Bonorong Wildlife Park -Home of the Tasmanian Devil

Total Miles Traveled: 56,296

If you were born before the 80s, chances are you’ve heard of the Tasmanian Devil (or Taz) who is a loveable – if not slightly crazy – cartoon character by Looney Toons.

We were very excited to see the actual Tasmanian Devils, who are not nearly so crazy (they actually sleep 18 hours a day), but who are equally lovable.

Taz Real Tasmanian Devil

The story of the Devil is actually quite sad. The species is dying. Since the late 1990s, devil facial tumour disease has drastically reduced the devil population and now threatens the survival of the species, which in May 2009 was declared to be endangered. This type of cancer is viral and so there are programs in place to keep those not infected from becoming infected. Bonorong is actively engaged in getting Taz off the endangered list, so we wanted to support the park and see the little devils in person. In addition to the devils, they also have other native animals.

This evil looking creature is an emu. This bird emits a deep guttural sound – similar to slapping the end of a PVC pipe – and has teeth-like ridges on its beak… sharp ones too! This emu reminded me of one of the evil dinosaurs from Jurassic Park! I think this one is thinking “I’ll get you my pretty!”

We were very excited to see Kangaroos – or Roos – and we even more thrilled that we got to feed them. We loved interacting with these marsupials! Here’s Tony, and his new friend. Look at the way the Roo cups Tony’s hand.

Here’s a little Roo inside her mom’s pouch!

Check out the long claws…

This little cutie is called an echidna (or, as I call them, ‘enchilada’) yet another marsupial. They have very sharp spikes to fend off prey.

We were surprised how much we loved the wombat – Morris is the baby wombat pictured below. They too sleep about 18 hours a day. Check out the mouth. Later during our trip in Tassie, we got to see the wombat in the wild. They’re adorable!!

One cool thing about the wombat is that they have a “hard butt.” What does that mean? They’ve adapted such that when a predator tries to attack the wombat in its burrow, it turns around and shows its butt. Why? Because the butt is hardened cartilage that when you hit it with your knuckles, it sounds like you’re hitting hard plastic! Neat!

Here’s a frog-mouthed owl awake during the day. He’s a bit cross-eyed.

A koala bear awake – which is rare – since they sleep 20 hours a day.

This koala came out and started groaning repeatedly, which we were told is a way to show dominance over other koalas in the area. He owns this tree, we are merely visitors.