The birth of nine new Tasmanian devil joeys in regional New South Wales has spread excitement among conservation groups, who have been working hard to build the endangered species population on mainland Australia.
In 2020, Aussie Ark first released 28 Tasmanian Devils into a 'wildlife sanctuary' at the Barrington Tops, north of Sydney.
The DevilComeback breeding program has now marked its second year of success, with researchers thrilled to have found more joeys than initially expected.
"We're really happy with nine. Based on the females out there breeding, we're anticipating there to be a total of 19 joeys," Aussie Ark supervisor Tyler Gralton said.
If that prediction is correct, the program's second year would be even more successful than the first.
Aussie Ark said these numbers were critical in determining the program's long-term success, which is also run by conservation organisations WildArk and Re:wild.
"We're already steps ahead. But every single Tasmanian devil joey born in the wild is a success for Aussie Ark, a success for the program and a success for the species," Mr Gralton said.
'Insurance population'
Tasmanian devils haven't lived in the wild on mainland Australia for over 3,000 years, largely due to the introduction of dingoes.
Now the spread of a highly contagious and fatal form of cancer, the Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), has decimated up to 90 per cent of wild population numbers in Tasmania.
It's believed just 25,000 wild devils are left.
Aussie Ark aims to build a population of devils on the mainland, away from DFTD, to help conserve the endangered species.
"Unfortunately, Tasmanian devils are plagued by this Devil Facial Tumour Disease, but the only way it is spread is through contact," Mr Gralton said.
"To have this insurance population on mainland Australia, a distance from their sick counterpart, means this species can go on to not only survive but thrive."
"Once we can resolve the issue that is plaguing this specific species, we can start reintroducing them into the wild."
Conservation goals continue
Aussie Ark has been working on Tasmanian devil conservation since 2011.
Since then, the Barrington Tops-based organisation has established six other programs for threatened native species, including the eastern quoll, southern brown bandicoot and long-nosed potoroo.
"Australia has the worst mammal extinction rate in the world, so our overarching goal is to conserve species and get them back into their wild habitat in a healthy way to balance these ecosystems that have existed for long."
