Need info on Australia’s Tasmanian devil? Learn more about the largest carnivore known as the Australian Tasmanian devil and its unique characteristics…
Australia’s Tasmanian devil consumes meat and is considered a marsupial. That means that it is an animal that gives birth to its babies in a pouch where they are kept till they feed and are ready to come out into the environment. This carnivorous animal is active at night and prefers solitary living and it is actually quite shy.
Description of the Australian Tasmanian Devil
Australia’s Tasmanian Devil is well known across the world and has been immortalized as a popular cartoon character. It has black fur and an interesting white patch or collar running around the neck. It grows to the size of a small terrier, making it a very large and stout marsupial, which weighs between 13 to 17 pounds. The long tail of the Tasmanian Devil can grow up to 12 inches in length. It has a very large head with a powerful jaw line and sharp pointed teeth. The head is extremely strong and its pink ears are flooded with blood when the Tasmanian devil is agitated or angry. Its piercing eyes are brown in color along with the fur coat. This helps the marsupial navigate territory under complete cover during the night and allows it to hunt down the prey it needs to feed upon.
Habitat and the Tasmanian Devil
The Australian Tasmanian devil is now located only in the coastal scrub land and eucalyptus forests in Tasmania, which is an island to the south of Australia. The scavenger by nature locates close to human settlement in order to make it easy to hunt for food. They lie low during the day and sleep in their grass lined dens. Their home can be an old small borough left empty by a wombat, hollow logs or small naturally occurring caves. It can conserve a lot of energy by matching its body heat to its surroundings. This state is known as tupor and is unique to this marsupial.
The only time Australia’s Tasmanian devil becomes fierce and protective is when it’s a matter of hunting for food. At that point they may even go so far as to kill other devils and for that reason many surviving Tasmanian devils in Australia are known to have battle scars or missing patches of fur on their body.
The marsupial feeds on dead animals and they will eat anything that is found on the ground whether it is rotten to the bone or not. The sharp teeth and strong jaw line lets them consume a carcass by eating everything in sight. Australia’s Tasmanian devil actually ends up working as a cleaning agent for dead carrion. They also kill their own prey like birds, snakes, rodents, lambs, lizards and small wallabies. Its attack method is generally a strong and powerful bite on the neck to maim and kill its victims.
The Tasmanian devil uses a loud and shrieking voice that sounds like screaming, snorting and barking on different occasions to scare off the other devils and its fierce looks combined with the screams are the reason for their name.
