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The Tasmanian devil is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae, and was declared endangered in 2008. It was once native to mainland Australia and is now found in the wild only on the island state of Tasmania. Their disappearance from the Australian mainland is usually blamed on dingoes, which are absent from Tasmania. The date of disappearance is not entirely clear, and multiple sources provide conflicting information.

The size of a small dog, the Tasmanian devil became the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world following the extinction of the wolf-sized thylacine in 1936, which preyed on the Tasmanian devil beforehand. It is related to the quoll and distantly related to the thylacine. It is characterized by its stocky and muscular build, black fur, pungent odor, extremely loud and disturbing screech, keen sense of smell, and ferocity when feeding. The Tasmanian devil's large head and neck allow it to generate among the strongest bites per unit body mass of any extant mammal land predator, and it hunts prey and scavenges carrion as well as eating household products if humans are living nearby. Devils have been recorded swimming, and the young can even climb on trees, though difficulty of this task increases as they mature. Young Tasmanian devils are variously called "pups", "joeys", or "imps".

Until 1941, at which point they became protected, they were believed to be implacably vicious threats to livestock. They were hunted for their fur, becoming endangered before their mainland disappearance. They have also been threatened since the 1990s by a type of cancer known as devil facial tumor disease (DFTD). Despite this, conservation efforts have given rise to a small disease-free population of Tasmanian devils on Maria Island, in addition to a small population of devils in the southwest of Tasmania being reportedly DFTD-free. The Australian government has also sent devils to zoos across the globe since 2013 in an effort to conserve the species.

As his name indicates, the Warner Brothers character of the same name (nicknamed "Taz") is a Tasmanian devil, with features of other types of devils. He is often credited with having piqued the general public's interest in saving the species from extinction. In 2006, Warner Bros allowed the Government of Tasmania to sell stuffed toys of Taz and funnel earnings into funding DFTD research.

Not to be confused with tasmanian tiger.

See also:

• mammal
• marsupial
• tasmanian devil
• thylacine