Extract from ABC News
A group of eight Tasmanian devils from northern Tasmania are bound for new homes in the United States as "ambassadors" for their species.
They'll board a flight on Tuesday afternoon with Michael Frushour and other American zookeepers, who made the overseas trip just to collect them.
"We could not be happier and we are honoured to be able to take these animals back to the United States," Mr Frushour, a curator of birds and mammals at Toledo Zoo in Ohio, said.
Mr Frushour and other Toledo Zoo staff will accompany the devils and ensure they have a safe trip.
Specially designed crates will allow the zookeepers to feed and water them throughout the flight.
"Every stop we make will be able to see the animals and make sure that everything's going well," Mr Frushour said.
'People love devils'
The animals are part of the state government's "Tasmanian devil ambassador program", designed to bring awareness to the fight against the deadly facial tumour disease.
Since the program started in 2013, 51 devils have travelled to zoos in Japan, New Zealand, Europe and the United States.
Toledo Zoo currently has two seven-year-old devils, Spiderman and Bubbles, who Mr Frushour said are "superstars".
They'll soon meet Tequila and Tabasco, who'll soon be settling in with them.
"It's one of the most tenacious endearing charismatic animals you can ever imagine, and they're adorable — people love devils," he said.
"Everybody loves Spiderman in particular."
The other devils will head to Columbus Zoo, Saint Louis Zoo and Fort Wayne Zoo — which all have facilities and climates deemed suitable for the devil.
He said the zoo will need to "flesh out" if the four devils can be housed together, based on their temperaments.
"We couldn't be happier to receive these animals, we love telling the story of the conservation work that the Tasmanian government has done to really save this species from the brink of what could have been extinction," Mr Frushour said.
Devil facial tumour disease is a contagious cancer that has wiped out about 80 per cent of the Tasmanian devil population, but efforts to save the devil mean the population is expected to stabilise.
The devils at the research facility in Cressy, in Tasmania's north, are all tumour-free, undergoing a strict quarantine process when they arrive.
David Shaap, coordinator of the Tasmanian devil ambassador program, said it was important to spread awareness about the disease.
"We want people to be able to first know what a Tasmanian devil is — a lot of people understand the Tasmanian devil as a cartoon character but don't actually realise it's an actual species," he said.
"So the level of education, not only on the species, but the plights they face and the conservation efforts going into saving the Tasmanian devil is highly beneficial."
Mr Shaap said talks were underway to next send devils to Prague, Auckland and the west coast of the United States.
Minister for Parks and Environment Nick Duigan said the ambassador program is a key part of efforts to save the Tasmanian devil.
"It's so important that people are talking about Tasmania, talking about the Tasmanian devil, and contributing to the research around the Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment