Things to do & Fun facts about Tasmanian Devils | Discover the top Picks
Hi everyone, welcome to my website. here are 10 Things to do & Fun facts about Tasmanian Devils. Move over, cuddly koalas and cute kangaroos—meet the Tasmanian devil. No, not the Looney Tunes cartoon character that spins like a top, drooling, snarling, and terrorizing Bugs Bunny’s friends. I’m talking about the real animal, found in the wild only in one state down under.
In Australia’s collection of one-of-a-kind creatures, the Tasmanian devil is a standout member. So, between taking photos with koalas and watching kangaroos hopping through wildlife parks, head to Australia’s southern island state to get to know the Tasmanian devil. It’s a keystone species in Tasmania and the symbol of many organizations in the state.
We visited a wildlife sanctuary only a half-hour’s drive from Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, and discovered amazing Things to do & Fun facts about Tasmanian Devils.
1
cute and cuddly
cute and cuddly they are not. Tasmanian devils look a bit like bear cubs or a big-boned, smallish dog at under 30 pounds fully grown. When they’re not aggressive, they look a bit sweet, but I had a chance to touch a baby being raised at the sanctuary, and even so young, its fur felt like coarse bristles. They are not sociable or friendly, living alone and coming out at night.
2
they smell bad too
Tasmanian devils have a scent gland used to mark their territory with a very strong and repulsive scent. Tasmanian devils are also known to smell bad; due to a scent gland that liberally pours forth a strong unpleasant odor, this scent is used to mark territory and can be truly disgusting. This probably helps to keep competition out. The smell is one of the things unique to Tasmanian devil, contributing to his distinctive presence in the wilderness.
3
they have a great naming story
Tasmanian devils are aggressive if they feel threatened or are competing for food. They bare their teeth, lunge, and emit loud, blood-curdling shrieks in the dark hours, which made early settlers imagine demons had surrounded them in the wilderness. That’s how they were dubbed Tasmanian devils. Check out this video to hear Tasmanian devils screeching.
4
their oversized heads have incredible jaws
Tasmanian devils have jaws that can open to 80 degrees wide and deliver the strongest bite for their size of any mammal in the world. They have the power to bite through thick metal wire. The staff at the sanctuary joke about keeping fingers away from the babies’ mouths—even at that size and age. If they bit onto our hands, they wouldn’t stop until they reached our elbows! Possibly a joke to make the point, but it paints a vivid picture.
5
the world's largest carnivorous marsupial
Marsupials are mammals that carry their newborns in pouches. Tasmanian devils eat only meat. They hunt birds, snakes, and other mammals up to the size of small kangaroos, but they also eat carrion (dead animals). They put those tremendous jaws to good use, eating pretty much anything they sink their teeth into—crushing and ravenously ingesting even the bones.
6
even a Tasmanian devil's teeth are unique
They have the same Tasmanian devils have the same number of teeth as a dog—42—but unlike dogs, a devil’s teeth grow continuously throughout its life, contributing to its phenomenal ability to consume the bones of its prey.
7
like all marsupials, devils store fat in their tails
which thicken up like humans’ waistlines. Like all marsupials, Tasmanian devils store a fat reserve in their tails, which is a crucial reserve for energy. A thick, healthy tail means a well-nourished devil; the tails can swell much like a human’s waistline when food is plentiful. This amazing ability teaches the devils how to go without food through periods of starvation in the wilderness.
8
Tasmanian devils once thrived throughout Australia
although Tasmanian devils once thrived throughout Australia, they are now native only to the island state of Tasmania. There, they have adapted very well to a variety of environments, from coastlines to forests to even suburbs. Rather than environmental change, it’s believed their extinction on Australia’s mainland can be blamed on the arrival of dingoes, which never spread to Tasmania to threaten the devils.
9
smooth sailing for Tasmanian devils in Tasmania
The settlers who christened the devils mistakenly believed they killed livestock—a theory now debunked—and hunted and poisoned them nearly to extinction until the government stepped in to protect them in the 1940s.
10
Tasmanian devil population rebounded
the Tasmanian devil population rebounded, but today they’re in danger again. Not from angry farmers, but Tasmanian devils have adapted to modern life, with these carrion eaters finding a new food source in the form of roadkill. Unfortunately, these black animals eating roadkill at night are invisible to oncoming traffic, and they, too, are killed in great numbers on roads.
In addition, a catastrophic facial tumor disease is spreading through the population. The tumors build up in affected animals’ mouths, stopping them from eating until they eventually starve to death. Tens of thousands of Tasmanian devils have died since the disease appeared in the late ’90s.
Since 2008, Tasmanian devils have been listed as endangered. Wildlife sanctuaries attempt to save and raise young in the pouches of mothers killed on the roads, and programs are isolating and breeding populations unaffected by the disease. Devils are also being sent abroad to partner with international zoos to contribute to population insurance programs for Tasmanian devils.
You can Read Tasmanian devils in some zoos, but better yet, visit and support a sanctuary on their home turf in Tasmania.
Thank you, and that wraps up our Rome public transport | Explore the top picks with cost & Tips. Do you agree with the places we chose, or is there somewhere you visited that you feel should be on the list? leave us a comment.
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