by seeds and moss spore cases.
– The Broad-toothed Rat lives in a complex of runways through the dense vegetation of its wet grass, sedge or heath environment. This relatively warm under-snow space enables it to be active throughout winter.
– The species is also recorded in buttongrass sedgeland up to 1000 metres in western Tasmania.
EASTERN BARRED BANDICOOT
– The eastern barred bandicoot weighs less than 2 kg and has a short tail and three to four whitish bars across the rump. The Eastern barred bandicoot has two separated populations, one on the mainland of Australia and one on the island of Tasmania. The Tasmanian form is somewhat larger than the mainland form as the average adult mass is 750 g in Victoria and 1,000 g in Tasmania.
– Their brown and grey coats are marked with three or four off-white bands and they have whitish bellies and feet. They live a nocturnal, solitary life in grasslands that have dense tussocks and low scrub for shelter.
– Victorian captive breeding programs have been run since the 1980s. In Tasmania, Eastern Barred Bandicoots are faring much better than in Victoria, mostly due to the absence of foxes.
TASMANIAN DEVIL
The Tasmanian Devil is estimated to have become extinct on the Australian mainland around 400 years ago and fossils have been found that prove this.
– The Tasmanian devil is the largest surviving carnivorous marsupial. It has a squat, thick build, with a large head and a tail which is about half its body length. Unusually for a marsupial, its forelegs are slightly longer than its hind legs, and devils can run up to 13 km/h for short distances.
– Young devils can climb trees, but this becomes more difficult as they grow larger. Devils can scale trees of trunk diameter larger than 40 cm, which tend to have no small side branches to hang onto, up to a height of around 2.5—3 m. Devils that are yet to reach maturity can climb shrubs to a height of 4 metres, and can climb a tree to 7 m if it is not vertical. Adult devils may eat young devils if they are very hungry, so this climbing behaviour may be an adaptation to allow young devils to escape. Devils can also swim and have been observed crossing rivers that are 50 metres in width, including icy cold waterways, apparently enthusiastically.
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