What the Devil?

The world's largest carnivorous marsupial was once the Thylacine, commonly known as the Tasmanian Tiger, a wolf-like beast with stripes on it's back. It was only found in Tasmania, and was once so common that the government put a bounty on their head to stop them from killing sheep. Nowadays, they are about as common as Sasquatch (and incidentally are also used to sell beer). Sightings have ocurred regularly, but the last confirmed flesh-and-blood thylacine died in a Hobart zoo in 1936, and most people consider it extinct.

The Tasmanian devil, also endemic to Tasmania, now holds the honours as largest carnivorous marsupial. They take this title seriously, and will eat anything meat-like that is put in its path - skin, bones, week-old rancid roadkill, they're not fussy. We stopped in at a wildlife sanctuary at devil feeding time, and found out that they make sled dog dinnertime look like tea at your grandmothers; with the tearing, fighting, chasing, and crunching.

They got their name by scaring the hell out of early european explorers with their demonic night-time cries. Devils are mainly nocturnal scavengers, and since everything ends up dead eventually, they've been doing quite well in the wild - until recently. A newly discovered facial tumor disease is wiping out devils all across Tasmania. Efforts are being made to stop the disease, by researching a prevention or cure, and by quarrantining a disease-free population, to reintroduce to the wild if the worst happens. Fortunately, captive-raised devils do well in the wild, as they do not domesticate well (watch your fingers around cute baby devils), and they have few skills to learn, as sniffing out dead things and eating them comes quite naturally.

When Princess Mary's first son Christian was born, the Tasmanian government marked the occasion by giving him four Tasmanian Devils. We can't think of a less appropriate pet for a newborn than a ravenous carnivore that can chomp through human bone - but I imagine little Prince Christian has a few other toys to play with.