Tasmanian Devil
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| Tasmanian Devil | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Tasmanian Devil. | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Sarcophilus harrisii (Boitard, 1841) |
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A Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is a meat eating mammal. It is also a marsupial, which means they have a small pouch to carry their babies. It is the largest meat eating marsupial in the world. They are nocturnal which means they sleep during the day and are awake during the night. They now live only in Tasmania, an island state of Australia.
The devil is the same size as a small dog with a wide head and a short tail. Male devils can weigh 12 kg and be 30 cm tall. It has black fur and makes a loud and very scary screeching noise. It will hunt other animals and also feed on dead animals. The devil has strong teeth and jaws and will eat all its prey even bones and fur.[1]
The Tasmanian Devil became extinct on the Australian mainland about 400 years before European settlement in 1788[2]. They were hunted in Tasmania, but in 1941 they became officially protected.
[change] Disease
In 1996 the devils began to get very sick and then die with large tumours on their faces. Devil facial tumour disease has greatly reduced the number of devils and now threatens their survival. In some areas 85% of devils have been found with the disease.[3] In the places where the tumours were seen first, devil numbers have dropped by 95%. The tumour is spread by biting. Because the devils are all closely related (not enough genetic diversity), the tumour cells are not seen as new; so the devil's immune system does not fight it.[3] In May 2008 the Tasmanian Devil was listed as endangered. Programs are being tried by the Tasmanian government to reduce the impact of the disease. About 60 devils without the disease have been captured and are to be kept as a tumour free group for rebreeding. Scientists have been looking at ways to give the devils immunity but so far this has not worked.
New research is showing the devils are having babies earlier, they use to breed at 2 years, but now are breeding at 1 year old. Devils used to have babies every year for 3 years, but they are now dying before they can produce a second litter(family). [4]
[change] References
- ↑ Tasmanian devil (html). Wildlife of Tasmania, National Parks and Wildlife Service. Retrieved on 13 August 2008.
- ↑ Tasmanian devil (html). Wildlife of Tasmania, National Parks and Wildlife Service. Retrieved on 13 August 2008.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Department of Primary Industry and Water. Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease
- ↑ Leung, Chee Chee (July 15, 2008), "Tasmanian Devils take to breeding younger to combat deadly disease", The Age: 3.
