Almost 3,000 years after Tasmanian Devils were wiped out on the Australian mainland, seven babies were born earlier in May 2021 on their natural terrain.
‘It was very moving,’ said Tim Faulkner who is the president of Aussie Ark told The New York Times. Aussie Ark is the conservation group that has been leading attempts to re-establish populations of this creature after it was eliminated by what is assumed to be wild Australian dogs known as dingoes.
For decades scientists have been trying to develop vaccines and studying genetic variations that may make some of the devils resilient to outrageous facial cancer that has killed up to 90% of the devils’ population.
Faulkner and his team have been relocating uninfected devils from Tasmania to New South Wales, where they run a conservation center and sanctuary that is home to over 150 of these animals since 2006.
26 devils, male and female were released into the sanctuary late last year with the goal to eventually allow them to roam around and to live freely. The creatures aren’t given food or water by the team. They are living like typical wildlife but without dangerous dingoes.
Tasmanian devils born on Australian mainland after 3,000 years https://t.co/QgtnJkybhC pic.twitter.com/S08NzhAMUe
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 25, 2021
The seven babies were found inside their mother’s pouch earlier this month.
Tasmanian devils are born after only a 21-day gestation period, and they are initially blind and no larger than a grain of rice.
‘Maintaining a thriving population of devils in the wild is everyone’s goal,’ said Andrew Flies, an immunologist at the University of Tasmania who is developing a vaccine to protect Tasmanian devils against cancer. Flies also added that ‘if you take the fences away, the devils might not do so well.’
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Tasmanian devils reintroduced to Australia after 3,000 years
PICTURE: Twitter
