With so much of Tasmania dedicated to national parks and reserves, it comes as no surprise that native wildlife is found so readily. You can find wildlife through quiet contemplation in the wild, visit them in a wildlife park environment, or you can take a wildlife tour that will provide an informative commentary on the animal of interest. Below are a few examples of animals that visitors will often ask us about.
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The Tasmanian Devil is perhaps one of our most recognizable animals, thanks in part to the completely different animal Looney Tunes created Tassie Devil. Contrary to the famed cartoon character, our devils don’t spin, but they do make an ungodly screech, which is why the colonial settlers named it as they did.
These days, the world’s largest surviving carnivorous marsupial is considered endangered and is subject to several breeding programs across the state. The parks around Tasmania that participate in the devil breeding program are perhaps your best chance to see this shy, nocturnal animal in person. During your travels, you may also see the ‘Save the Tasmanian Devil Program’ signs, which indicates that the business displaying the sign has set up a donation or awareness program to support the plight of the devil, which has suffered a severe decline due to the Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), a contagious cancer spread amongst the devil population.
Further reading:
Parks and Wildlife - Tasmanian Devil fact sheet
Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment - Save the tasmanian devil program; How you can help
Common wombat
You can encounter common wombats across many areas of Tasmania and we recommend having at least one wombat watching experience during your stay. They are generally nocturnal, but can be found trundling along in broad daylight in areas such as Cradle Mountain (try the Ronny Creek walk) or on Maria Island. If headed for Maria Island, be sure to take the Maria Island Pledge, a promise to respect and keep the wombats wild – an equally important message in other national parks too.
Wombats are a close relative of the koala, which you won’t find in the wild in Tasmania, live in burrows and are particularly well known amongst Tasmanian school children for their square shaped scat.
Further reading:
Parks and Wildlife - Wombat fact sheet
East Coast Tasmania - Maria Island Pledge
Kangaroos and wallabies
There are five species of our hopping marsupial friends that occur across Tasmania. The Forester Kangaroo is the largest of these species and, whilst found commonly on the mainland of Australia, is now restricted to the north eastern corner of Tasmania due to farming activity. The Bennetts wallaby is more likely to be encountered and is almost as common in outlying suburbs of Hobart and Launceston as it is in the wild. A unique population of rare white Bennetts wallabies can also be found inside the South Bruny National Bruny.
The three remaining species of the macropod family found in Tasmania are the pademelon, bettong and potoroo, all commonly found in bushland throughout much of the state.
Further reading:
Parks and Wildlife - Macropod fact sheet
Bird Species
Birdwatching in Tasmania is a popular past-time, for locals and visitors alike. There are at least 262 species of bird living in the wild, with twelve of them endemic to Tasmania alone. You may opt to dabble in the birdwatching hobby and join one of several Little Penguin watching tours, found in all corners of the state, or the more intrepid may take a trip into the Southwest National Park in the hopes of glimpsing the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot.
Take a tour of our coastal waters to admire marine birds such as albatross and, if you’re lucky, the white-bellied sea eagle, or spend a quiet afternoon searching for the forty-spotted pardalote, one of Australia’s rarest birds and only found in southern Tasmania.
Further reading:
Australian Geographic - Guide to Bird Watching in Hobart
Birdlife.org - Birdlife Tasmania
Ausbird - Tasmanian Local Guide
Farm animals
We’d be remiss not to mention farm animals in our round up of Tasmanian wildlife encounters! Farming in Tasmania is such a large part of who we are and there are several farming operations that have opened themselves to visitors to get a better understanding of the creatures we often take for granted.
A great chance to see farm animals is to stay at a farmstay, or bed and breakfast that also operates as a working farm. Try Rathmore, 28 Gates Farmstay, Heimat Chalets or Curringa Farm.
