Mike Lehmann, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Joel Kontinen
Tasmanian
devils have been reintroduced into the wild in mainland
Australia for the first time in 3,000 years.
Conservation groups released
26 of the mammals into a large sanctuary in Barrington Tops, north of Sydney.
It's thought that
packs of dingoes helped eradicate them on the mainland.
There are still some
on the island state of Tasmania but their numbers have dwindled over the past
two decades.
The Tasmanian devil, classified as endangered, gets its name from its high-pitch squeal and is renowned for fighting over access to animal carcases, which it grinds with the bone-crushing force of its jaws.
Animal experts say they pose
no threat to humans or agriculture.
Conservation group Aussie Ark worked with other animal groups to release the Tasmanian devils into the 1,000-acre fenced sanctuary. The animals have been placed in the sanctuary to help keep their chances of survival high. They have no supplied food, water or shelter.
The first group of 15 were
released in March. After the animals showed signs of thriving in their
environment, a further 11 were released in September.
Young, healthy Tasmanian
devils were selected in the hope they would be ready for breeding season, set
to begin in February.
"They're free. They're
out there," Tim Faulkner, president of Aussie Ark, told National
Geographic. "We've got some basic means of keeping an eye on them. But
essentially, now it's over to the
devils to do what they do."
Another 40 are set to be released
into the sanctuary over the next two years.
Tasmanian devil
- Can live for more than five years in the wild, if
they avoid catching cancer
- Males
weigh up to 12kg, females up to 8kg
- Hearing
is considered to be their strongest sense
- Devils
have at least 11 distinct vocal calls
- They
were given their name in 1803 when sailors reported "unearthly"
calls
Over time, Aussie Ark hopes to release some Tasmanian devils into unfenced areas.
It's estimated that there are
fewer than 25,000 devils in the wild in Tasmania. During the 1990s, there were
as many as 150,000 but the animal population was hit by
a deadly mouth cancer that
drastically cut numbers.
The Tasmanian devil isn't
the first animal to be reintroduced into the wild. In the 1990s, wolves were
reintroduced to Yellowstone National
Park in the US after they were hunted to eradication. By 1996, 31
wolves had been introduced to the park. A count in 2019 found there are now 61
wolves in eight packs there.
In the UK,
conservationists have taken part in a five-year trial to reintroduce beavers.
During the trial, which concluded earlier this year, two families of beavers
bred on the River Otter in Devon. The animals, once native to Britain, were
hunted to extinction around 400 years ago.
Source:
BBC News, Tasmanian Devils reintroduced into Australian wild. BBC.com 5 October
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