dead animal bodies). The Tasmanian devil scavenges most of its food and will eat whatever is handy. They have very powerful jaws and teeth enabling them to totally devour their prey, bones, fur and all.

They are bot hunters and scavengers, and essentially opportunistic carrion eaters. They are at their most rowdy when fighting over a large carcass.

Tasmanian devils live in thick eucalyptus bushland or temperate forests in Tasmania, as long as there is sufficient undergrowth for them to hide. They can also be found in coastal heath and farmland.

The Tasmanian Devil is a carnivorous marsupial that is native to Tasmania, the island state of Australia located off the southeast coast of the continent. Fossil evidence incicates it was once found throughout the mainland of Australia. There are several theories as to its extinction from the mainland, but no definitive answer.

Tasmanian Devils live in Tasmania, the island state of Australia. Their habitat is coastal heath, open dry sclerophyll forest and mixed sclerophyll-rainforest.

There may be specimens in some zoos round the world but the animal originated in Tasmania and the Australian mainland. However, there are no longer any remaining on the mainland.

The Tasmanian devil is both a hunter and a scavenger. A nocturnal creature, it is equipped with both an acute sense of smell and keen night vision in order to detect carrion and prey. As a term it has incredibly strong jaws that can easily crush and kill.

The Tasmanian devil is predominantly black, with a white stripe across its chest.

Tasmanian devils only like water insofar as they can drink it.

A Tasmanian devil is not a rainforest animal in the conventional sense of the word. Tasmanian rainforests are cool-temperate rainforests, and while some Tasmanian devils occupy these cool rainforests, most of them are found in bushland (dry sclerophyll) and coastal heathlands.

The Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is a carnivorous marsupial mammal that is native to Tasmania. It was once widespread on the Australian mainland, but the arrival of the Dingo and possibly climate change at the end of the last ice age, may have contributed to its extinction on the mainland.

The Tasmanian devil is only found on Australia's island state of Tasmania. It has not been known on the Australian mainland at all during the time of European settlement.

Fossil evidence of the Tasmanian devil has not been able to yield any definite dates for when this animal disappeared from Australia's mainland. Estimates vary from 600 years ago to 3000 years ago.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Dasyuromorphia
Family: Dasyuridae
Subfamily: Dasyurinae
Tribe: Dasyurini
Genus: Sarcophilus
Species: S. harrisii

They are bad-tempered and cantankerous, they will bite anybody and anything that comes within range. It is not for nothing they are called 'Devils'

Tasmanian devils have a reputation for being "bad tempered and cantankerous", but this is not necessarily the case. In reality, they shun contact with other species.

Tasmanian devils bite each other when feeding. This is behaviour to assert their dominance. The males in particular will fight (and bite) during breeding season. Similarly, they will bite anything that they perceive as a predator, and this often includes humans who try to get too close.