Category Archives: Tasmanian devils

Tasmanian devils slash population of brushtail possums that ‘overwhelmed’ tiny island

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Possums on Maria Island expanded beyond usual habitat and had become ‘pretty significant predator’

The introduction of Tasmanian devils to Maria Island halved the population of brushtail possums, according to new research that suggests restoring top predators to ecosystems could help limit the number of overabundant prey.

In 2012, the carnivorous marsupials were introduced to the island off the east coast of Tasmania to create a geographically isolated insurance population free from devil facial tumour disease.

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What the devil? Woman mistakes real Tasmanian marsupial for dog toy in Hobart home

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Kirsten Lynch says the Tasmanian devil – who was gently shooed outside – likely followed their golden retriever puppy into the house

Hobart woman Kirsten Lynch got the fright of her life on Wednesday night when she went to pick up her golden retriever’s Tasmanian devil plush toy and it ran away.

“I went to reach for it, the devil shot underneath the couch,” she said.

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Tasmanian devils wipe out thousands of penguins on tiny Australian island

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Marsupials introduced to Maria Island, east of Tasmania, to safeguard their numbers but have decimated birdlife

An attempt to save the Tasmanian devil by shipping an “insurance population” to a tiny Australian island has come at a “catastrophic” cost to the birdlife there, including the complete elimination of little penguins, according to BirdLife Tasmania.

Maria Island, a 116-square-kilometre island east of Tasmania, was home to 3,000 breeding pairs of little penguins around a decade ago.

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