In April 2017 I prepared and presented information I collected about the Tasmanian marsupial, the Tasmanian devil. Below are my powerpoint slides and corresponding research. I decided to present on this animal because I have always been very interested in them and found them incredibly adorable!
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TOPOGRAPHY
Found in tasmania- Island off of australia
Seasons are backwards there
Many different regions
Devils found in all areas of tasmania, urban and rural
SIZE
25 inches tall
Male: 18 lbs
Female 13 lbs
JOEYS
Babies are joeys go from birth to pouch. Stay in pouch for 100 days
Females give birth three weeks after conception to 50 babies
After leaving the pouch they stay in the den for 3 months
When born they weigh 0.18 grams
The front paws have digits
Size of raisins
Joey’s ride on mother’s back when she is hunting
After leaving pouch devils grow a pound a month until they are six months old
BREEDING
Males impress females by fighting
Breeding march-may
Devils are not monogamous
Give birth standing up
TAXONOMY
Originally thought to be an opossum by george harris in 1800
Named in 1841 by french naturalist pierre boitard
FEEDING
They make a lot of noise to show off when eating
Eat up to 15% of body weight in one day- 2lbs But can eat up to 40% in thirty minutes if opportunity arises
Eats dead animals, will eat fur and bones
Joeys like to climb up trees to eat bird eggs
Whiskers help locate prey in the dark
Prefers wombats because easy to catch and high in fat can be up to 66 lbs
Have been known to chew on shoes
Will dig to find corpses
Rip out digestive system first
Strongest bite force of any mammal on earth-
Largest carnivorous marsupial
APPEARANCE
16% don’t have white marking
Heads can be up to a quarter of their weight so they can chomp down
Stores fat in its tail – healthy devils have fat tails
Teeth grow constantly throughout life
Stripes draw attackers to attack at less sensitive areas
Have five toes- one from the side four from the front to hold food
Hind feet have four toes
Jaws open 75-80 degrees
BEHAVIOUR
Nocturnal
Like to sunbathe- They sleep in the sun
8.1 mph
Nocturnal
Home range 1-10 miles
Do not make relationships, but remember each other
Do not travel in packs
Use the same den
Live 5 years in wild
ENDANGERMENT
Early farmers hunted devil because they would eat farm animals
Rewards were put up for killing devils, almost went extinct because of this
10,000-25,000 left in wild
90% decrease in population since 1996
Northwestern coast is the only tumor free area
In danger of dying bc of transmissible cancer
First discovered in 1996
Devil’s immune system cannot recognize the tumor as foreign so they cannot fight it off
Genetically modified trees theorized to be cause
Tasmanian tigers
Large birds of prey go after joeys
DEVIL ARK
Non profit organization
Founded in 2011 with 44 devils
5 successful breeding seasons with 180 joeys
150 devils
Released 22 devils in 2015
Not kept in pens, to reassure release to the wild will be easy
Goal 320 by 2018
11 ambassador devils available to adopt