Tasmania is home to some pretty feral Australians

Maria slad is a Mecca for wombats, as is Cradle Mountain - specifically the Ronny Creek Boardwalk. You’ll spot massive Laughing Kookaburras in the branches around the Freycinet National Park Campground, and the mysterious Superb Lyrebirds in Tasmania’s Southwest National Park are nowhere near as elusive as those you will hear but likely fail to spot in Victoria’s beautiful High Country region. 

But of those three iconically Australian animals, only one is actually iconic — and by that I mean native — to Tasmania. That’s something I had no idea about before spending 11 months walking, hiking, and exploring Tasmania’s beautiful natural places.

Tasmania’s long separation and it’s last impacts

Tasmania hasn’t always been an island. The suspiciously shallow depths of Bass Strait - the body of water between Tasmania and mainland Australia - is a key featuring in understanding Tasmania’s formation as an island state.

During the last ice age, sea levels were much lower and a land bridge (the Bassian Plain) connected what is now Tasmania to mainland Australia. When the ice melted and seas rose, Bass Strait formed and Tasmania became effectively isolated by around 12,000 years ago.  

That long separation matters because isolation shapes what evolves, what survives, and what never arrives to the region at all. It means Tasmania’s native wildlife has had thousands of years to adapt to Tasmania’s unique set of predators, competitors, food sources, and habitats.

So when a mainland animal is introduced here (even an ‘Aussie’ one), it can behave like any other invasive, eating things that haven’t evolved with it, taking resources locals rely on, or shifting the balance in ways that are hard to reverse.

So here is a quick quiz for you

Of these iconic Aussie animals, which are Aussie-friend and who is a foe-for-Tasmania?

A) Laughing Kookaburra 

B) Superb Lyrebird

C) Rainbow Lorrikeet 

D) Super-cute Sugar Gliders

E) Long-necked turtle 

F) Redclaw crayfish

G) Yabby

I’ve made this really easy for you - it is all of them.

Get to know Tasmania's Ferals 

If you’re travelling Tasmania and want a clear, practical guide to introduced animals, the best resource I’ve found is the Tasmanian Government’s Feral Animals of Tasmania “deck” (a downloadable PDF).

It’s designed as a field guide to help you learn more and identify those friends from foes in the Tasmanian Wilderness. Importantly, the deck groups feral animals into three priority categories:

• Highest priority: unwanted in the wild, with the aim to eradicate from Tasmania.  

• Second priority: unwanted in the wild, but realistically only feasible to eradicate or control from specific areas (especially around high-value conservation sites).  

• Third priority: “wanted” in the wild, but only within defined managed areas (think: animals managed as a resource, often with tight rules).  

While you might not be a Park Ranger, and I by no means suggest you personally take action against these invasive species, knowledge will always make you a better traveler, so these things really are just good to know. 

So Let’s Talk About Them

Rainbow Lorikeet

What’s their status in Tasmania?

In the Feral deck, rainbow lorikeets are presented as a high priority feral animal in Tasmania.  

How did they end up here?

The strongest evidence points to aviary escapees/released birds as the predominant origin of Tasmanian populations. They’ve been recorded as “vagrants” in Tasmania since at least the late 1970s, and small flocks became more regular over time.  

What’s the impact?

Resources suggest that the main impact of rainbow lorikeets is the monopolisation of food and, crucially, nesting hollows. They are known to exclude other species from nests and even evicting nestlings.  

Biosecurity Tasmania suggest the biggest impacts are felt by populations of native Tasmanian parrots, including the musk lorikeet, green rosella, and the critically endangered swift parrot. They’re also linked to disease risk (including psittacine beak and feather disease).  

They’re also known agricultural pests in fruit, nut, and grape crops across Australia, and Tasmania isn’t immune to that issue either.  

Isn’t this “normal” on the mainland?

On the mainland, rainbow lorikeets are native in many regions, so competition and predation pressures have co-existed for a long time. In Tasmania, they arrive into a system where local parrots didn’t evolve alongside these fellow-foes and therefore suffer the impacts of their introduction. 

Are there control methods in place?

Biosecurity Tasmania encourages travellers to report sightings (especially new areas), and there’s an on-ground community effort via the Rainbow Lorikeet Management Group supported by Landcare Tasmania.  

The Feral Deck also explicitly tells people not to feed them (which is advice you should heed at all times with all animals)  and to report sightings with a view to humane trapping.   mainland.

Superb Lyrebird

What’s their status in Tasmania?

The Feral Deck places superb lyrebirds in the second priority category, and notes that they’re not currently managed, in part because they’re also a protected species under Tasmanian legislation - which makes this issue all the more complicated. 

How did they end up here (and why)?

Lyrebirds were first introduced to Tasmania (then fox-free) because people feared foxes and habitat loss would drive the species to extinction on the mainland.  

A total of 22 birds were released at Mt Field National Park (1934–49) and Hastings Caves (1945).  Since then populations have grown beyond 10,000 individuals. 

What’s the impact in Tasmania?

Lyrebirds, while scarcely spotted on the Mainland (trust me, I’ve tried), and they are well known not only for their unique calls (made famous by that now iconic David Attenborough episode).

And anyone trying to spot a lyrebird will also learn that while they are hard to see, their impacts are easy to notice.

Tasmania’s Feral Deck describes impacts like:

• Major disturbance to leaf litter and soil, impacting invertebrates via predation and habitat disturbance (with flow-on effects on habitat structure),

• Damage/removal of ground ferns and seedlings, including the beautiful myrtle elbow orchid

Possibly the most complicated of all the native-to-the-mainland feral species in Tasmania, the Superb Lyrebird is understood to have real threats and potential impacts on the Tasmanian wilderness — but more study is vital to better understand the ecological impacts. This is why these birds are often considered the “least destructive” of the introduced species in Tasmania.

Do they have the same impact on the mainland?

Yes and no. On the mainland, Lyrebirds are native in parts of eastern Australia. Their leaf-litter disturbance is part of those forest systems. This is something other plants and animals have lived with for a very long time.

What’s fascinating is that research in south-eastern Australian forests has found lyrebird foraging can speed up litter decomposition and is likely to influence fuel loads and therefore fire behaviour. If leaf litter is able to break down faster, there may be less fine fuel in some conditions. ABC Science has also reported on this relationship between lyrebird activity and fire dynamics.  

Are there control methods in place?

The Feral Deck says lyrebirds are not currently managed, eradication is difficult, and their stronghold is in rugged, inaccessible country. Instead, studies are underway and there are localised exclusions in sensitive habitat (such as locations where myrtle elbow orchid exist).  It also encourages people to report sightings outside the main introduction area. 

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Laughing Kookaburra

Laughing Kookaburras were introduced into Tasmania in 1906 to help control the snake populations  where they breed in tree hollows that would otherwise be used by parrots and owls, and they prey on small animals and nestlings—placing undue pressure on species that didn’t evolve with them as a competitor/predator.  

What’s their status in Tasmania?

While Laughing Kookaburra are widely recognised and documented as introduced in Tasmania, they’re not a mentioned species in the Feral Deck. They therefore do not have a reliable ‘status’ as a feral animal in the region. 

How did they end up here?

Laughing Kookaburra are thought to have arrived in Tasmania in 1906 from the Australia mainland, with the one, and quite strange goal, to control the snake populations on the island - of which there are only three, and all of which are native to Tasmania. 

ABC reports kookaburras were introduced to northern Tasmania in the early 1900s, and includes a 1944 letter in which a reader claimed to have released birds in 1902, after being bitten by a snake.  

Do they have the same impact on the mainland?

On the mainland, kookaburras are native across much of eastern Australia. While they do eat many native species of reptile, and they do take nestlings in some contexts—that’s part of the existing ecological web.

In Tasmania, the concern isn’t that kookaburras are “bad birds”. It’s that they’re a new pressure in ecosystems where some prey species and hollow-nesters didn’t historically share space with them.

Are control methods in place?

Public reporting and awareness exist, but even expert commentary notes that the degree of impact is difficult to determine and more research is needed.  

At the moment, the conversations around “control” centre around ecological concern, incomplete quantification, and community discomfort with management of these ‘iconic’ birds.

Last but not least, these extremely cute Aussie animals might be the hardest to stomach when considering feral species of mainland animals, but they might just have the greatest impact. 

Are sugar gliders introduced to Tasmania?

Yes. CSIRO has reported on research using natural history collections to resolve the question, and the conclusion is clear. 

What’s the impact?

Sugar gliders are implicated in severe nest predation of the critically endangered swift parrot, including eggs, chicks, and in some cases adults at the nest. The national recovery plan frames sugar glider predation as a major driver compounding the swift parrot’s decline.  

Are there control methods in place?

Yes. Understandably this is one of the few places where the management conversation is very active, because the impacts on the beautiful Swift Parrot are immediate. 

These control methods include: 

• predator exclusion devices designed to reduce sugar glider access to nests,  

• and there is peer-reviewed research evaluating lethal control approaches as a conservation tool.  

This topic tends to trigger strong feelings (understandably, Sugar Gliders are extremely cute). But from a conservation perspective, it is vitally important this species is controlled for the benefit of another that we might lose from Australia all together. 

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What to do with all this 

If you’re like me, learning that so many of our favourite Aussies animals are considered a little ‘evil’ in a very beautiful part of our country might be a little jarring. But knowledge is so important in better understanding a place, and if anything, this information should help you better understand Tasmanian wilderness a little more intimately. 

So if you are planning to travel Tasmania, here are the things I want you to keep with you as you explore: 

1. Remember to stay curious about what “native” means in Tasmania
   Take the time to learn about, get to know, and maybe even spot a number of Tasmania’s truly native animals - such as the beautiful Swift Parrot! 

2. Use the tools that already exist
   Download the Feral Deck, learn the priority categories, and follow the reporting guidance it provides. A little bit of citizen science can be a brilliant way to get more involved in the place you are exploring.  

3. Be okay with the nuance
   You can appreciate an animal and still accept it has harmful impacts in the wrong place. I will always film and photograph a laughing kookaburra because I think they are beautiful. They don’t stop being beautiful, but you can also remember their impacts on the place you are in. 

4. Remember remember that knowledge doesn’t force you into a single moral position Not everyone is comfortable with culling. Some people won’t be, ever. But being informed, especially in a place as ecologically distinct as Tasmania, means your choices as a traveller are less likely to accidentally add pressure where Tasmania can least afford it.