For the First Time in Millennia, Tasmanian Devils Have Given Birth in Australia [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

George Dvorsky
Yesterday 12:00PM



A tasmanian devil shortly after being introduced to a wildlife sanctuary on the Australian mainland.
Image: Aussie Ark

Conservationists in Australia are celebrating the birth of seven Tasmanian devil joeys—the first to be born on the mainland in 3,000 years.

As reported in The Land, the seven joeys were born at Barrington Tops National park, a wild sanctuary in New South Wales. Last year, 26 adult Tasmanian devils, including seven reproductive females, were introduced to the park, which measures 988 acres in size. The effort to restore these animals to their former range is a collaboration between conservation groups Aussie Ark, Re:wild, and WildArk.

The purpose of all this is to preserve these fierce animals—the world’s largest marsupial carnivore—but to also keep feral populations of cats and foxes in check. Indigenous Australian hunters and packs of competing dingoes likely contributed to the devil’s demise on the Australian mainland, with surviving populations living exclusively on the island state of Tasmania.

More recently, Tasmanian devils have been affiliated by a contagious facial tumor disease, which has wiped out approximately 90% of the population, according to Aussie Ark. Late last year, research showed the animals may be adapting to contagious cancer, but they’re still in a precarious situation. The devils are listed as endangered on the United Nations’ Red List, and as few as 25,000 individuals remain in the wild.

The birth of the seven joeys is now raising hopes that a viable breeding population can be restored in Barrington Tops, which could eventually lead to free-roaming Tasmanian devils living elsewhere on the continent.

More:
https://earther.gizmodo.com/for-the-first-time-in-millennia-tasmanian-devils-have-1846972525?utm_source=earther_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2021-05-26