At Barrington Tops in NSW, Aussie Ark is celebrating with the announcement of their best Tasmanian Devil breeding season on record.
Pouch checks have revealed 69 Tasmanian Devil joeys born in 2019 - an incredible 44% increase from 2018.
Watch the latest from Aussie Ark: https://youtu.be/Mu-UC6yTuHc
The wild population in Tasmania of Tasmanian Devils has decreased by 90% since 1996, with the iconic Australian animal facing extinction due to the contagious Devil Facial Tumour Disease.
Aussie Ark started in 2011 with the mission to save the Tasmanian Devils from extinction, so today’s milestone is giving the team a big reason to celebrate.
“The Aussie Ark team has been working hard all year to ensure the health and wellbeing of our Devils, and we are over the moon with excitement at 69 joeys - our best ever breeding season,” Aussie Ark President Tim Faulkner said.
“These joeys have the weight of their species on them as insurance populations like ours mean, if Tasmanian Devils in the wild do go extinct, we won’t lose these animals forever.”
Aussie Ark has the largest Devil population outside of Tasmania and the most successful breeding program on the mainland.
Tasmanian Devil mums give birth to up to four young, which stay in the pouch for about four months. They remain with the mother for a further five to six months before becoming independent.
These joeys and their mums will be some of the animals released to Aussie Ark’s largest ever sanctuary in late 2019. The 400ha area is fully fenced to ensure it remains feral-animal free and will be home to a number of Aussie Ark protected species.
Thanks to you
FAME is proud to be a founding partner of Aussie Ark. It is because of the generosity and ongoing support from our donors that successful projects such as Aussie Ark can receive funding from the Foundation. To make a donation to Aussie Ark or for project information, visit the FAME website.