The Tasmanian Devil
Who wouldn’t love a Tasmanian devil?! There are like adorable little dogs! While being quite vicious they are endangered. Which is not a good thing.
It’s stated in the name, but Tasmanian devils are from Tasmania. The population of Tasmanian devils is fastly decreasing. In the article “Tasmanian devil” it states, “In 1996 the number of Tasmanian devils living in Tasmania was estimated to be more than 150,000” (Britannica Encyclopedia Editors). This quote tells you that not too long ago we had a vast amount of Tasmanian devils. Now read this quote, “From 1996 to 2007, however, this figure dwindled by more than 50 percent, and the adult population was thought to number between only 10,000 and 25,000” (Britannica Encyclopedia Editors).
That is an extremely dramatic drop in population. Imagine a state going from a population of 150,000 to 10,000. Not only is it a big drop, but that drop happened in less than 15 years. That is fast. Too fast. Now you may be wondering what caused this dramatic drop.
Sadly, it’s a contagious cancer. It’s called “devil facial tumor disease” or DFTD. This cancer causes very large tumors on the head and mouth. Which then causes eating problems, then leading to starvation and death. Scientists aren’t exactly sure what the cause of this is, but if you click the link below, it will explain more.
Save the Devils!
Works Cited:
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Tasmanian devil". Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 October 2020, https://www.britannica.com/animal/Tasmanian-devil
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