The Tasmanian Devil Repossesses

If you’re like I am, your first awareness of a Tasmanian Devil arrived thanks to the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies character often nicknamed Taz. He grunts, growls, and sucks up anything and everything through his tornadic locomotion. The figure first appeared in 1954, but really picked up cultural steam when it reappeared in the 1990s.

But, of course, Taz is based on the real-world Tasmanian Devil, a critter native to Australia. The cartoon version is supposedly based on the carnivorous nature, voracious appetite, and surly disposition of the actual animal. As is often the case, the reality is just a bit different.

The Tasmanian Devil is the world’s largest marsupial carnivore. Marsupials are distinct from other animals in that they carry their babies in pouches. Though the devils are known for their ferocious feeding, you might notice they don’t move around through a vortex, don’t stand on two feet.

Sarcophilus harrisii was once widespread on the entire Australian continent, but approximately 3,000 years ago the marsupials were eradicated from Australia proper. Scientists speculate that a mixture of predation and encroachment from humans and dingoes extirpated the devils on the main part of the continent, leaving them extant only on the island of Tasmania.

Numbers on the island itself also dwindled and have teetered precariously on the precipice of extinction. Experts estimated in 2008 that only 10,000 to 15,000 individuals remained alive in the wild.

Several major issues worked overtime against the devils. Humans once believed they preyed upon their livestock. Rumors even persisted for centuries that Tasmanian Devils hunt humans, especially children. On top of the fallacious biases against the animals, they developed a deadly disease, called devil facial tumor disease. Some researchers believe up to 80% of the population might be affected by DFTS, which is an example of transmissible cancer. Yikes.

Fortunately, the people of the state of Tasmania have rallied around the devils, elevating them to symbol status.

Indigenous people in Australia called the animal names that included “tarrabah,” “poirinnah,” and “par-loo-mer-rer.” According to many sources, when Europeans first encountered the creatures, they heard them before they saw them since they roam around mostly in the dark. The utterances from the marsupial can certainly be unsettling. People would hear growls and unearthly screams, prompting images of evil spirits or demons hiding in the bush. As it turns out, their sounds arise more from fear than from aggression and, thankfully, the people of Tasmania and Australia now revere the endangered species.

The Tasmanian National Parks and Wildlife Service use the animal as their insignia; they have featured on numerous coins in Australia; food and beverage companies often use the image of the devils on their logos; in 2015, the state of Tasmania selected the animal for its official emblem. Tourism to see the devils is one of the biggest economic drivers for the state. The love for the critter seems to know no end.

Thanks to that status, scientists and researchers have spent time, expertise, and funding to work on strategies to help the devils survive. Officials have protected them in Tasmania. Geneticists are hard at work on a solution for DFTS. Numerous breeding programs have developed a plan for genetic diversity, moving some of the programs even beyond Australia.

And this year the furry devils made a historic repossession.

After a 3,000 year absence, the Tasmanian Devil is now back on mainland Australia!

26 DFTS-resistant individuals were reintroduced by scientists to see if they could hack it back on the big island. So far, the mammals seem to be thriving. If the experiment continues to go well, it could become an important step into the preservation of this paradigmatic species. Stories such as this one always offer me hope for humanity. It’s only fitting for us to help the species we affected negatively in the past. The world is a better place with diversity.

Check out a few of the news articles below for details on the process of reintroducing Tasmanian Devils to the mainland!