Tasmanian Devil A Deadly Tale of Survival

About this book

At night their shrieks and growls echo through the Tasmanian bush, and they are famous for their ferocious bite and scavenging habits. In fact the Tasmanian devil is quite shy and solitary, and one of Australia's most treasured native animals.

This is the story of the world's largest living marsupial carnivore, packed with information that has either never been published or is found only in scientific publications.

Until 3000 years ago, the devil lived in the great eastern forests on mainland Australia. Now confined to Tasmania, it was ravaged by a facial tumour disease that threatened its existence. Tasmanian Devil recounts the fascinating story of its rescue from the brink.

Contents

Introduction
1. Beelzebub's pup: a reappraisal of the Tasmanian devil
2. Evolution and extinction
3. Relationships in the wild
4. 'Made for travelling rough': devil ecology
5. Devils and Europeans, 1803-1933
6. Demonising the Devil
7. Exploiting the Devil
8. Lure of the Devil
9. In the matter of the Society and the Board
10. From Antichrist to ambassador
11. In captivity
12. 'The spinning animal from Tasmania'
13. Owning the devil: Tasmania and Warner Bros.
14. Devil Facial Tumour Disease

Notes
Select bibliography
Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

David Owen is the author of 19 fiction and nonfiction titles, including Thylacine: The Tragic Tale of the Tasmanian Tiger and Shark: In Peril in the Sea. He is the Official Secretary of the Governor of Tasmania.

David Pemberton is a wildlife biologist and former manager of the Tasmanian Government's Save the Tasmanian Devil Program. He is co-editor of Saving the Tasmanian Devil and co-author of Thylacine: The Tragic Tale of the Tasmanian Tiger with David Owen.