The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is the world’s largest surviving carnivorous marsupial, recognized by its stocky build and powerful jaws. This animal is currently listed as endangered due to a transmissible cancer. While the species once roamed widely across the continent, its native location for millennia has been the island state of Tasmania, situated off the southeastern coast of mainland Australia.
The Native Range of Tasmania
Tasmanian devils are widely distributed across almost all of Tasmania, inhabiting areas from the coastlines up to the subalpine regions, avoiding only the highest mountainous terrain. They thrive in diverse habitats, including coastal heaths, dry sclerophyll forests, and mixed woodlands. Devils frequently use the interface between native bushland and agricultural land, where they scavenge on carrion and hunt prey near farms.
Dens are typically constructed in sheltered locations, such as under rocks, inside hollow logs, or within old wombat burrows. Population density has been severely affected in recent decades by the infectious Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD). This disease, first detected in the mid-1990s, has caused an estimated decline of over 80% in the wild devil population.
This disease has resulted in significant population shifts, making the remaining wild populations fragmented across their historic range. Despite the decline, approximately 25,000 wild individuals were estimated to remain in Tasmania as of 2020. Conservation efforts focus on managing the disease and maintaining disease-free populations in isolated areas like Maria Island.
Historical Presence and Mainland Extinction
The Tasmanian devil was not always restricted to Tasmania. Archaeological findings confirm they once inhabited regions across the Australian mainland, spanning from Queensland through New South Wales and South Australia. However, the devil became extinct on the mainland approximately 3,000 to 3,500 years ago.
This disappearance coincided with the arrival and spread of the dingo (Canis dingo) across the continent. The dingo, a more efficient, pack-hunting predator, outcompeted the devil for prey and may have actively predated the marsupial. Since the dingo was prevented from crossing the Bass Strait, Tasmania became the devil’s last natural refuge.
The Mainland Reintroduction Zones
In 2020, conservation groups initiated a program to re-establish the Tasmanian devil on mainland Australia for the first time in millennia. These modern populations are restricted to specific, highly managed zones designed to serve as an “insurance population” against the DFTD in Tasmania. One of the most prominent reintroduction sites is located within the Barrington Tops region of New South Wales, north of Sydney.
The animals were released into a large, predator-proof fenced sanctuary managed by the organization Aussie Ark. This sanctuary spans an area of approximately 400 to 500 hectares, providing a protected, semi-wild environment. The initial release involved 26 disease-free adults, with the goal of establishing a stable, breeding population free from introduced predators like feral cats and foxes.
The success of this initial release was confirmed with the birth of joeys in the mainland sanctuary shortly after the reintroduction. While they are not yet widespread across the mainland, these fenced sanctuaries are a deliberate conservation strategy to restore the species to a portion of its former continental range.