Australia has a very special animal, the Tasmanian Devil. This marsupial predator, also known as the Tasmanian devil, is about the size of a domestic dog, with dark brown hair, a white mane at the junction of the chest and forelimbs, and a weight of about 8 kilograms. Tasmanian devils are very grumpy, making harsh cries when threatened, and emitting a pungent odor for self-defense. But Tasmanian devils disappeared from the mainland 3,000 years ago and are only found in Tasmania.
Scientists have been working to bring the Tasmanian devil back to the Australian mainland. The year before, conservation group Aussie Ark launched a programme called The Return of the Devil, which released 26 captive-reared Devils into the Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary in New South Wales. On 25 May last year, Ark Australia announced that seven baby Tasmanian devils had been born in a wildlife sanctuary, a species that was endangered on the Australian mainland, and was finally reproducing!
The Tasmanian devil was originally extinct from the Australian mainland, and it was judged to be related to the invasion of foreign wild dogs. In the late 1990s, Tasmanian devils were again affected by infectious parasitic tumors, which led to a sharp decline in Tasmanian Tasmanian Devils, from 150,000 to about 25,000. In 2008, the Tasmanian devil was listed as an endangered species on the IUCN Red List.
Ark Australia has been working to restore native Australian wildlife, and from 10 years ago to the present, the organization has successfully bred 390 Tasmanian devils. Tim Faulkner, chairman of Ark Australia, said Tasmanian devils could suppress feral cats, foxes and other predators and prevent them from over-hunting other endangered species. In the future, "Australian Ark" expects Tasmanian devils to self-regulate and maintain sustainable numbers!
