Feisty marsupial released in sanctuary in an attempt to revive population ravaged by contagious facial tumour disease.
Actors Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky releasing the Tasmanian devils into a wild sanctuary in mainland Australia after they went extinct 3,000 years ago [Wildark via AFP Photo]
5 Oct 2020
Tasmanian devils have been released on Australia’s mainland thousands of years after the feisty marsupials first went extinct there, in what conservationists described on Monday as an “historic” step.
Aussie Ark, along with a coalition of other conservation groups, said they had released 26 of the carnivorous mammals into a 400-hectare (1,000-acre) sanctuary at Barrington Tops, about 3.5 hours north of Sydney.
Tim Faulkner, president of Aussie Ark, said the “historic” releases in July and September were the first steps in a project akin to the successful move to return wolves to Yellowstone National Park in the United States in the 1990s.
After 16 years of work, including the establishment of mainland Australia’s largest Tasmanian devil breeding programme, Faulkner said it was “incredible and surreal” to have reached the goal.
“It’s the stuff dreams are made of,” he told AFP news agency.
“Our biggest native mainland predator is the tiger quoll – and they’re just over a kilo – so to be bringing back something of this enormity is huge.”
Tasmanian Devils are making a comeback with the help of some friends! Friends of @wildark, @ChrisHemsworth and @Elsapataky_ helped reintroduce 11 devils to the wild Sept. 10. @Aussie_ark is monitoring the devils and all seem to be doing well. #DevilComeback #RewildAustralia. . pic.twitter.com/Uck8P30DRR
— Aussie Ark (@aussie_ark) October 5, 2020
Tasmanian devils, which weigh up to 8 kilogrammes (18 pounds) and have a black or brown coat, typically prey on other native animals or scavenge from carcasses.
According to government environmental authorities, devils are not dangerous to humans or livestock but will defend themselves if attacked and can cause serious injury.
The animals – known for their extremely loud growl, powerful jaws and ferocity when confronting rivals over food or mates – are classified as endangered after a contagious facial tumour disease ravaged the remaining population in Tasmania, an island-state off the south coast of the mainland.
It is estimated that fewer than 25,000 Tasmanian devils still live in the wild, down from as many as 150,000 before the fatal disease first struck in the mid-1990s.
On Australia’s mainland, they are believed to have been wiped out by packs of dingoes – wild dogs native to the vast continent – an estimated 3,000 years ago.
‘Slice of Tasmania’
Faulkner said it was hoped the project would create an “insurance population” against the facial-tumour disease, which has so far proved untreatable, and help restore the native environment.
“Devils present one of the only natural solutions to the control of the fox and the cat, and the fox and cat are responsible for nearly all of our 40 mammal extinctions (in Australia),” he added.
“So there’s more than the devil at stake here.”
Tasmanian devil populations in Tasmania have been ravaged by a contagious face cancer. Conservationists hope releasing the carnivores on the mainland will help create a population free of the disease and also restore the environment [William West/AFP Photo]“We’ve put young, healthy devils in. We put them in now, which gives them the best part of six months to settle, find their territory (and) prepare for breeding” which usually occurs in February, Faulkner said.
A further 40 are set to be released over the next two years into the sanctuary, which is on land bought by Aussie Ark for its habitat suitability, large number of herbivores and location near a national park.
“The land initially was selected because it’s just like a slice of Tasmania,” Faulkner said.
He said he was confident that close monitoring of the Tasmanian devils as they make the “massive transition” back to the wild, without supplied food, water or shelter for the first time in their lives, would ensure the programme’s early success.
As part of the “ambitious” rewilding scheme, Aussie Ark plans to eventually introduce more of the animals to unfenced areas, where they will contend with a much greater range of new threats, including bushfires.
The Tasmanian devil is one of seven cornerstone species critical to Australia’s ecosystem that Aussie Ark plans to reintroduce to the wild sanctuary in the coming years, along with quolls, bandicoots and rock wallabies.
A further 40 are set to be released over the next two years into the sanctuary, which is on land bought by Aussie Ark for its habitat suitability, large number of herbivores and location near a national park.
“The land initially was selected because it’s just like a slice of Tasmania,” Faulkner said.
He said he was confident that close monitoring of the Tasmanian devils as they make the “massive transition” back to the wild, without supplied food, water or shelter for the first time in their lives, would ensure the programme’s early success.
As part of the “ambitious” rewilding scheme, Aussie Ark plans to eventually introduce more of the animals to unfenced areas, where they will contend with a much greater range of new threats, including bushfires.
The Tasmanian devil is one of seven cornerstone species critical to Australia’s ecosystem that Aussie Ark plans to reintroduce to the wild sanctuary in the coming years, along with quolls, bandicoots and rock wallabies.
SOURCE : AFP
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