Tasmania
is an Australian island and state of the same name. It is
located 200 kilometres (125 mi) south of the eastern side
of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait.
The state of Tasmania includes the island of Tasmania, and
other surrounding islands. Tasmania has a population of
484,700 (March 2005, ABS) and an area of 68,332 square kilometres
(26,383 sq mi).
Tasmania promotes
itself as the Natural State and the "Island of Inspiration"
owing to its large, and relatively unspoiled natural environment.
Formally, almost 37% of Tasmania is in reserves, National
Parks and World Heritage Sites. The island is 364 kilometers
long from the northernmost point to the southernmost point,
and 306 kilometers from west to east.
The state capital
and largest city is Hobart, which encompasses the local
government areas of City of Hobart, City of Glenorchy and
City of Clarence. Other major population centres include
Launceston in the north, and Devonport and Burnie in the
northwest.
The subantarctic
Macquarie Island is also under the administration of the
state, as part of the Huon Valley Council local government
area.
History
Main article: History of Tasmania
Physical
prehistory
It is believed that the island was joined to the mainland
until the end of the most recent ice age approximately 10,000
years ago.
Much of the
island is composed of Jurassic dolerite, a basaltic intrusion
of magma that upwelled through other rock types and formed
large columnar crystals as it cooled. Tasmania has the world's
largest areas of dolerite, with many distinctive mountains
and cliffs formed from this rock type. The Central Plateau
and the southeast portions of the island are mostly dolerite.
Mt. Wellington above Hobart is a good example, with the
Organ Pipes showing the distinct columns. In the southwest,
Precambrian quartzites are formed from very ancient sea
sediments and form strikingly sharp ridges and ranges, such
as Federation Peak or Frenchman's Cap. In the northeast,
granites can be seen at Freycinet. In the northwest and
west, mineral rich volcanic rock can be seen at Mt. Read
near Rosebery, or at Mt. Lyell near Queenstown. Also present
in the south and northwest are limestones in which some
magnificent caves can be found.
The quartzite
and dolerite in the higher mountains show evidence of glaciation
and much of Australia's glaciated landscape is found on
the Central Plateau and the Southwest. The combination of
these different rock types offers incredible scenery, much
of it distinct from any other regions of the world.
Indigenous people
Main article: Tasmanian Aborigines
Map of the Tasmanian tribes, 1803Tasmania was first inhabited
by the Tasmanian Aborigines, and evidence indicates their
presence in the region, later to become an island, at least
35,000 years ago (rising sea levels cut Tasmania off from
mainland Australia about 10,000 years ago). The Aboriginal
people in Tasmania were divided into nine main ethnic groups
(see map). The indigenous population at the time of British
settlement in 1803 has been estimated at between 5,000 and
10,000 people, but through persecution (see Black War and
Black Line) and disease the population had dwindled to 300
in 1833. The entire indigenous population was moved to Flinders
Island by George Augustus Robinson at this time. Truganini
(1812-1876) is generally recognised as the last full-blooded
Tasmanian Aborigine, although there is strong evidence that
it was in fact Fanny Cochrane Smith, who was born at Wybalena,
and died in 1905.
European arrival
The first reported sighting of Tasmania by a European was
on November 24, 1642 by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman who
named the island Anthoonij van Diemenslandt, after his sponsor,
the Governor of the Dutch East Indies. The name was later
shortened to Van Diemens Land by the British. Captain James
Cook also sighted the island in 1777, and numerous other
European seafarers made landfalls, adding a colourful array
to the names of topographical features.
The first settlement
was by the British at Risdon Cove on the eastern bank of
the Derwent estuary in 1803, by a small party sent from
Sydney, under Lt. John Bowen for the purpose of preventing
the French from claiming the island. An alternative settlement
was established by Captain David Collins 5 km to the south
in 1804 in Sullivan's Cove on the western side of the Derwent,
where fresh water was more plentiful. The latter settlement
became known as Hobart Town or Hobarton, later shortened
to Hobart, after the British Colonial Secretary of the time,
Lord Hobart. The settlement at Risdon was later abandoned.
The early settlers
were mostly convicts and their military guards, with the
task of developing agriculture and other industries. Numerous
other convict-based settlements were made in Van Diemens
Land, including secondary prisons, such as the particularly
harsh penal colonies at Port Arthur in the southeast and
Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast.
Van Diemen's
Land was proclaimed a separate colony from New South Wales,
with its own judicial establishment and Legislative Council,
on December 3, 1825.
World attention
Although the state is seldom in the world news, global attention
has turned to Tasmania a few times. Tasmania was badly affected
by the 1967 Tasmanian fires in which there was major loss
of life and property. In the 1970s the state government
announced plans to flood environmentally significant Lake
Pedder. The collapse of the Tasman Bridge when struck by
the bulk ore carrier MV Lake Illawarra in 1975 made crossing
the River Derwent at Hobart almost impossible. National
and international attention surrounded the No Dams campaign
for the Franklin River in the early 1980s. This contributed
to the start of the Green movement.
Tasmania has
received a position in the top ten of several popular international
tourism publications.
On April 28,
1996 in the incident now known as the Port Arthur Massacre,
lone gunman Martin Bryant shot dead 35 people (including
tourists and residents) and injured 37 others. The use of
firearms was immediately reviewed, and new gun ownership
laws were adopted nationwide, with Tasmania's law one of
the strictest in the nation.
The Sydney
to Hobart Yacht Race is an annual blue-water sailing event
that attracts foreign media attention.
On May 14,
2004 the royal wedding of former Hobart woman Mary Donaldson
to Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, and their subsequent
visit in 2005, again drew some international attention to
the state.
In April 2006
the Beaconsfield Gold Mine created world media attention
when a minor earthquake triggered a mine collapse that killed
one person and trapped two others underground for fourteen
days.
Geography
Main article: Geography of Tasmania
Tasmania mapTasmania is a rugged island of temperate climate,
and was considered so similar in some ways to pre-industrial
England that it was referred to by some English colonists
as 'a Southern England'.
Tasmania has
been volcanically inactive in recent geological times, and
has rugged mountain ranges more similar to New Zealand than
mainland Australia.
The most mountainous
regions are the Central Highlands and south western areas,
which cover most of the central, west and south west parts
of the state. The central east area (the Midlands) is fairly
flat by comparison, and is predominantly used for agriculture,
although various types of farming activity can be seen all
around the state.
The West Coast
has a high rainfall which powers most of the hydro-electric
projects, and its earnings from mineral activities are significant.
The West Coast Range has some of the better known West Coast
mines on its slopes – notably the Mount Lyell mine.
The Southwest
region, in particular, is densely forested, the National
Park holding some of the last temperate rainforests in the
world. Management of such an isolated and inaccessible area
has been made easier and more reliable with the advent of
satellite imaging.
Cataract Gorge, near LauncestonMost of the population lives
on and around the coastal rivers – the Derwent and
the Tamar and Mersey Rivers in the north.
The temperate
climate (Tasmania is the only Australian state with any
land south of the 40th parallel), rustic environment and
numerous historic features make Tasmania a popular choice
for retirees who prefer a temperate climate over a tropical
one such as Queensland. Tasmania receives some snow in the
highlands during winter months, but very little in significantly
populated areas.
Tasmania is
separated from the Australian mainland by Bass Strait, one
of the roughest bodies of water in the world[citation needed],
primarily a result of its shallow depth (typically around
60 m) and its susceptibility to Indian and Pacific Ocean
currents and swells. (Unlike official worldwide usage, most
Australians use the term Southern Ocean for the water west
and southwest of Tasmania.)
Climate, soils and vegetation
Tasmania is located at latitude 42° South, longitude
147° East, right in the pathway of the notorious "Roaring
Forties" wind that encircles the globe. The Tasmanian
climate is extremely variable with high fluctuations in
temperature and wind speed during the average week.
Summer lasts
from December to February when the average maximum temperature
at sea level is 21 °C (70 °F). Winter is from June
to August with an average maximum temperature at sea level
of 12 °C (54 °F). Inland, temperatures are much
cooler. Liawenee on the Central Plateau is regarded as the
coldest place in Australia with temperatures even in February
ranging only from a still-cold minimum of 4 °C (39 °F)
to a delightful maximum of 17 °C (63 °F). In winter
the Central Plateau ranges from around -2 °C (28 °F)
to 3 °C (37 °F), with much, though very soft, snow.
Highest maximum
temperature: 40.8 °C (105.4 °F), Hobart, 4 January
1976
Lowest minimum
temperature: -13.0 °C (8.6 °F), Butlers Gorge and
Shannon, 30 June 1983.
Rainfall in
Tasmania follows a complicated pattern rather analogous
to that found on large continents at the same latitude in
the northern hemisphere. On the western side rainfall incrases
from around 1,600mm (64 inches) at Strahan on the coast
up to 2,700mm (110 inches) at cradle Valley in the highlands.
There is a strong winter maximum in rainfall: January and
February typically averages between 30 and 40 percent the
rainfall of July and August, though even in the driest months
rain usually falls on every second day and the number of
rainy days per year is much greater than on any part of
the Australian mainland. Further east in the Lake Country,
annual rainfall declines to around 900mm (35 inches), whilst
in the Midlands, annual rainfall is as low as 450mm (18
inches) at Ross and generally below 600mm (24 inches). Here
the rainfall is more evenly distributed than in the west,
and most months receive very similar averages.
The densely
populated northern coast is a much drier version of the
western side, with annual rainfall ranging from 710mm (28
inches) at Launceston to 1,050mm (42 inches) at Burnie in
the west and Scottsdale in the east. Most rain falls in
winter and in summer the average can be as low as 35mm (1.5
inches) per month in the Lower Tamar. The east coast is
wetter than the Midlands, with an average annual rainfall
ranging from 1,000mm (40 inches) at St. Helens to around
640mm at Swansea. Herre the rainfall is evenly distributed
over the year but can be very erratic as heavy rainfalls
from the warm Tasman Sea are quite frequent. Whereas a three-day
fall of 125mm (5 inches) occurs only once every fifty years
the north coast, it occurs on average once every four or
five years around Swansea and Bicheno, and on 7-8 June 1954
there were many falls as large as 230mm (9 inches) in two
days in that area. The east coast is sometime called the
"sun coast" because of its sunny climate due to
the rain shadow of the prevailing westerly winds.
Tasmania's
reputation in Australia for having high rainfall, however,
differs from the true situation: several sections of inland
Tasmania, together with Flinders Island, were declared drought-affected
areas by the state government on 1 May 2007.
Soils
Despite the presence of some Quaternary glaciation, Tasmania's
soils are no more fertile than those of mainland Australia,
largely because most are severely leached and the areas
with driest climate (thus least leaching) were unaffected
by glaciation or alluvia derived therefrom. Most soils on
the Bass Strait Islands, the east coast and western Tasmania
are very infertile Spodosols or Psamments, with some even
less fertile "lateritic podzolic soils" in the
latter region. Most of these lands are thus not used for
agricutlure, but there is much productive forestry - which
remains the economic mainstay of the state.
On the north
coast, apart from some relatively fertile alluvial soils
used for fruit growing, there are also deep red, easily
workable soils known as "krasnozems" ("red
land"). These soils are highly acidic and fix phosphate
very effectively, but their extremely favourable physical
properties make them extensively used for dairying, beef
cattle and fodder crops.
The Midlands
and the Lower Derwent present a different story from the
rest of the state. Owing to a relatively dry climate and
alkaline (mostly dolerite) parent material, these soils
are relatively unleached and contain lime in the deeper
subsoil. They are mostly classified as "prarie soils"
or "brown earths" and bear some resemblance to
the chernozems of Russia and North America, although they
are much lower in available phosphorus and somewhat acidic
in the surface levels. Their higher nutrient levels, however,
allow them to support productive pasture and large numbers
of sheep are grazed in these regions. Some grain crops are
also grown in the driest areas. In the alluvial areas of
southeastern Tasmania, rich alluvial soils permit apples
to be grown.
Vegetation
All these factors contribute to the extremely diverse Tasmanian
vegetation, from the heavily grazed grassland of the dry
Midlands to the tall evergreen eucalypt forest, alpine heathlands
and large areas of cool temperate rainforests and moorlands
in the rest of the State. Many flora species are unique
to Tasmania, and some are related to species in South America
and New Zealand through ancestors which grew on the super
continent of Gondwana, 50 million years ago.
Government
Main article: Government of Tasmania
Official Logo of Tasmanian GovernmentThe form of the government
of Tasmania is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates
from 1856, although it has been amended many times since
then. Since 1901 Tasmania has been a state of the Commonwealth
of Australia, and the Australian Constitution regulates
its relationship with the Commonwealth, and prescribes which
powers each level of government enjoys.
Politics
List of Governors of Tasmania
List of Premiers of Tasmania
Local Government Areas of Tasmania
Tasmania has a number of relatively unspoilt, ecologically
valuable regions. Proposals for local economic development
have therefore been faced with strong requirements for environmental
sensitivity, or outright opposition. In particular, proposals
for hydroelectric power generation proved controversial
in the late 20th century. In the 1970s, opposition to the
construction of the Lake Pedder impoundment led to the formation
of the world's first green party, the United Tasmania Group.
In the early 1980s the state was again plunged into often
bitter debate over the proposed Franklin River Dam. The
anti-dam sentiment was shared by many Australians outside
Tasmania, and proved a factor in the election of the Hawke
Labor government in 1983, which halted construction of the
dam. Since the 1980s the environmental focus has shifted
to old growth logging, which has proved a highly divisive
issue. The Tasmania Together process recommended an end
to clear felling in high conservation old growth forests
by January 2003.
Tasmanian politics
is often characterised as being overly concerned with personality
and parochialism. These factors may be due to the relative
smallness of the Tasmanian electorate, as well as historical
claims of Launceston being the "northern capital".
From 1803 until the proclamation of Van Diemen's Land in
1823, the island had been split into two dependencies of
New South Wales, with Hobart and Launceston the administrative
centres.
In the Commonwealth
Parliament, Tasmania is well represented in the Senate,
where seats are not proportional to population. Between
1975 and 2005, Tasmanian independent senator Brian Harradine
often held the balance of power. As a result he was able
to gain the passage of legislation that, although often
matching his conservative religious views, was also very
financially rewarding for the state. Harradine successfully
defended his seat in six consecutive senate elections and
did not stand for re-election at the 2004 federal election.
His term ended in June 2005.
Tasmania's
House of Assembly and local government elections use a system
of multi-seat proportional representation known as Hare-Clark.
In the 2002
state election, the Labor Party held 14 of the 25 available
seats. The Liberal Party saw their percentage of the vote
decrease dramatically, claiming only 7 seats. The Greens
won four seats, with over 18% of the vote, the highest proportion
of any Green party in any parliament in the world.
On 23 February
2004, the Premier Jim Bacon announced his retirement, due
to being diagnosed with lung cancer from smoking. In his
last months he opened a vigorous anti-smoking campaign which
included many restrictions of where individuals could smoke,
such as pubs. He died four months later.
Bacon was succeeded
by Paul Lennon, who, after leading the state for two years,
went on to win the 2006 state election in his own right.
Economy
Tasmania's erratic economy was first experienced by colonists
in the early 1800s. The reasons have been many and varied
over the years. More recently the reasons have been attributed
to: lack of federal infrastructure highway, lack of a gold
rush, lack of open immigration initiatives, lack of population,
decline in the wool and mineral economies, lack of early
colonial initiatives, or lack of foreign investment. For
the length of the history of Tasmania there has been a continuing
exodus of youth to mainland Australia in order to seek employment
opportunities.
Traditionally
Tasmania's main industries have been: mining, including
copper, zinc, tin, and iron; agriculture; forestry; and
tourism. Significantly in the 1940s and 1950s there had
been a notion of 'Hydro-Industrialisation' embodied in the
state by Hydro Tasmania. These all have had varying fortunes
over the last century and more, involved in ebbs and flows
of population moving in and away dependent upon the specific
requirements of the dominant industries of the time.
There had been
a decline in manufacturing during the 1990s, leading to
a drain of some of the island's trained and experienced
working population to mainland Australia. The major urban
centres such as Melbourne and Sydney are popular destinations.
The state has
a large number of food exporting sectors, including but
not limited to seafood (for example, Atlantic salmon, abalone
and crayfish).[citation needed]
Since 2001,
Tasmania has experienced a positive turnaround. Favourable
economic conditions throughout Australia, cheaper air fares
and three new Spirit of Tasmania ferries have all contributed
to what is now a booming tourism industry.
Today, a significant
number of employed Tasmanians work for the government. Other
major employers include the Federal Group, owner of several
hotels and Tasmania's two casinos, and Gunns Limited, the
state's biggest forestry company. In the late 1990s, many
national companies based their call centres in the state
after obtaining cheap access to broad-band fibre-optic connections.[citation
needed]
Apparently
the state's housing market was undervalued in the early
part of 2000, and a large boom in the national housing market
finally made Tasmanian housing prices rise dramatically.
This has in part been attributed to increased levels of
interstate[5] and overseas migration. A shortage of rental
accommodation has caused problems for many of Tasmania's
low income earners.
Small business
is a large part of the community life and it is believed
by many that the business environment in Tasmania is not
an easy one to survive in. However there have been many
success stories, such as International Catamarans, Moorilla
Estate and Tassal.
Transport
The fastest and cheapest method of travel across Bass Strait
is by air. The main carriers are Qantas and its subsidiary
JetStar, and Virgin Blue, which fly direct routes to Melbourne,
Sydney, Brisbane, and Adelaide. Major airports include Hobart
International Airport and Launceston Airport; the smaller
airports, Burnie (Wynyard) and Devonport, are serviced by
Regional Express, which generally fly only to Melbourne
and the Bass Strait islands.
The domestic
sea route is serviced by Bass Strait passenger/vehicle ferries
operated by the Tasmanian Government-owned TT-Line (Tasmania).
From 1986 the Abel Tasman made six weekly overnight crossings
between Devonport and Melbourne. It was replaced by the
Spirit of Tasmania in 1993, which performed the same route
and schedule. The most recent change was the 2002 replacement
of the Spirit by two Superfast ferries - Spirit of Tasmania
I and Spirit of Tasmania II — which brought the number
of weekly overnight crossings up to fourteen, plus additional
daylight crossings in peak times. In January 2004 a third
ship, the slightly smaller Spirit of Tasmania III, started
the Devonport to Sydney route. This service was axed by
the Tasmanian Government in June 2006 quoting low passenger
numbers. Two container ships owned by Toll Shipping also
make daily crossings between Burnie and Melbourne. The port
of Hobart also serves as a host to visiting cruise ships
and before the September 11, 2001 attacks was a regular
port of call for United States Navy ships returning home
from the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf.
The state is
also home to International Catamarans, a manufacturer of
very high-speed aluminium vessels (commonly known as SeaCat)
that regularly broke records when they were first launched.
The state Government tried using them on the Bass Strait
run, but eventually the decision was made to discontinue
the run due to concerns over viability and the suitability
of the vessels for the extreme weather conditions sometimes
experienced in Bass Strait.
Tasmania, Hobart
in particular, serves as Australia's chief sea link to Antarctica,
with the Australian Antarctic Division located in Kingston.
Hobart is also the home port of the French ship l'Astrolabe
which makes regular supply runs to the French Southern Territories
near and in Antarctica.
Hobart also
has the second deepest natural port in the world, second
to only Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
Within the
state, the primary form of transport is by road. Since the
1980s, many of the state's highways have undergone regular
upgrades. These include the Hobart Southern Outlet, Launceston
Southern Outlet, Bass Highway reconstruction, and the Huon
Highway.
Rail transport
in Tasmania consists of narrow gauge lines to all four major
population centres and to mining and forestry operations
on the west coast and in the northwest. Services are operated
by TasRail, a Pacific National subsidiary. Regular passenger
train services in the state ceased in 1977; the only trains
are for freight, and there are tourist trains in specific
areas, for example the West Coast Wilderness Railway. In
2005 there were concerns that the rail service was in so
much trouble that it might stop for everything but cement
haulage.
Culture
Cuisine
During colonial times typical English cuisine would have
been standard in most areas of Tasmania. The arrival of
immigrants and changing cultural patterns has meant Tasmania
now has a wide range of restaurants. Scattered across Tasmania
are a number of vineyards and Tasmanian beer brands such
as Boags and Cascade are known and sold on the mainland.
King Island off the north-western coast of Tasmania has
a reputation for boutique cheeses and dairy products.
Events
Constitution DockList of Events in Tasmania
In order to foster tourism, the state government encourages
or supports several different annual events in and around
the island. The best known of these would be the Sydney
to Hobart Yacht Race, starting on Boxing Day in Sydney and
usually arriving at Constitution Dock in Hobart around three
to four days later, during the Taste of Tasmania an annual
food and wine festival.
Other events
include the road rally Targa Tasmania which attracts world-class
rally drivers and is staged all over the state, over five
days. Rural or regional events include Agfest is a three-day
agricultural show held at Carrick (just west of Launceston)
in early May, and the Royal Hobart Show and Royal Launceston
Show, both held in October of each year. Music events held
in Tasmania include the Falls Festival at Marion Bay (a
Victoria event now held in both Victoria and Tasmania on
New Year's Eve), and the Southern Roots Festival held in
Hobart each Easter. A recent addition to the state has been
the 10 Days on the Island arts festival; however, it has
drawn criticism from environmental groups for its acceptance
of sponsorship from forestry company Gunns.
Literature
Main article: Tasmanian literature
Tasmania has a relatively small but growing literary culture.
Notable titles include For the Term of His Natural Life
by Marcus Clarke, The Sound of One Hand Clapping by Richard
Flanagan and Out of Ireland by Christopher Koch. The ‘Tasmanian
genre’ of fiction includes children’s books
such as Tiger Tale by Marion and Steve Isham.
Music
There is, in Tasmania, a varied musical scene, ranging from
the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra whose home is the Federation
Concert Hall, to a substantial number of small bands, orchestras,
string quintets, saxophone ensembles and individual artists
who perform at a variety of venues around the state. Tasmania
is also home to a vibrant community of composers including
Constantine Koukias, Maria Grenfell and Don Kay, who is
the patron of the Tasmanian Composers Collective which is
the representative body for composers in Tasmania. Tasmania
even has it's own gospel choir, with the Southern Gospel
Choir. The Southern Gospel Choir performs regularly and
is comprised of students that study at the Conservatorium
of Music, which is at the Hobart campus of the University
of Tasmania, and people with good voices who simply wish
to join. Death Metal band Psycroptic hail from Tasmania
and are one of the most prominent Australian metal bands.
Apart from the Classical musical season and regular gigs
across the state by a number of local and interstate groups
two of the highlights of the musical year would be the Falls
Festival held during the summer holidays and the Carols
by Candlelight held in the weeks prior to Christmas.
Sport
Main article: Sport in Tasmania
The dominant sports in Tasmania are cricket and Australian
rules football. The Tasmanian Tigers cricket team, which
plays home games at Bellerive Oval on the eastern shore
of the Derwent River, Hobart, represents the state in limited
overs and first-class cricket competitions. Tasmania has
produced two international cricket stars, David Boon and
current Australian captain Ricky Ponting. However, in the
last few years Tasmanian cricketing quality has increased
with them winning the ING One Day Cup in 2004-05 for the
first time in 10 years, and the Pura Cup for the first time
in 2006-07.
Despite Australian
rules football's huge popularity in the state, Tasmania
does not have a team in the AFL. They do have a team (the
Tasmanian Devils) in the VFL (Victorian league), and a team
in the national league is a popular topic among supporters
as well as the state government (one of the potential sponsors
of such a team). Some AFL teams play scheduled games at
Aurora Stadium (at York Park in Launceston). These teams
include the Hawthorn Football Club, who substitute their
home games in Melbourne for games at Aurora Stadium to create
extra revenue. They generally play 3-4 games a year in the
state and the club entered in to a sponsorship agreement
with the Tasmanian government, to start in the 2007 season.
Previously,
St. Kilda played a few matches here last year, including
the infamous match against Fremantle which was controversially
drawn after the umpires failed to hear the siren. The AFL
continues to consider expanding into Tasmania.
In basketball,
the state has not been represented in the National Basketball
League since the demise of the Hobart Devils in 1996; however,
strong representation from the state can be found in the
South East Australian Basketball League. Two men's teams:
The Oasis Hobart Chargers, and the Northwest Tasmania Thunder
are joined in the women's SEABL by the Launceston Tornadoes
and the Women's NW Tasmania Thunder also.
Tasmania's
small population and low sponsorship potential results in
the state not being represented in national football (soccer)
(see Football (soccer) in Tasmania) and netball leagues.
In Tasmania,
there is a motor racing circuit in Launceston called Symmons
Plains Raceway. It holds rounds of the V8 Supercars, the
YMF Loans Australian Superbike Championship, Australian
Formula 3 Championship and the CAMS Nationals.
Prominent Tasmanians
A picture of the last four Tasmanian Aborigines c.1860s.
Truganini, the last to survive, is seated at far right.List
of Tasmanians
Tasmania has produced a number of significant people. These
include: the actor Errol Flynn, Baywatch actor Jaason Simmons,
Dancer and Choreographer Graeme Murphy, Composer Peter Sculthorpe,
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark (Mary Donaldson), World Champion
Woodchopper David Foster, Australian cricket personalities
Ricky Ponting and David Boon Motor Racing Australian Touring
car/V8 Supercar John Bowe (1995 champion) Marcos Ambrose
(2003-4 champion) Marcos now races in the NASCAR Busch Series.
Indigenous animals
Thylacine
The island of Tasmania was home to the Thylacine, a marsupial
which resembled a wild dog. Known colloquially as the Tasmanian
Tiger for the distinctive striping across its back, it became
extinct in mainland Australia much earlier because of competition
by the dingo, introduced in prehistoric times. Owing to
persecution by farmers, government-funded bounty hunters
and, in the final years, collectors for overseas museums,
it also appears to have been exterminated in Tasmania. The
last known animal died in captivity in 1936. Many alleged
sightings have been recorded, none of them confirmed.
Tasmanian Devil
Tasmanian DevilThe Tasmanian Devil is a carnivorous marsupial
found exclusively on the island of Tasmania. The size of
a small dog but stocky and muscular, the Tasmanian Devil
is characterised by its black fur with white patches. It
has a loud and disturbing screech-like growl, possesses
a vicious temperament and is predominantly a scavenger.
The Devil survived European settlement and was considered
widespread and common throughout Tasmania until recently.
Like a lot
of the wildlife, fast vehicles on the roads are a problem
for Tasmanian Devils, which are often killed while feeding
on other road-killed animals such as wallabies.
As of 2005
the Tasmanian Devil population has been reduced by up to
80% in parts of Tasmania by the devil facial tumour disease,
which is gradually spreading throughout the island. It is
believed the majority have starved when the tumours have
spread to their mouths and that the tumours are spread by
fighting between devils over carcasses they feed on –
typically, fighting devils will bite one another's faces.
There is no known cure for the disease, and intensive research
is underway to determine its cause. There is also a captive
breeding program being undertaken by the Tasmanian government
to establish a disease-free, genetically-diverse population
of Tasmanian Devils outside Tasmania.
Birds
Many birds of the Australian mainland and surrounding oceans
are also found in Tasmania. Tasmania has 12 endemic bird
species:
4 honeyeaters
(family Meliphagidae) - the Yellow Wattlebird (world's largest
honeyeater) and the Yellow-throated, Black-headed and Strong-billed
Honeyeaters
3 Australo-Papuan warblers (family Acanthizidae) - the Tasmanian
Thornbill, the Scrubtit and the Tasmanian Scrubwren
1 pardalote (family Pardalotidae) - the endangered Forty-spotted
Pardalote
1 old-world flycatcher (family Muscicapidae) - the Dusky
Robin
1 corvid (family Artamidae) - the Black Currawong
1 parrot (family Psittacidae) - the Green Rosella
1 rail (family Rallidae) - the Tasmanian Native-hen, Australia's
only flightless land bird other than the giant ratites (Emu
and Southern Cassowary).
The endemic Tasmanian Emu was exterminated in the mid-1800s.
The Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle is a threatened endemic
subspecies.
Frogs
Tasmania is home to 11 species of frogs. Three of these
are only found in Tasmania, the Tasmanian Tree Frog (Litoria
burrowsae), the Tasmanian Froglet (Crinia tasmaniensis)
and the only recently discovered Moss Froglet (Bryobatrachus
nimbus). Of the 11 species that inhabit Tasmania all are
native to Australia. Tasmania is home to the largest breeding
population of Growling Grass Frogs (Litoria raniformis),
a vulnerable species, which has declined over much of its
range.
European Red Fox
On September 24, 2007, Tasmania formed a task force to eliminate
the European red fox. Officials planned to spend up A$ 50
million ($ 43 million) on an eradication campaign. Foxes
(between 50 and 200) could devastate ground-nesting birds
and native rodents. Experts estimated 30 million foxes in
Australia, having been introduced by European settlers.
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