I’m sure everyone knows The Tasmanian Devil of Looney Toons, or rather the more familiar name - Taz.


Taz

Taz is one of my favorite Looney Toons characters and when I was small. I used to imitate Taz’s ” tornado spin that destroys everything in it’s path.

The only difference is that I get so giddy way before i can destroy anything. The next thing i know i would be lying flat on the floor looking at my ceiling spin.

But many do not know much about the animal that inspired the creation of the Taz character.


Mini bear

The Tasmanian Devil, scientific name Sarcophilus hrrisii, is the largest carnivorous marsupial that can only be found in the Australian state of Tasmania, hence it’s name.

The Tasmanian Devil is about the size of a small dog, stocky and muscular which stands at 30cm shoulder height. Covered in black fur with white marking on it’s rump and chest, it has a relatively large head, a powerful jaw armed with razor sharp teeth and short thick tail.


It’s yawn, often mistaken as aggressive expression

It used to roam on the mainland Australia some 400 hundred years ago, way before the European colonial explorers reach the shores of Australia. It’s extirpation (local extinction) was because the Aboriginal people introduced dingos that lead to the sad fate of the devils on the mainland.

Today, the devils still roam wild on Tasmanian island as the 240km wide Bass Strait which halted the spread of dingos from entering.

Being nocturnal, the devil earned it’s name from the European settlers as the devils often haunted them at night with it’s spine chilling screeches, demonic growls and reputed bad-temper.

Click here to listen to it’s screeches. My advice to you is to turn your volume knob down.

Although having only the size of a small dog it can look and sound incredibly fierce. When stressed it released a strong odor that can rival the fart of a skunk.

Despite that, the devil is actually a shy and wary creature.


This is aggresion

Long ago, the devils were hunted widely by European settlers for bounties provided by poultry farmer which lead to a drastic decrease of its population on Tasmania. In 1942, The Australian government declared the Tasmanian Devil as a protected species, only then the population of the devils slowly climb back.

However today, the devils a plague with a disease. They are now vulnerable to cancer.

You heard me right, CANCER.

Its called the Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD). First identified in 1996, DFTD is a disease where cancerous tumor cells start to grow on the devil’s mouth and head, sometimes spreading to different parts of it’s body. It spreads through biting of devil to devil. Once infected, lesions start to grow. Usually when it’s visible, it’s as good as writing the poor devil’s name in death note over the next 3 to 8 months.

Ever since then, there has been a 64% dive in the devils monitored population.

A research program - Save the Tasmanian Devil Program, has been initiated to investigate the disease and identify management options. To date, they have identified what was the leading cause that lead to DFTD.

It was evident from the research that a lack of genetic diversity among Tasmanian devils is a key factor in the transmission of DFTD and there are on going trials to determine a vaccine to prevent or cure these deadly disease.

In May 2008, given the circumstances the Tasmanian Devil has been formally upgraded to endangered under Tasmania’s Threatened Species Protection Act. Previously it was classified as “vulnerable”.

Now you know. Hope this post have instilled some awareness on these rare devils.

Happymah!

Info and pictures taken from tigerbear, Parks and Wildlife Service of Tasmania, wikipedia, DPIW and tassiedevil.com.au.




Bone Connector