The Tasmanian devil is the largest surviving carnivorous marsupial in the world, renowned for its stocky, muscular build and dark fur. Found exclusively on the island of Tasmania, this unique creature carries a common name that suggests inherent ferocity. The dramatic moniker of “devil” was not chosen by scientists but emerged from the startled reactions of early inhabitants.
The First Encounters and Early Naming
The name “Tasmanian devil” originated with the arrival of European settlers in Tasmania, then known as Van Diemen’s Land, during the early 1800s. Unfamiliar with the island’s unique wildlife, settlers were unsettled by the marsupial’s nocturnal activities.
They often heard mysterious and unnerving screams, coughs, and growls emanating from the dense bush at night without seeing the animal. The sounds were so loud and unearthly that settlers believed they were hearing demons lurking in the dark wilderness.
When they finally encountered the creature—a small, dog-like animal with a black coat, wide jaws, and sharp teeth—the fearsome image was reinforced. Settlers considered the animal a nuisance, especially when it raided poultry yards, leading to widespread persecution and the establishment of bounty schemes as early as 1830.
The Behaviors That Earned the Name
The “devil” title was cemented primarily by the animal’s intense vocalizations heard in the Tasmanian night. The devil produces a varied range of sounds, including harsh coughs, snarls, growls, and high-pitched screeches. These terrifying noises are often part of a bluff display, used to communicate dominance or minimize actual fighting, particularly around a carcass.
The most notorious behavior involves feeding frenzies when several devils congregate to scavenge. Though generally solitary, devils gather at a meal, leading to intense communal feeding sessions marked by aggressive displays and loud vocal duels. They lunge, bare their sharp teeth, and use fierce snarls and screams to establish a pecking order, appearing chaotic and ferocious to observers.
Their physical appearance in the dark further contributed to the reputation. The devil’s stocky body is covered in mostly black fur, sometimes with white markings, making it nearly invisible at night.
When stressed, its sparsely furred ears flush with blood, making them appear red, which amplified the “devil” association for settlers. The characteristic open-mouthed gape, which looks like a menacing yawn, is actually a display of fear or uncertainty rather than outright aggression.
Defining the Animal Beyond the Name
Beyond the sensational name, the Tasmanian devil plays a significant and beneficial role as the top terrestrial scavenger in Tasmania’s ecosystem. It is often referred to as the “vacuum cleaner of the forest” because its diet consists mainly of carrion, helping to maintain hygiene by consuming carcasses.
Their powerful jaws and teeth are perfectly suited for this role, allowing them to crush and consume almost all parts of a carcass, including bones, fur, and skin. The devil’s bite force is one of the strongest relative to its body size of any living predatory land mammal.
An adult devil, about the size of a small dog, can weigh up to 14 kilograms and travel up to 16 kilometers nightly in search of food. The species currently holds an endangered conservation status due to the devastating impact of Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD), a rare, transmissible cancer.
This fatal disease is spread through biting, a common behavior during feeding and mating, and has drastically reduced the wild population since its discovery in the mid-1990s.