Tasmanian Devil

Many people have seen Looney Tunes’ Tasmanian Devil. But the cartoon depiction bears little actual resemblance to the now endangered animal. Like most animals, this one is an interesting reminder of the diversity of species that roam the Earth.

Tasmanian Devil

The Looney Tunes Tasmanian Devil is also named Taz. Davil May Hare, a cartoon short released in 1954, was its first appearance. He tries to eat Bugs Bunny but keeps getting embarrassed by the rascally rabbit . Many people didn’t like him, so the studio ditched the character. But he was revived in the late fifties after Warner Brothers received a lot of positive fan mail. In the 1990′s he was given the nickname “Taz.” Warner Brothers suddenly had a new popular character. Tiny Toons created a child version known as “Dizzy Devil”.

There were a few similarities between the animal and the cartoon Tasmanian Devil, such as a wild eating style. Taz has some things in common with a horned devil. In reality these animals look a lot like stout, strong dogs. They store fat in their tails which make up about half of their overall length. Thus a thin tailed one is generally unhealthy.

A Tasmanian Devil can run quickly. They can run at about 8 miles per hour for short distances. They use their whiskers as detection devices for night hunting. They don’t see very well. If something isn’t moving it may as well be invisible.

The Tasmanian Devil has the strongest bite, pound for pound, of any mammal. The power comes from a large head and from teeth that never stop growing. They can live 6 years in the wild, but longer in a zoo.

No other Australian mammal is larger than the Tasmanian Devil. It’s now only on the Island of Tasmania. After the Thylacine became extinct in the 1930′s, the threat to the Tasmanian Devil was recognized. They were hunted to near extinction by people who felt they were a nuisance. They were even considered a good meal.

Tasmanian Devil

Currently the Tasmanian Devil is a protected species.