TASMANIAN DEVIL
Sarcophilys harrisii

        

BEHAVIOUR
Nocturnal. During the day it usually hides in a den, or dense bush.  It roams considerable distances – up to 16 km – along well-defined trails in search of food.  It usually ambles slowly with a characteristic gait, but can gallop quickly with both hind feet together.  Although not territorial, devils have a home range.  When under stress, produce a strong odour; when calm and relaxed are not smelly. Makes a variety of fierce noises, from harsh coughs and snarls to high pitched screeches.

DIET
Mainly a scavenger and feeds on whatever is available - wallabies and various small mammals and birds, either as carrion (dead animals/road kill) or prey.  Reptiles, amphibians, insects and even sea squirts have been found in the stomachs of devils.  Carcasses of sheep and cattle provide food.  Devils maintain bush and farm hygiene by cleaning up entire carcasses (inclusive bones, feathers, fur, etc.)

STATUS
Wholly protected, threatened.

Breeding Tasmanian devils at Wing's Wildlife Park
At Wing's Wildlife Park we are focused on education about the Tasmanian devil by providing a viewing experience with many Tasmanian devils.  Our visitors include local Tasmanians, school students, interstate and international tourists who all have a keen interest in the devil.  For us to maintain a healthy colony at the park, breeding is very important.  None of our devils have been captured from the wild, our colony was started from orphaned young which were handed in.  All the devils currently in our colony have been bred at the park.

The experienced handlers at the park can identify all the devils in our colony by their markings and form a relationship over the years with the animals.  Due to restrictions the park faces, we only breed small numbers of devils, but our sucess rate is 90-100% when mating females.  The park always trys to maximise the genetic diversity of each individual in the colony by using pairs which are unrelated.

We are noticing changes in the way our devils are breeding.  Mating in the past has started in February with females cycling or coming into estrus twice for the season, if not falling pregnant on the first estrous cycle.  This year devils have shown signs of coming onto estrus as early as mid December 08, two months earlier than normal.  Mating is very aggressive and the estrus period lasts for around 7 days, after which the female fights off the male and they both retire with minor battle scars, just love bites really.  The gestation period for the female is 21 days, and males and females will remain together normally till the end of March.  During this time our devils are very busy with mating, birth of young and being on display for all our visitors. 

Males are removed at the end of March/early May, so the enclosure can be used tohouse the mother devil who now has joeys in her pouch.  The park prefers not to disturb the females until June-July after which the young are stronger and there may be a pouch inspection.  From the end of July onwards joeys will start to become visible outside the pouch.  The young have normally been weaned by the mother during November and are removed from the enclosure in that month.  After this, the adults will be returned to the same enclosure in preparation for the busy tourist season and the approaching breeding season.  Wing's Wildlife Park has very successfully combined the breeding of the Tasmanian devil with visitor display to benefit both the devil and tourists.

So, what happens to all the young devils?  Some devils will be kept at Wing's Wildlife Park to join our colony, while others will be sent to parks around Australia who wish to breed devils at their wildlife parks and zoos.



STRANGEST CHICKEN NAKED NECK
Gallus domesticus

The Naked Neck is the only breed of chicken that is naturally devoid of feathers on its neck. Originating in Central Europe, the breed
is also called the Transylvanian Naked Neck, as well as the Turken. This latter name arose from the mistaken idea that the bird
was a hybrid of a chicken and the domestic turkey. Naked Necks are fairly common in Europe today, but are rare in North America.
The bird originated in Hungary prior to 1000 A.D., making it one of the oldest breeds of chicken on display at the park. Research
indicates the first domestication of chickens occurred 8000 years ago in Southeast Asia, probably close to what is now Thailand.
The first breeds would have come from Gallus gallus or Red Jungle Fowl which can be still found in the wild today in that area.

BREEDING
These birds will set easily and the incubation period is 21-25 days.

BEHAVIOUR
Despite its highly unusual appearance, the breed is not particularly known as an exhibition bird, and is a dual-purpose utility chicken.
They lay a respectable number of light brown eggs, and are considered desirable for meat production because they need less plucking.
The breed is also reasonably cold hardy, despite its featherlessness. Naked Neck roosters carry a single comb, and the neck and head
often become very bright red from increased sun exposure.

DIET
Mixed seed and grain.

STATUS
Uncommon domestic breed.



KOALA
Phascolarctos cinereus

A typical koala has long thick grey fur often with chocolate-brown highlights on the back and forearms, and has
a prominently light-coloured ventral side and fluffy white ear tufts. General weights are 12 kg (26 lb) for males
and 8.5 kg (19 lb) for females. The origins of the koala are unclear, although almost certainly they descended
from terrestrial wombat-like animals. The koala is broadly similar in appearance to the wombat
(their closest living relatives), but has a thicker coat, much larger ears and longer limbs. Its large, sharp
claws assist with climbing tree trunks. The koala like the wombat is also the only marsupials in Australia to
have no tail. The koala can be found in south eastern Australia SA, Vic, NSW and Qld. The Northern Territory,
Western Australia and Tasmania have no koala populations.

BREEDING
This animal becomes sexually mature at 2 years of age and mating is during the summer months
(December through to March). Females produce 1 young per year and are capable of doing so until
14 years of age. The gestation period is 35 days and twins are very rare. Young spend up to 6 months
in the pouch and are then gradually weaned. Once weaning commences the young feed on small amounts
of faeces from the mother called ‘pap’. This builds up micro organism levels in the young koala gut ready
for them to digest eucalyptus leaves. Koalas have no native predators but chlamydia in high density populations can lead to infertility. Over population and thus defoliation of trees from heavy feeding is a problem. This results in tree death, limited food supply and a decrease in population.

BEHAVIOUR
It is generally a silent animal, but males have a very loud advertising call that can be heard from almost a kilometre away during the breeding season. When under stress, koalas may issue a loud cry, which has been reported as similar to that of a human baby. There is little reliable information about the lifespan of the koala, but in captivity they have been observed to reach the age of 18 years. Koalas will normally only come to the ground of a night to move to other trees to feed on. Due to the low level of energy in the koala’s diet they tend to only be active for 2-4 hours of the day and sleep for the remainder of the day. Koalas have no native predators but chlamydia in high density populations can lead to infertility. Over population and thus defoliation of trees from heavy feeding is a problem. This results in tree death, limited food supply and a decrease in population.

DIET
The koala feed only on Eucalyptus or gum tree leaves, of which there are hundreds of species of this tree found around Australia. Individual animals tend to favour some species and this will vary at different times of the year.

STATUS
Common. The range of this animal is changing due to changes in the environment such as urban spread and reduction of food sources through land clearing. This changes the dynamics of populations and can also lead to populations becoming separated in small areas. This makes migration for young males hard and limits the total genetic pool within the species.

WILDLIFE EXHIBITS

Bennetts Wallaby                                            Macropus rufogriseus
Brushtail Possum                                            Trichosurus vulpecula
Common Wombat                                           Vombatus ursinus
Eastern Barred Bandicoot                              Perameles gunnii
Eastern Quoll                                                  Dasyurus viverrinus
Echidna                                                           Tachyglossus aculeatus
Grey Forrester Kangaroo                                Macropus giganteus
Koala                                                               Phascolarctos cinereus
Pademelon                                                      Thylogale billardierii
Ringtail Possum                                              Pseudocheirus peregrinus
Southern Brown Bandicoot                            Isoodon obesulus
Spotted Tail Quoll                                          Dasyurus maculatus
Sugar Glider                                                    Petaurus breviceps
Tasmanian Devil                                             Sarcophilus harrisii
Tasmanian Bettong                                         Bettongia gaimardi

 

AQUATIC EXHIBITS

Albino Rainbow Trout                                    Oncorhynchus mykiss
Atlantic Salmon                                              Salmo salar
Black Fish                                                       Gadopsis marmoratus
Brook Trout                                                    Salvelinus fontinalis
Brown Trout                                                   Salmo trutta
Jollytail Galaxia                                              Galaxias maculatus
Lobster                                                            Asticopsis tricornis
Rainbow Trout                                                Oncorhynchus mykiss
Tiger Trout
Short Finned Eel                                             Anguilla australis

WATER BIRDS

Australian Shelduck                                        Tadorna tadornoides
Black Swan                                                     Cygnus atratus
Cape Barren Goose                                         Cereopsis novaehollandiae
Chinese Goose
Chestnut Teal                                                  Anas castanea
Indian Runner Duck
Khaki Campbell Duck
Muscovy Duck
Native (water) Hen                                         Gallinula mortierii
Pacific Black Duck                                         Anas superciliosa
Pekin Duck
Toulouse Goose
Wood Duck                                                    Chenonetta jubata

PARROTS

Bourke Parrot                                                  Neophema bourkii
Cockatiel                                                         Nymphicus hollandicus
Eastern Rosella                                               Platycercus eximius
Galahs                                                             Cacatua roseicapilla
Green Rosella                                                  Platycercus caledonicus
Lovebird                                                         Agapornis personata
Peachface Lovebird                                        Agapornis roseicollis
Princess Parrot                                                Polytelis alexandrae
Quakker Parrot                                                Myiopsitta monachus
Regent Parrot                                                  Polytelis anthopeplus
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo                              Cacatua galerita
Turquoise Parrot                                              Neophema pulchella

BIRDS 

Blackbird                                                        Turdus merula
Black Currawong                                            Strepera fuliginosa
Chukar Partridge                                             Alectoris chukar
Crow                                                               Corvus tasmanicus
Emu                                                                 Dromaius novaehollandiae
Guinea Fowl                                                   Numida meleagris
Laughing Kookaburra                                     Dacelo novaeguineae
Magpie                                                            Gymnorhina tibicen
Naked Neck Chicken                                      Gallus domesticus
Ostrich                                                                        Struthio camelus
Polish Chicken                                                Gallus domesticus
Starling                                                            Sturnus vulgaris
Turkey                                                             Meleagris gallopavo
Yellow Wattlebird                                          Anthochaera paradoxa

 

 

 

Wing's Wildlife Park Tasmania............about the park....animals....accommodation....attractions....history....guided tours... contact ... links


see your devils, wombats, kangaroos koalas at Wing's Wildlife Park, Gunns Plains, Tasmania - the wildlife park with accomodation.