The Tasmanian Devil is the largest carnivorous (eats meat) marsupial (a mammal that has its babies in a pouch) in Australia. Tasmanian Devils are a nocturnal (active at night) animal. lives alone and prefers its own company hence it is a relatively shy animal
DESCRIPTION The Tasmanian Devil is usually black with a white "collar" or patch around its neck. It is the size of a small terrier dog very solid and "stout" and weighs in between 6 and 8 kgs It has a tail of between 9 to 12" long. Tasmanian Devils have an extremely large powerful head with a wide jaw with sharp teeth pointy pink ears (that turn red when angry due to increased blood flow) and piercing dark eyes Its dark colouring helps it to move around unseen at night time (feeding time)
LOCATION & HABITAT The Tasmanian Devil is now only found on the island state of Tasmania and lives in coastal scrub and eucalypt forests. It is a scavenger so Tasmanian Devils are also found near human settlements They spend the daytime out of sight sleeping in dens lined with grass and leaves made in hollow logs, or old wombat burrows or small natural caves They can conserve energy by going into a state of "Tupor" where its body heat drops to match its surroundings.
FIGHTING Tasmanian Devils by nature are not aggressive until it comes to food. Then they are protective of its find and / or kill even to the extent of killing another Devil that wanted its catch. These fights result in many a Tasmanian Devil having bald patches of missing fur and appearing battle-scarred.
SCREAMING Tasmanian Devils are very loud especially when there are a number of them at the one carcass, trying to scare each other off. They have a range of sound, from barks to snorts to growling to screaming !. This screaming and their fierce looks gave birth to their "Devil" name
BREEDING Breeding occurs at the males den which the female visits for a period of 2 weeks or so. Tasmanian Devil babies (Joeys) are born blind and deaf and little more than a grain of rice in size. Up to 50 are born, who then race (distance of 3 inches) from the birth canal to the mothers backward facing pouch (So dirt doesn't enter when she is digging) to attach themselves to only one of four teats available !
Once sucking commences the nipple swells to form an air tight connection to the joey. They remain attached to the nipple for around 3 months Once they leave the pouch they are firstly left in the nest whilst their mother goes for food, and then progress to going out closely accompanied by their mother After 6 months from birth the joey becomes independent of the mother A lot of joeys and juveniles do not make it to adulthood, due mainly to being attacked by adult Tasmanian Devils If hey do survive their growing year Tasmanian Devils have a lifespan of around 8 years.
