Tasmanian devil

태즈메이니아데빌

The world's largest carnivorous marsupial, with one of the strongest bites for its size. It weighs only around 8 kg, like a small dog, but its night-time screeches earned it the name "devil". It even crunches bones when eating.

See it on the 3D globe →

At a glance

Class: Mammals
Lives in: Tarkine, Tasmania, Australia
Diet: Meat eater (carnivore)
Weight: about 7 kg
Length: about 0.85 m
Top speed: about 13 km/h
Conservation status: Endangered (IUCN EN)
Habitat: forests

Quick answers

Where does the Tasmanian devil live?

It lives in forests. On the globe you can find it near Tarkine, Tasmania, Australia.

How big is the Tasmanian devil?

It grows to about 0.85 m and 7 kg.

What does the Tasmanian devil eat?

Its diet: meat eater (carnivore).

How fast is the Tasmanian devil?

It can reach about 13 km/h.

Is the Tasmanian devil endangered?

It is listed as Endangered (IUCN EN).

The Tasmanian devil is the world's largest living carnivorous marsupial. It is about the size of a small dog, weighing around 6 to 8 kilograms, with a stocky body, black fur and often a white patch on its chest. It lives only on the island of Tasmania in Australia, though it died out on the mainland about 3,500 years ago.

It got its name from its terrifying night-time screeches, strong smell and fierce feeding. For its size, it has one of the strongest bites of any living land mammal, so it can crunch through bone. It is listed as endangered because of a contagious cancer called devil facial tumour disease.

What it eats

Devils hunt small animals such as insects, frogs, birds and wallabies, but they also scavenge on dead animals and clean up the bush. A devil can eat up to half its own weight in one meal. They are mostly solitary, though several may share a carcass, and they can climb trees and swim rivers.

Babies and the disease

After about three weeks a female gives birth to 20 to 30 tiny young, each weighing only about 0.2 grams. Only four can fit into the pouch nipples, so most do not survive. The young leave the pouch at about 100 days and are independent after about nine months. Since the late 1990s facial tumour disease has cut the wild population sharply, and since 2013 devils have again been sent to zoos around the world to help the species.

Fun facts

Its loud screeches at feeding time earned it the name 'devil'.
It is about the size of a small dog yet has one of the strongest bites for its size.
Newborns weigh about 0.2 grams.
It went extinct on mainland Australia about 3,500 years ago.
It became world famous partly through the Looney Tunes cartoon character of the same name.