Field guide · rare
Tasmanian Devil
Tasmania's feisty scavenger — a stocky marsupial with a bone-crushing jaw and a blood-curdling screech.
Endangered
Overview
The Tasmanian devil is the world's largest carnivorous marsupial — a black, white-bibbed scavenger with a head disproportionately large for its body, packed with teeth that can crush bone. Its eerie screeches and growls earned it the name 'devil' from early European settlers.
Devils are solitary but gather in raucous communal feeds on carcasses, tearing apart roadkill and dead wallabies with astonishing efficiency. They once ranged mainland Australia but now survive only in Tasmania, where a contagious facial tumour disease devastated populations.
Habitat
Coastal scrub, eucalyptus forest, and farmland across Tasmania hold Tasmanian devils. They den in burrows, hollow logs, and caves, emerging at dusk to scavenge and hunt small prey.
Countries found
Interesting facts
- 01
Tasmanian devils have the strongest bite force relative to body size of any mammal.
- 02
A contagious facial tumour disease has killed thousands since the 1990s.
- 03
They store fat in their tails — a plump tail means a healthy devil.
Conservation status
Tasmanian devils are Endangered, devastated by Devil Facial Tumour Disease. Captive breeding, tumour-free islands, and a vaccine programme are fighting to save the species.
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