Pandora's Perspective
The Threatened Tasmanian Devil
For Scavenge Challenge #4 What are you preserving? Jams and jellies? Newspaper articles? Nature? Show us.
Donating to the ‘Devils In Danger Charity’ at Symbio Wildlife Park.
I felt very sad for this poor little devil who was living alone in his enclosure. I also find it distressing that creatures who are unattractive have fewer ‘heroes’.
The world's largest surviving carnivorous marsupial, the devil has a thick-set, squat build, with a relatively large, broad head and short, thick tail. The famous gape or yawn of the Tasmanian devil that looks so threatening, can be misleading. This display is performed more from fear and uncertainty than from aggression. Tasmanian devils maintain bush and farm hygiene by cleaning up carcasses. This can help reduce the risk of blowfly strike to sheep by removing food for maggots.
Devils once occurred on mainland Australia, with fossils having been found widely. But it is believed the devil became extinct on the mainland some 400 years ago – before European settlement. Devils probably became extinct there due to increasing aridity and the spread of the dingo, which was prevented by Bass Strait from entering Tasmania. Today the devil is a Tasmanian icon.
Traditionally their numbers were controlled by food availability, competition with other devils and quolls, loss of habitat, persecution and roadkills. But the greatest recent threat to devils across Tasmania is the Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) It is sweeping through Tasmania's devil population, killing more than 90% of adults in high density areas and 40-50% in medium-low density areas.
In May 2008, The Tasmanian devil’s status was formally upgraded to ‘endangered’ under Tasmania’s Threatened Species Protection Act 1995. Meanwhile, the Federal Government has included the Tasmanian devil under the Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. They are wholly protected.
The Threatened Tasmanian Devil
For Scavenge Challenge #4 What are you preserving? Jams and jellies? Newspaper articles? Nature? Show us.
Donating to the ‘Devils In Danger Charity’ at Symbio Wildlife Park.
I felt very sad for this poor little devil who was living alone in his enclosure. I also find it distressing that creatures who are unattractive have fewer ‘heroes’.
The world's largest surviving carnivorous marsupial, the devil has a thick-set, squat build, with a relatively large, broad head and short, thick tail. The famous gape or yawn of the Tasmanian devil that looks so threatening, can be misleading. This display is performed more from fear and uncertainty than from aggression. Tasmanian devils maintain bush and farm hygiene by cleaning up carcasses. This can help reduce the risk of blowfly strike to sheep by removing food for maggots.
Devils once occurred on mainland Australia, with fossils having been found widely. But it is believed the devil became extinct on the mainland some 400 years ago – before European settlement. Devils probably became extinct there due to increasing aridity and the spread of the dingo, which was prevented by Bass Strait from entering Tasmania. Today the devil is a Tasmanian icon.
Traditionally their numbers were controlled by food availability, competition with other devils and quolls, loss of habitat, persecution and roadkills. But the greatest recent threat to devils across Tasmania is the Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) It is sweeping through Tasmania's devil population, killing more than 90% of adults in high density areas and 40-50% in medium-low density areas.
In May 2008, The Tasmanian devil’s status was formally upgraded to ‘endangered’ under Tasmania’s Threatened Species Protection Act 1995. Meanwhile, the Federal Government has included the Tasmanian devil under the Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. They are wholly protected.