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Dec 16, 2009, 9:40pm

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Topic: Weird and Wonderful Australian Animals (Read 13 times)

parkerdivine
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Weird and Wonderful Australian Animals
« Thread Started on Sept 27, 2009, 10:48am »

http://www.convictcreations.com/animals/index.htm

One I am curious about is:

Quote:

Tasmanian Devil

The marsupial bites back

"We'd be able to achieve two goals - separating the devils from the cancer, and restoring the ecological balance on the mainland. Devils prey on fox cubs and compete with adult foxes for food." Chris Johnson, an ecologist at James Cook University.

Since European colonisation, mainland Australia has lost 50 per cent of its marsupial species. Tasmania, however, has only lost one species of marsupial - the Tasmanian Tiger. The preservation of Tasmania's marsupials has been attributed to the Tasmanian Devil preventing foxes from ever being able to gain a foothold, and keeping the population of feral cats under control.
Rebalancing Australia's ecology?
Wednesday, 03 October 2007
By Chris Johnson

At a height of just 30cm, the Tasmanian Devil is the world's largest carnivorous marsupial. It was once common on the mainland, but was hunted to extinction around 500 years ago. The Devil is not a particularly agile animal, and so finds it difficult to hunt live prey. As it is primarily a carrion feeder, it has evolved a good sense of smell to sniff out dead or dying animals, and powerful jaws to chase off any other predator already eating the animal. A 10kg animal can exert the same biting pressure of a 40kg dog. Once it has gained control of the dead animal, in a matter of hours, the Devil can consume up to a third of its body weight.

It is these attributes that has made life so difficult for foxes and cats in Tasmania. Although it hasn't been possible to observe Devils chasing dogs, cats or foxes off their kills, paleontologist Stephen Wroe has analysed how they would go in a one-on-one battle and found:

"In one-to-one situations, our results suggest that the devil would easily prevail and even give dingoes [wild dogs] a run for their money."

As well as chasing cats, dogs and foxes off their kills, the Devil is also believed to hunt their young. Fox dens are very smelly, and quickly sniffed out by the Devils. A fox pup is one of the few animals that a Devil has the agility to catch. As a consequence, the foxes that have been introduced to Tasmania, or stowed away on ships, have never been able to establish breeding communities.

Kittens are also a potential target. Fortunately for the mother cat, it can hide them safely in trees, or rock ledges out of the Devil's reach. In areas where such protection is not provided, the cat just hasn't been able to survive.

As well helping the environment by attacking foxes and cats, Devils help farmers by maintaining hygiene. Any dead livestock is quickly consumed thus reducing the threat of blowfly strike. On the downside, Devils have been known to steal lambs and chickens.

Although Devils are popular sights in Tasmania today, in the days of the penal colony, the Devil was unfairly accused of being a sheep thief and a bounty was issued for their destruction. On the verge of extinction, it was only granted protection in 1941. In the absence of predators, its numbers have quickly recovered and until the recent emergence of a cancer, it had been estimated that there were more Devils in Tasmania today than there were prior to the arrival of the English.

In recent years, the dangers of an isolated gene pool has emerged as a serious threat to the Devil. Although yet to grow two heads like many Tasmanians, some Devil populations are suffering a genetic based cancer that kills up to 90 per cent of adults. The need to diversify its gene pool has hastened the necessity to re-populate the Devil in mainland habitats. Not only will re-population correct a historical wrong and ensure the Devil's long-term survival, it will also allow the Australian environment to bite back at the introduced ferals that are pushing Australia's marsupials into extinction.

Icon

1) The Tasmanian Devil is the symbol of the Tasmanian National Parks and Wildlife Service.

2) The Tasmanian VFL team is known as the Devils.

3) The Devil features on the 1994 Gold $200

Industry

1) Zoos - Devils are occasionally sold to zoos.

2) Eco-tourism - Some eco-tourist operators take tourists on small safaris to watch Devils feeding.

3) Pets - Although it is illegal to keep Devils as pets, some people have won their confidence with kindness. They have even put them on a leash and taken them for a walk.

If the law was ever changed, Devils would make great family pets. As an added bonus, native animals, rather than cats, would benefit from cohabitation with humans.

4) Pest controllers - Currently, there is a significant mainland industry built around poisoning cats and foxes. Not only is the industry extremely cruel, it is also ineffective due to the vacuum effect. Once the foxes and cats are eliminated from an area, more simply migrate it.

Breeding Devils as pest controllers will one day be a far more effective industry. It overcomes the vacuum effect, and is also less cruel to foxes and cats.

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