Where Tasmania’s wild things are
Isolated for more than 10,000 years, Tasmania is a safe haven for some of Australia’s rarest wildlife and many creatures that are found nowhere else on Earth.
Sprawling, protected wilderness covers more than 40 per cent of the island, and along the 5400km of picturesque coastline, 21 marine reserves help shelter breathtaking ecosystems.
As you discover Tasmania’s rugged landscape, keep your eyes peeled for its unique inhabitants. Many of these species rely on ongoing conservation efforts to survive, making every sighting and sanctuary experience a special reminder why protecting the island’s wilderness is so vital.
Here are six creatures, from the devilish to the diminishing, to look for while exploring Tasmania’s wild side.
1. Tasmanian devil
Where to see them up close: Devils@Cradle, Cradle Mountain; Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, Brighton
Despite its roguish name, haunting shrieks and record-breaking jaw strength, the Tasmanian devil (pictured above) is more bark than bite, but still best admired from a distance. As scavengers, they rarely hunt, instead acting as natures carrion clean-up crew. Sadly, through loss of habitat, road accidents and the Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), more than 80 per cent of the wild Tasmanian devil population has been wiped out.
Conservation efforts including vaccines and breeding programs like those at Devils@Cradle and Bonorong are showing promising signs of pulling this unique creature back from the brink. Witness the mayhem and hear the commotion up close during an after-dark feeding frenzy experience, available at both sanctuaries.
2. White wallabies
Where to see them: Adventure Bay, Bruny Island
Thanks to Bruny Island’s isolation and lack of predators, white Bennett’s wallabies have been able to thrive. Estimates suggest more than 200 of these striking creatures, either with full albinism (white fur with pink eyes, nose and claws) or partial leucism (white or mottled fur and regular eye pigmentation), call the island home.
They can be found all over Bruny Island, which is a two-hour drive plus a short ferry ride from Hobart. Your best chance of spotting them is near the entrance to South Bruny National Park at dawn or dusk.
3. Red and spotted handfish
Where to see them up close: Seahorse World, Beauty Point
Some of the 14 species of handfish have been declared extinct and the remainder are threatened or critically endangered, like the red handfish and the spotted handfish. This makes the Hands of Hope exhibit one of the few opportunities you’ll have to see this evolutionary oddity up close. Truly a fish that has forgotten how to be a fish, the handfish uses its peculiar pectoral fins that look like little hands to ‘walk’ and waddle along the seabed. There are only about 100 red handfish in the wild.
To ensure their survival, keep clear of the wild population’s waters, and instead see them up close at Seahorse World. Your admission ticket gives the fish a much-needed hand in their fight for survival.
4. Tasmanian pademelon
Where to see them: Throughout Tasmania
It’s called the Tasmanian pademelon, but it was once found throughout the southern mainland, too. The pocket-sized pademelon – which looks like a cross between a wallaby and a mouse – is the smallest of the macropod family.
While not endangered on the island state, you’ll need to be on the lookout when driving. These tiny hoppers may dart across the road, especially at dusk and dawn, in areas where virtual fencing isn’t in place.
5. Forty-spotted pardalote
Where to see them: Bruny Island; Maria Island
Both Bruny and Maria Island are paradise for bird watchers. Bruny Island provides a haven to all of Tasmania’s 12 endemic bird species, while Maria Island is home to all but one. Almost the entire population of one of Australia’s rarest birds, the forty-spotted pardalote, can be found on Maria and Bruny Island. While its name suggests otherwise, the forty-spotted pardalote can have as many as 60 white spots on its wings.
If you’re lucky and hear its low-pitched ‘where…where…’ call, you’d better hope your eyesight is up for the task as the tiny bird, with its distinctive white spots and yellow-green feathers, is also one of the smallest birds in Australia.
6. Eastern and spotted-tail quoll
Where to see them up close: Devils@Cradle, Cradle Mountain; Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, Brighton
Quolls might look like adorable, mousey marsupials with their bright pink noses, but they’re fierce, fearless and ferocious killing machines, especially the spotted-tail quoll. Tassie devils will arrive on the scene to mop up the quoll’s scraps.
While eastern quolls have recently been carefully reintroduced to the mainland after being declared extinct in 1963, you have a better chance of seeing them in Tasmania, especially at one of the sanctuaries or on a night tour of Cradle Mountain.
Honourable mentions
Once you leave Tasmania’s built-up areas, wombats, echidnas, wallabies and kangaroos are reasonably common. You might spot some native hens, now extinct on the mainland, affectionately nicknamed ‘turbo chooks’ by locals. There are numerous places where you may see the shy platypus, and don’t forget to look to the skies to see the enormous Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle.
One animal you can sadly only see in a museum is the thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian tiger. Tours venture deep into the heart of ‘tiger country’, the cool climate rainforest of the Tarkine Wilderness in Tasmania’s north, pointing out the last known hiding spots – a haunting reminder of what can be lost if we aren’t careful.
Meet the locals
Find Tasmania’s feathered and furry friends for yourself on a self-drive tour with Tasmanian Vacations. Explore at your own pace without a tour group, with accommodation, care hire, national parks passes and tours included.
Until 19 December 2025, Tasmanian Vacations is offering $100 of free petrol if you stay for a minimum of 10 nights and $150 of free petrol if you stay for a minimum of 14 nights. They’ve also purchased carbon offsets to the value of petrol to promote a more environmentally friendly touring holiday.
Go wild in Tasmania
See Tassie from top to toe with a Tasmanian Vacations road trip adventure.