True Wild Life | Tasmanian Devil | The Tasmanian devil is a carnivorous marsupial and the Tasmanian devil is therefore distantly related to kangaroos and wombats. Although the Tasmanian devil's closest relative is a kangaroo, the Tasmanian devil has the appearance of a wild dog The Tasmanian devil is only found on the Australian island state of Tasmania. The Tasmanian devil is characterized by their black fur and the offensive odour the Tasmanian devil secretes when stressed. The Tasmanian devil is also known to making a horrible, loud screeching sound when the Tasmanian devil is distressed or feels threatened.
Since the late 1990s, a nasty facial mutation disease has caused the Tasmanian devil population to decline, meaning that the Tasmanian devil is now an endangered species. The facial mutation disease is thought to be a type of cancer and ends in fatality about a year after it is contracted. The Tasmanian devil is very fierce, but that does not mean we shouldn't try to save them. If people shoot them because they attack something, that is like killing a friend, there will soon be no more.
The Tasmanian devil known to display odd and slightly psychotic behaviour. When the Tasmanian devil feels threatened by a predator, is competing for mate or even a male, the Tasmanian devil displays a series of behaviours including lunging, teeth-baring and growling. The Tasmanian devil turns to rage so quickly that European settlers first named it the devil. Tasmanian devils are highly carnivorous and survive on snakes, birds, fish, insects and road kill. When a carcass is found, Tasmanian devils are known to be one of the loudest animals when it comes to fighting for a meal.
Tasmanian devils are solitary animals and are nocturnal. The Tasmanian devil rests in burrows, caves and hollow logs during the day and then come out at night to find food. Tasmanian devils use their long whiskers and fantastic sense of smell to find prey whilst avoiding troublesome predators. Female Tasmanian devils give birth after about three weeks of pregnancy to 20 or 30 very tiny young. These tiny Tasmanian devil babies crawl up their mother's fur and into her pouch where they are kept safe as well as fed. However, only a few of the Tasmanian devil babies will survive as the mother cannot feed them all at once. The baby Tasmanian devils leave the safety of their mother's pouch when they are about 4 months old and are big enough and strong enough to make it on their own when they are 8 months old.