The next stage in rebuilding the wild population of Tasmanian devils will take place in May with the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program to release wild devils into wukalina / Mount William in the state’s north.
This will be the third release of devils under the Wild Devil Recovery (WDR) Project, with previous ones taking place at Narawntapu National Park in September 2015 and Stony Head in August 2016.
It’s all part of our ongoing commitment to secure the future of the devil where it belongs- right here in the wild in Tasmania.
Importantly, this release will have a strong focus on roadkill mitigation strategies to reduce the number of released devils being killed by cars, with a number of different strategies being adopted.
Everyone can play a role in this, and I urge those driving at night in remote areas to take care and slow down between dusk and dawn as Tasmanian devils are very hard to see against a black road surface.
The WDR project, established in 2014, is a trial to look at release techniques and vaccination efficacy to boost devil immunity to DFTD, with preliminary data from previous releases indicating wild devils fare better upon release than captive bred/raised ones.
Some of the devils will be fitted with satellite-linked GPS collars for a short period to help with monitoring post-release. This will allow their movements to be monitored hourly and daily so the program can better observe the devils as they make their way in the new landscape.
The STDP is committed to establishing an enduring and ecologically functioning population of Tasmanian devils in the wild and is a joint response by the Australian and Tasmanian Governments to the threat of DFTD to devils.
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