Why are Tasmanian Devils endangered?

Tasmanian Devil

The Tasmanian Devil used to cover all of Australia but now it is limited to the southwest of Tasmania. The Tasmanian Devil is endangered for a number of reasons, one of them is because the farmers believed that it ate large numbers of livestock and poultry. It was exterminated there.

Other reasons include that they are often hit by cars as they feed on other road-killed animals. Also the arrival of the Dingo may have caused their extinction on the mainland probably because they would have competed for the same food.

Some of the Tasmanian devils have been put in captivity so human and/or other animals can't kill or hurt them.

Devil Facial Tumour Disease is rife at present and is another reason for keeping them in captivity. At present, no Devils are being taken into captivity with existing captive animals in the hope that the current captive ones will be kept safe from the spread of this disease. Sadly, this hasn't proved as effective as hoped. The disease spreads through biting - and this is very common in Devils as they are natural fighters, battling tooth and claw for every morsel of food. Only the western third of Tasmania is currently free of the disease.

As the Devil numbers decrease, fox numbers are increasing. These introduced animals hunt and eat Devils, and if the Devil numbers drop too low then there is little hope that the population will ever recover - those remaining will be destroyed by the foxes.

First answer by Glowstick. Last edit by Mosher. Contributor trust: 25 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 50 [recommend question]