How many live in Tasmania?
A. It is very difficult to give an exact answer, with numbers thought to be within the range of 10,000 – 100,000 individuals. But if pressed to more precise, the best estimate based on current data (December 2006) is between 20,000 – 50,000 mature individuals (which is assumed to be about half the overall numbers). There are a variety of reasons why it is difficult to be more precise. But one of the biggest challenges is that there are population number estimates for only a few places across the State – most of which were chosen for trapping because they were high density before the Tasmanian devil disease. Good estimates for anywhere in the World Heritage Area, for instance, aren’t available because there are no roads and it’s hard to check traps on a daily basis. One population figure has been based on the fact that estimates in the mid ’90s ranged between 130,000 -150,000 individuals. Spotlighting data indicates an overall population decline of 27 per cent from then until 2001-03. I
