It can be like a harsh cough. Or an angry hiccup. Or a sharp shriek. One thing is for sure. When a Tasmanian devil speaks, you should just listen!
Tasmanian devils come from the island of Tasmania. It’s off Australia’s southeastern coast. For years, the number of wild Tasmanian devils was growing smaller and smaller. Many were sick with a strange cancer. But now, their numbers are bouncing back.
Australia
Antarctica
Pacific
Ocean
Indian
Ocean
Tasmania
This Tasmanian devil has large cubs on her back.
Tasmanian devils are nocturnal, which means they are active at night. They are also marsupials. That’s a kind of mammal like a kangaroo. A mother devil keeps her young in her pouch as they grow. The pouch helps her feed and protect her newborns, called imps.
Imps drink milk in their mother’s pouch for four months. Then they leave her pouch and eat solid food. Tasmanian devils are scavengers. They eat dead animals. They are not picky eaters. They will eat birds, lizards, and even dead farm animals!
Tasmanian devils eat dead animals.
A Tasmanian devil's jaws can deliver a powerful bite!
raisin
imp
At Birth
Each imp is the size of a raisin.
4 months
The imps leave their mother’s pouch. They often ride on her back.
6 months
The imps begin eating solid food.
8 months
The young devils live on their own.
2 years
The devils are old enough to have their own young.
Adult Life
Wild devils usually live five to eight years.
