Tasmanian Devil Becomes Official State Emblem

According to environment minister Matthew Groom, the marsupial is recognised anywhere in the world to be from Tasmania. “Declaring a formal animal emblem provides us with an opportunity to recognise, celebrate and promote our unique native fauna, particularly the Tasmanian devil,” he said.

The decision on making the animal the state emblem would raise awareness on the disease commonly experienced by the devil, the devil facial tumour disease. Reports say that the disease has contributed greatly to the decline in Tasmanian devil population, with predictions that it can also lead to their extinction.

Reports state that an estimated 90 percent of the devil’s population in the wild has been reduced due to the infectious tumour disease. In 2014, a successful breeding program for Tasmanian devil resulted in the lessened threat to extinction.

Perth Now reports that Greg Irons, director for Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary said that the news was “awesome”. According to him, there is no negative to the decision passed by the government since Tasmania is the only state that didn’t have an animal emblem until now. “I think if we want to be clean, green Tasmania, enticing tourists with wilderness … it’s crucial we have an emblem,” Irons said.

The devil now joins other animals as official emblems to different Australian states. The koala is Queensland’s official animal emblem; the numbat for Western Australia; the platypus for New South Wales; the leadbeater’s possum for Victoria; and the southern hairy-nosed wombat for South Australia.

There is no official animal emblem for the Australian Capital Territory, but it has an official bird emblem, which is the gang-gang cockatoo. The Northern Territory has the crocodile as its animal emblem.