TASMANIAN DEVIL PARK

                               Interesting Animal
       On our way to Port Arthur in Tasmania, Australia’s only island state, we stopped at Tasmania Devil Park. At the relatively small, but rather pleasant park, we were able to observe three or four devils in an enclosure. It was fun to watch them run around and play.

A park guide told us, “The Tasmanian Devil is a wolverine-like animal extinct on the Australia mainland and found only in Tasmania. It is a carnivorous marsupial. The size of a small dog, black in color, it has a spine tingling screech. Its powerful jaws can crack bones so when feeding it can devour the entire animal. It is fearful rather than aggressive. A picture showing its teeth is usually a yawn rather than an aggressive act. Aggression is shown with loud noises.

“Tasmanian Devils are synchronous breeders, mating in March, the babies are born in April/May. A female can have 6-8 pups, but she only has four nipples so only four pups survive. The gestation period is only four weeks, but the pups suckle in the pouch for another six months. They generally live about five years. Inhabiting virtually all of Tasmania, they survive any and all climates, sleeping by day, and eating at night.”

            We also learned Devils were a nuisance to early settlers, raiding poultry yards. At one time there was a bounty offered for them which drove them to more remote areas. When protected in 1941, they had been hunted almost to extinction. The population has survived, and today is a healthy one.

            Although they have a reputation of killing sheep, they are rather inept killers, preying on small animals when they do kill. They prefer to scavenger, and are very good at it.  When under stress they produce a rather unpleasant odor, but when calm are not smelly but rather and tidy clean animals.

            Walking around we saw several wallabies, emus, and walked through a bird aviary. Then we came upon a park guide who was holding an animal neither of us had ever seen before. It turned out to be Lilly, a baby wombat who was just as cute as can be. About 18 months old she was still small enough to be held in a caretaker’s arms.

       The guide told us, “Wombats grow to about the size of a pig, and they can do a lot of damage to a car if one is unlucky enough to hit one on the road. Wombats burrow. See how their front and back claws are different. They dig with their front claws then throw the dirt back with the hind claws. Also a marsupial, they suckle in the pouch for six months, then stick around with mom for another twelve months. Related to the koala, wombats are vegetarians, and are nocturnal. In the wild they live 5-8 years, about 20 years in captivity. They have a hard steel-like back plate. When threatened, they head into their burrow, placing the hard plate at the entrance, which protects them, as nothing can penetrate it.”

Like the kiwi bird it is unlikely to see either of these nocturnal animals in the wild or in the daytime, so it was nice to be able to see the Tasmanian Devil in a natural setting. They are not the cutest animal in the world, and I don’t think I’d want one as a pet, but it was nice to see them and it was a nice and educational stop.