Day 400#: Tasmanian Devil
Today's animal of the day is the Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii)!
Photo credit: Brett Vercoe
Also known as the Purinina in the Palawa Kani language, this dog-like species of marsupial is native to the island of Tasmania, which is located about 149 miles off the coast of Australia. Speaking of which, this species was once native there as well and could be found across the continent, but became extinct there approximately 3,500 years ago due to a combination of natural climate change and the arrival of the ancestors of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. These early human settlers also brought the ancestors of the dingoes with them to Australia, and they also contributed to the extinction of the mainland devils.
Photo credit: Calum Burgess Wylie
Tasmanian devils are currently the largest carnivorous species of marsupial on Earth and are around the size of a small dog, at around 30 inches long and weighing up to 26 pounds. That title used to belong to the thylacine (also known as the Tasmanian tiger), but they sadly went extinct in 1936 due to farmers incorrectly assuming that they posed a threat to their livestock and killing them all. Tasmanian devils are actually distant cousins of the thylacine, though they are more closely related to another type of marsupial called the quoll.
Photo credit: Australia Zoo
Tassie devils, as they are sometimes called, aren't picky eaters and feed mostly on carrion. They are capable of eating even the most rancid of rotting meats, and their powerful bite force allows them to easily crack open bones to get to the marrow inside. In fact, they have the strongest bite force of any living land animal relative to their body size at around 550 PSI. Because they're able to feed on carrion that most other carnivores would get sick from, Tasmanian devils actually help serve as Tasmania's natural cleanup crew and even help reduce the amount of flies and other pest insects since, by cleaning up the excess carrion, they reduce the amount of food that the maggots have to eat. They also apparently will sometimes even sleep in rotting carcasses, and as such they reportedly stink to high heaven.
Photo credit: Philip Griffin
Just because they feed mostly on carrion doesn't mean that these guys don't actively hunt prey as well. They're called "devils" for a reason, and that's because they're surprisingly vicious for their size. It's also because they like to scream and often get into fights with each other, but my point still stands. Their favorite prey seems to be wombats, but they've been known to take on animals as large as kangaroos and even domestic animals like sheep and goats! What's even more impressive is that they are solitary hunters, which means that they're capable of taking down animals much larger than themselves without any help! There are even reports back before the thylacine went extinct of Tasmanian devils sneaking into their dens and eating any unattended joeys! There are also numerous rumors and legends of Tasmanian devils attacking and eating lost campers who strayed too far into the Tasmanian wilderness. However, these are all just stories, and there have been no recorded human deaths caused by these rowdy little guys. Though I wouldn't put it past them to scavenge on the body of someone who was already dead. As I said before, they prefer carrion, since it's an easy meal, and even when they do hunt live prey, they're more likely to go after smaller creatures like wallabies, birds, frogs, lizards, and insects. They've also been observed occasionally eating fruits and vegetables.
Photo credit: Crystal Kelehear
Tasmanian devils are most active at night and will spend the day either in a burrow or hiding in some thick brush to avoid detection from predators such as eagles. They are surprisingly good at climbing (though only as juveniles) and are decent swimmers too. They've been observed swimming to cross rivers that are up to 160 ft across and are icy cold, and are apparently "enthusiastic" while doing so. While they spend much of their time alone, these devils will often share overlapping territories, and contrary to what was formerly believed, they do seem to interact peacefully with each other sometimes outside of the mating season. Well, at least females will interact with other females and males and won't become aggressive unless they have joeys and the other devils are getting too close to their dens.
Photo credit: Staurt Gordon
Like all marsupials, females give birth to very premature babies and raise them in their pouches long after giving birth so they can continue to develop. However, while other marsupials only give birth to one or sometimes a small litter of joeys at a time, female Tassie devils can have anywhere from 20 to 30 babies in a single litter. Despite this, females only have four nipples, so the jellybean-like joeys have to race from the birth canal to their mother's pouch in order to claim a nipple. Once a joey latches on, the nipple swells inside their mouth and seals the joey in place for the next 100 days.
Photo credit: Healesville Sanctuary
Once all four nipples are taken, the rest of the joeys end up starving to death. Interestingly, significantly more females seem to win this race compared to males. After 105 days, the joeys are ready to begin leaving the pouch, which faces backwards and prevents the mother from being able to interact much with her babies before then. After they've left the pouch, the joeys will usually stay in their mother's den for three more months before they are ready to venture out with her. Once they do, she'll often carry them on her back while they're still small, like a momma opossum does! It takes almost an entire year for the joeys to become fully weaned, and most of them seem to survive this process (at least out of the four in each litter who were able to find a nipple). Sadly, after they leave their mothers, Tassie devil juveniles have a very high mortality rate, probably due to them being more active at dawn and dusk, which makes them more likely to encounter threats such as birds of prey and humans.
Photo credit: Wayne McLean
Historically, the Tasmanian devil population has not had a very good time ever since European colonists arrived in Tasmania. Early settlers often hunted them for food, since they apparently tasted like veal. Farmers also accused them of killing their livestock, much like they did with the thylacine. While the Tassie devils were probably much more capable of killing sheep than the thylacines were (since, despite their larger size, they had much weaker bite forces), these incidents of livestock killings are thought to have mostly been caused by feral dogs, but that did not stop the Australian government from putting bounties on both the Tassie devils and tigers. Thankfully, after the thylacines were tragically lost, the government decided to stop their witch hunt and help protect the Tasmanian devils, which were on the brink of extinction.
Photo credit: Brett Vercoe
While the Tasmanian devil population did originally bounce back a bit, they are still endangered today due to a new threat: Devil Facial Tumor Disease. This is a type of contagious cancer that is spread when a sick devil bites a healthy one. It causes tumors to rapidly grow around the devil's face, which makes it hard for them to eat, and they eventually starve to death. While Tasmanian devils are mostly solitary, they will often form small groups when feeding on a large carcass. During these feedings, it's normal for the devils to bite and fight with each other to assert dominance in their social hierarchy.
Photo credit: Menna Jones
However, this makes it super easy for DFTD to spread, and it's estimated that the disease has caused an 80% decline in the total wild population in recent years! It didn't help that before 2017 there was no available treatment or vaccine for this disease, so conservationists were stuck just capturing sick devils and euthanizing them. Luckily, there is now a way to treat devils with early signs of DFTD, but it's impossible for conservationists to go out and treat every sick devil in the wild. There's currently only one remaining population of Tasmanian devil to be 100% DFTD-free, mostly because they've become isolated from the rest of the overall population. Sadly, as a result of this, this population has also become super inbred and is now becoming infertile.
Photo credit: Philip Griffin
Sorry for the late post! As you can see, there was A LOT of info to cover for this species, and it took more longer than I thought it would to write it all down.
