Tasmanian Devil

The Tasmanian devil is the world’s largest surviving carnivorous marsupial. It measures 55-65 cm head to tail and their tails are 24-25cm. Devils are nocturnal and spend most nights roaming looking for food.

The Tasmanian devil lives on Tasmania and hasn’t been seen in the wild on the mainland for about 430 years. They prefer to live in open forests and woodlands, but can be found from sea level to the highest peaks throughout Tasmania. Tasmanian devils are known for their stocky and muscular build, black fur (often with a white stripe down their body), strong smell, extremely loud and disturbing screech (think blood curdling screams), and ferocity when feeding. Tasmanian devils are the world’s largest surviving marsupial carnivore and are nocturnal. They sleep during the day and only come out at dusk. Although they are solitary creatures (they live alone, rather than in packs), Tasmanian devils often come together when feeding. This is when they scream at each other and fight for their share of the food. Tasmanian devils are carnivores (meat eaters). Their main source of food is carrion but they will also hunt live prey. Their diet is varied and includes small kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, birds and lizards. This tough little creature is about the size of a small dog, weighing between 8 - 14 kg (males) or 5 - 9 kg (females).

Newborn Tasmanian devils are pink, lack fur, have indistinct facial features and weigh around 0.20g at birth. Being a marsupial, the female Tasmanian devil carries her young in a pouch, typically there are 4 newborn Tasmanian devils in Mum’s pouch and they stay there until they are around 100 days old, when they weigh roughly 200g. The young become independent after around nine months.