Devils at Cradle Wildlife Park

Adjacent to the main Cradle Mountain visitor precinct directly on Cradle Mountain Road, Devils at Cradle Wildlife Park offers the most reliable Tasmanian devil viewing experience in one of the island state’s most visited natural areas — a small, focused facility dedicated almost entirely to the conservation care and interpretive display of Tasmania’s most iconic and globally recognised marsupial carnivore. The Tasmanian devil, extinct on the Australian mainland for approximately 3,000 years, has faced catastrophic population collapse since the late 1990s due to devil facial tumour disease, a contagious transmissible cancer spread through the biting that characterises devil social interactions. This disease has killed an estimated 80 percent or more of the wild population, representing one of the most rapid wildlife declines ever documented in a mammal species. The wildlife park participates directly in the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program, maintaining a carefully managed insurance population of healthy animals protected from disease exposure while actively supporting breeding efforts and critical ongoing research into potential treatments and immunological responses. Daily keeper-led feeding sessions allow visitors to observe characteristic devil feeding behaviour — the bone-crushing jaw power, the extraordinary territorial aggression over food, and the surprisingly fast movement — at close range with detailed expert commentary on conservation status. The resident devils function as ambassador animals for a conservation crisis of genuine global significance, and the park’s dedicated staff communicate the urgency of the situation with evident personal passion and scientific credibility. Additional resident animals include quolls, wombats, and several Tasmanian bird species rounding out a worthwhile visit.