Did you know Tasmania’s wedge-tailed eagle is the biggest bird of prey in all of Australia? Its wings can stretch over 2 meters wide—that’s longer than the tallest grown-up you know! These magnificent birds live all over Tasmania, from the highlands to the coast. If you are lucky, you might spot one soaring high above, searching for its next meal. Just look for its special wedge-shaped tail.

Wedge-tailed eagles have incredible eyesight. They can squeeze their eyeballs to zoom in, just like a camera! This helps them spot their prey from high up in the sky.

When it comes to building their homes, wedge-tailed eagles are expert architects. They create giant nests out of twigs and line them with bark to make them comfy. A pair of eagles might build several nests, but they usually have a favourite one where they come back every year to lay eggs and care for their chicks. They like to build these nests in old growth forests perched in some of the tallest trees.

If you ever find an eagle’s nest, it is important to keep your distance. Wedge-tailed eagles can get very nervous if people come too close. If they feel scared, they might leave their eggs or chicks unprotected—or even abandon the nest for good! Loud noises and activity nearby can upset them too.
Unfortunately, wedge-tailed eagles face many dangers. Logging and other human activities can make it hard for them to find good homes. And while their eyes are good at spotting prey, they sometimes don’t see power lines or wind turbines and can accidentally fly into them.

With fewer than 1,000 wedge-tailed eagles left in Tasmania, we need to help protect them. Scientists at the University of Tasmania are helping by using ‘GPS backpacks’ to track the eagles’ movements. This helps them understand how things like noise near nesting sites and wind farms affect them. Architecture students have also been investigating ways to design perches on electrical distribution poles. In farming areas with few trees, this would provide the eagles with a safe place to land without risk of electrocution.

By understanding more about these amazing birds, we can work together to keep them safe and make sure they stay in Tasmania for many years to come!

Tasmanian Devils are one of the most unique animals in the world. For starters you can only find them on the island of Tasmania!

They are nocturnal creatures, meaning they are active at night and sleep during the day. While they might look scary when they growl and open their mouths to reveal their big teeth, Tasmanian devils are actually quite shy. This can make them difficult to see, but you might hear their eerie howls echoing through the forests at night. This is how they got the name “devils” from early European settlers.

Tasmanian devils are scavengers. This means they mostly eat animals that are already dead. Their strong sense of smell helps them sniff out food from far away. Did you know that for their size, Tasmanian Devils have the strongest bite force for their size of any mammal alive today? They use their strong jaws to crunch through bones and skin and their long whiskers to keep a safe distance from each other. And they are not fussy eaters—they will eat everything! If no one disturbs them, they can eat almost 40% of their bodyweight in 30 minutes. Can you imagine how much food that would be for you?

Although they are quite common in Tasmania, sadly many devils have been getting sick because of a disease called Devil Facial Tumour Disease. This disease causes lumps to grow on their faces, making it hard for them to eat and survive. Tasmanian devils are now listed as an endangered species. Scientists at the University of Tasmania are working hard to protect them by trying to find a cure for the disease and using special technology to track healthy and sick devils.

Do you want to know more? Check out the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania website:

The Maugean skate is an extraordinary and mysterious sea creature. It has been around for a very long time—scientists believe it has swum in the waters around Tasmania since the time of the dinosaurs! This unique skate in the only one in the world that likes to live in dark murky waters. And the only place in the world that you can find them is Macquarie Harbour in the south-west of Tasmania.

You might hear some locals on the west Coast of Tasmania call it the ‘spiky skate’. They do have thorns on their tails, but they are not poisonous. The Maugean skate is a master of disguise, hiding in the soft mud at the bottom of the harbour. With their flat body and dark, patterned skin it is perfectly camouflaged. The crustaceans that it feeds on would never see it coming!

Scientist are calling for urgent conservation as the population is shrinking rapidly. Almost half have disappeared in only a few years. Threats to the Maugean skate include loss of habitat, pollution, climate change and accidentally getting caught in fishing nets. But, there is some good news. Recently scientists found more young Maugean skates in Macquarie Harbour than they have seen in nearly a decade. Marine ecologists from the University of Tasmania are also working to save the Maugean skate by breeding them in captivity. In fact, the first ever Maugean skate born in captivity celebrated its first birthday on Christmas eve in 2024. What did it get for its birthday? A special treat—a dog toy filled with squid, prawns and oily fish. Yum!

Scientists will continue to monitor the Maugean skate closely to ensure it doesn’t disappear forever. You can see how they catch and tag these fascinating creatures in the wild by checking out this video:

How can you tell the difference between a spotted-tailed quoll and an eastern quoll? By its spotty tail of course! The spotted tailed quoll is lighter in colour than the eastern quoll and has white spots on its tail as well as all over its body and legs. While they might look cute, look out—they have razor sharp teeth and a powerful bite.

They are also known as the ‘tiger quoll’ and are one of the closest living relatives to the Thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger. They are amazing hunters and one of the top predators in Tasmania—second only to the Tasmanian devil. Quolls mostly hunt on the ground, but they are also excellent climbers and can launch themselves from high branches to unsuspecting prey below. When not out hunting, quolls like to hide in dens in hollow logs, caves, rock crevices and even under buildings.

You can find spotted-tailed quolls all over Tasmania, but they are still considered to be a vulnerable species. We know that human activity has a major impact on wildlife. But did you know that changes in the Tasmanian devil population are directly affecting the spotted-tailed quoll? With fewer Tasmanian devils around due to the devil facial tumour disease, there is less competition for food. Scientists have discovered that this is changing the hunting habits of the quoll. Instead of being most active just before dawn, you are now more likely to see a spotted-tailed quoll in the early evening when hunting is at its best. It is even starting to change their genetic make-up as traveling to find food and escaping from devils becomes less important.

Understanding these relationships between different living things and the environment is what we call ecology. Scientists know a lot about the world, but there is always so much more to learn. What are you curious about?

Did you know that not all wombats are the same? Tasmania is home to two distinct types of wombat. One of these, the Bass Strait wombat, lives only on Flinders Island and Maria Island.

All wombats are herbivores, which means they only eat plants. In fact, wombats are the largest burrowing herbivores in the world. Their burrows can stretch up to 20m long—that is longer than a big bus! Researchers think that a single bare-nosed wombat can move 3.3 tonnes of soil every year. For the wombat population on Flinders Island, that is more than 60 Olympic-sized swimming pools of soil!

One of the most valuable studies of wombat burrows was made by a schoolboy called Peter in 1960. Even expert scientists refer to it today! Peter only had a torch, spade and mattock for his investigations, but today scientists study burrows using radar and robotic vehicles.

Wombats have several different burrows and change which burrows they sleep in every few days. Since wombats do not like the heat, their burrows offer a cool, safe place to rest during the day. These burrows also protect the wombats from hazards like bushfires.

Wombats help the environment by fertilising the soil with their poo, called ‘scats’. They can produce up to 100 scats in one night! Wombats use their scats to communicate and leave them in easy-to-spot places, such as on logs, rocks and in the middle of trails. Wombat poo is cube-shaped, which keeps it from rolling away. Next time you are out in the bush, can you spot some wombat poo?

The red handfish is extremely rare—in fact, it is one of the rarest fish in the world! Scientists think there are only around 100 left in the wild. It is only found on two tiny areas of reef in the south-east of Tasmania, each about as long as an Olympic Swimming pool.

As its name suggests, the red handfish it is red in colour with giant ‘hands’. These hands are actually fins, but they use them to ‘walk’ along the bottom of the ocean rather than swim. They are also very small – about the size of a popsicle stick in length.

You can see some red handfish that have been bred in captivity in this video.

This is how they have been described:

“imagine dipping a toad in some brightly coloured paint, telling it a sad story, and forcing it to wear gloves two sizes too big”

Do you think it is a good description? How would you describe them to someone who has never seen one before?

Scientists at the University of Tasmania track each red handfish individually. They can tell them apart by their unique markings. With so few around, they are very hard to find so researchers team up with members of the community to help keep an eye on them.

You can see each fish and the names they have been given on the Handfish Conservation Project website. Meet Beserky, Froggy, Glitter, Prince Pickles Spotty Spot Spot and more here:

Like the red handfish, the spotted handfish is found only in south-eastern Tasmania and each one has unique spotty markings. They are more common than the red handfish, but they are still endangered.

Handfish face threats from climate change, pollution and habitat destruction. Scientists are trying to save the handfish from extinction by tracking populations, breeding them in captivity, and improving their habitat. Even artists have been getting involved, designing and making new habitats for the fish to lay eggs.

You can watch a video about a collaboration between artist Jane Bamford and the CSIRO Handfish Conservation program here: