For the First Time in 3000 Years, Tazmanian Devils are Born in the Wild on Mainland Australia
On the Brink
The ferocious Australian marsupial, immortalized, and somewhat misrepresented as an unforgettable “whirling dervish” cartoon character, has been teetering on the edge of global extinction.
The Tasmanian devil has been extinct on mainland Australia for thousands of years, due to a non-native predator, the dingo. Dingoes are thought to have been brought to the area by traders from Borneo and Sulawesi 5000 years ago.
The rising waters that separated Tasmania from the Australian mainland long ago are believed to be the only thing that’s saved the Tasmanian devil from complete eradication.
While the population of devils on Tasmania numbered an estimated 150,000 in 1996, their numbers dropped alarmingly low by 2003, to a mere 10,000 - 25,000.
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