(Sarcophilus harrisii).

The Tasmanian Devil can be identified by its black coat, above and below, usually with a white neck patch. They grow to about the size of fox-terrier. Males reach a head and body length of 650mm (females 570mm) with the tail extending a further 250 mm. Males weigh up to 8 kilograms (females 6 kg).

Common throughout their range, the Tasmanian Devil is the largest of the surviving Australian carnivorous marsupials. It belies its fierce appearance and awesome name, being primarily a carrion-eater which has difficulty in killing a rat and is itself easily killed by a dog. While its preferred habitat appears to be coastal scrub and sclerophyll forest, it is now found in all Tasmanian habitats, including outer suburbs.

During the day it retires to a hollow log, cave, old burrow, or other cryptic place, emerging at night to feed. It is solitary but not territorial and although individuals may have home ranges of 10 to 20 ha these usually overlap considerably. The normal gait is an awkward slow lope which leaves a characteristic track with one print, followed by two more or less side by side, then one. When running, a Tasmanian Devil has a motion reminiscent of a rocking-horse and does not exceed 13 km an hour. Animals tend to be on the move throughout the night and, when food is scarce, have been known to travel 16 km between dusk and dawn.

Although the Tasmanian Devil will eat any material of animal origin, ranging from corbie grubs to mammals larger than itself, it is particularly attracted by carrion. With its powerful jaws and sharp sectorial teeth, it can consume every part of a dead kangaroo or sheep including the skull. Much of its reputation as a sheep-killer is based on its having been seen eating sheep that died from natural causes but it is known to take weak or cast lambs. Penned poultry are certainly attacked and a young Tasmanian Devil, which is more agile than the adult, will scramble on bushes to take native birds at roost.

It is not uncommon for more than one animal to feed on a carcass - up to twelve have been observed. Such circumstances lead to squabbling and to a range of vocalisations ranging from champing of the jaws to indicate mild aggression, through a series of growls, to yells which end in a scream, the widely gaping jaws of the aggressor being placed close to the rival. Physical conflict is not usual. Females, which are smaller than males, have 4 nipples in a backwardly opening pouch.

Mating takes place from March to April and gestation occupies about 31 days. Commonly 4 young are born and these quit the pouch at the age of about 15 weeks and are left in the nest while the mother is away feeding. Lactation continues for about another 15 weeks, towards the end of which period the young may accompany the mother, clinging to her fur or at heel, prior to taking up an independent existence in November or December.

There is remarkably little loss of pouch young but a heavy juvenile mortality. The maximum known age is 7-8 years. Females do not breed until 2 years old, usually rearing 2 young in the first year and 3 or 4 annually for the next 3 years. As in some other dasyurids, the number of embryos carried in the uterus is in excess of the number of nipples.

The number of Tasmanian Devils has varied widely, with periods of scarcity around 1909, when the population appears to have been decimated by an epidemic, and again around 1950. The population structure varies in any place front year to year but, in general, tends to show a preponderance of old males with a poor recruitment of young, except where adults are killed as alleged pests.

Provided human 'control' measures are limited, the species is secure in Tasmania and it is probable that, overall, it has increased in numbers since European settlement, due to increased availability of carrion, and, perhaps, increased availability of corbie grubs because of agricultural activity.

Long prior to the advent of Europeans, the species was widespread on the Australian mainland and sub-fossil remains as recent as 600 years old have been found in western Victoria. It seems likely that, like the Thylacine, it was ousted by the Dingo which, fortunately, did not reach Tasmania.

Sources:
'Complete Book of Australian Mammals' - Australian Museum, 1983.
Australia's Wilderness Heritage - Flora & Fauna, 1988.

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