Paternity testing and lots more!

It’s an exciting time at Devil Ark.  We’re just about to start biopsing our 40 joeys that were born last year.  This reveals who their parents are, as they breed in massive free range enclosues that contain up to 12 devs, so this procedure is necessary to determine paternity. A small skin scrapping is taken from the little one’s ear and is sent to our friends at Sydney University for testing. 

In readiness for breeding we’re already seeing females showing signs of nesting and this includes grabbing tusks of grass to take back to their dens to build comfy nests.  We can see trails of this tussock leading right into their dens, so its easy to work out which dens have female inhabitation. 

 

The brumbies are prolific up this way and the other day I woke up to find a herd of wild brumbies in my very own backyard!  This is the closest I’ve ever got to them and they are truly beautiful, wild animals.

 

 

Chicko and Cheech are growing bigger by the day and have even hit the 2kg mark.  I’ve been handraising these littles guys for three months now and I sure have become attached to them.  I’ll only have them for a couple of months more and they’ll then go into the crèche yards to socialise with the other joeys their own age.  It wont be long before they’re old enough to breed and will make baby devils of  their own.

Chicko and Cheech

We’ve had bushfires in the area but thankfully no close calls.   It’s been hot up at the Ark and the devils burrow way underground to keep cool.  This is how they’d stay safe in a bushfire too.  Devs are actually pretty hardy in bushfires, as they can burrow to keep safe - Adrian Devil Ark keeper

Lil ones grow up sooo quickly

One afternoon recently I was relaxing at home with a good book when I heard the sound of something being ripped up. I ran into the lounge room to find both Lloyd and Midnight playing tug of war with a strand of carpet! I yelled “oi! what are you doing?” and received the cutest most guilty look ever. 

A quick check of the house revealed a chewed TV remote and some gnawed coffee table legs.... Clearly it was time for these lil ones to leave the nest and begin to explore the big bad world.

It's weaning time for our Tasmanian devil joeys, and now they are drinking water and eating solids on a daily basis, their favourite food at the moment is rabbit (fur and all) and even at this age they can crunch through the bones.

By now most wild devil joeys would be weaned and fending for themselves (except maybe some of those born later in the year); we are in the process of removing our joeys from the free range enclosures (FREs) and have noticed that most females are no longer producing milk. This is giving females a chance to recuperate before the next breeding season starts next February/ March.

It's a little quiet at home now, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss Lloyd and Midnight but I know they’re better off where they are - they were becoming less dependent of me and more and more adventurous as each day past. They are currently living in a mini-enclosure but will soon be moved into Devil Ark and in the future will be living in our FREs

It's been such a pleasure watching them grow. I'll never forget how small they were or the time I found them in the bottom of the oven with a nest of stolen items; or just watching them chasing each other around the house.

Since they've been so good this year a special Xmas gift will be well deserved, and I'm sure there will be a turkey leg or two.

A big merry Xmas and happy holidays from Lloyd and Midnight; have a safe holiday and look out for us in the New Year.

Princess Mary provides genetic Tasmanian devil diversity at Devil Ark

Following another bumper breeding season at Devil Ark, we are delighted with the recent arrival of the most genetically diverse female devil in the Save the Tasmanian Devil breeding program. 

The new devil is wild caught from the East coast of Tasmania, is two years old and has been affectionately named Princess Mary by the keepers at Devil Ark. It is hoped that she will have at 2-3 successful breeding years, producing up to twelve joeys.

Princess Mary is so important because she is not related to any other devil in the program. She was wild caught in Northeast Tasmania, which is heavily infected by Devil Facial Tumour Disease. She has never bred and prior to arriving, she was in quarantine in Tasmania to ensure she was disease-free. Genetic diversity is crucial to the species’ survival as strong genes give the devil the best chance of survival in the wild.

The STDP’s stud book is held by the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) who are responsible for matching the most genetically diverse devils for breeding. This means that once a year, devils are transferred in and out of the 20 participating institutions in the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program across the country. 

Devil Ark is the largest and most successful facility in Australia. It is recognised that breeding an insurance population is a vital part in saving the species from extinction in the wild due to the contagious cancer Devil Facial Tumour Disease. The aggressive disease is always fatal and kills devils within six months. A shocking way to die, the poor devil succumbs to dehydration and organ failure. 

Health check gives "Princes Mary' the all clear

Devil Ark expands

With an ever expanding population, largely due to two fantastic breeding seasons, we are inin the process of building new FREs (free range enclosures) to accommodate this year’s joeys and senescent founders (aging devils).

Last year 26 young were born at the Ark and this year as many as 40 little joeys have been seen. This is a fantastic! and the highest breeding result for a captive facility holding Tasmanian devils.

Our population has grown from 44 founders to 120 residents; we have a target figure of 360 by 2016 and hope to house as many Devils as 1000 at full capacity.

However, more animals mean we require more free range enclosures (FREs) to house them. So we need to increase our enclosures from 9 to 13 FREs – ranging in size from 2 - 4.4h.

Construction started mid-October, with Central Coast Fencing, Ellerston machine operators and a team of builders from our primary sponsor The Australian Reptile Park braving mountain conditions to get the job done.

Some of our construction crew have been living on site in demountable homes and using camping equipment for eating and showering....I know what you’re thinking...and yes we do have a porto-loo!

In the short time workers have been at the Ark a new fence lines have been cleared dug and constructed, mounds where the devils will call home have been constructed and the site for our Interpretation Centre has been cleared.

Three of our new FREs will be used as crèche yards to house our new additions from this year. A crèche yard is kinda like a pre-school for little devils, where they can interact and learn much needed behaviours - such as social feeding, establishing a pecking order with other devils and other enrichment such as climbing and foraging for insects and other natural small food items. Previous crèche yards have proven very successful and a lot of natural wild behaviours have been observed.

Our new senescent FRE is kind of like a retirement home for old devils. In the wild, being such a competitive animal, they only have a life span of 5-6 years on average and don’t die of old age; instead they die of starvation or even predation by other devils … remember a devils’ life is all about survival of the fittest!

mound for devil den

But in captivity they can live to be 8-9 and like all aging animals (ourselves included) are effected by a range of ailments, the most common being eye cataracts and arthritis in the hips! The older devils would be bullied by the younger ones and as our duty of care, a separate FRE will accommodate our aging original founders...We’re certain they have earned it!

We’re constantly being asked by people if they can visit and by early next year, this will be a reality. We are building an interpretative centre which will make for an exciting opportunity to visit Devil Ark on advertised dates during the year.

Our education centre will be very interactive, and give our visitors the chance to understand the terrible disease effecting the Tasmanian wild population, showing a timeline of the disease and helping to better understand how it has spread, information on devils in general and why Devil Ark is so important to the preservation not only of this species, but to ensure that animals breed and housed here will be suitable for a long term plan return to the wild.

 the site of our information centre

In general the biggest problems we will face during construction is the weather, fingers crossed so far it has been great, with long sunny days. (except for that snow dump a few weeks back!)

But when it rains here it rains hard, and the ground turns to mud, just look back at our construction photos in 2011! If all goes to plan construction will be finished by the new year and we hope our Interpretation centre will be open soon after.

Devil Ark is only going to get bigger and bigger and we thank that various people who have donated time, equipment and made donations...we wouldn’t be here without you.

Hip hip hooray... I'm 1kg today!

Seems like it was only last week when I first saw my lil joeys, they were so small, weighing only 200gms. I remember how they could both fit in my cupped hands. 

In those early days, looking after my little ones consumed a big part of my day to day, with bottle feeds at 12am, 6am, 12pm and 6pm as well as a normal days work, there's little energy for much else... Thankfully our favourite pass-time seemed to be snoozing on the couch together.

But that was 800gms ago, gone are the two little fragile joeys that spent the majority of their time either asleep or curled up in their pouches…

Make way for the two mini devils, full of beans who can't stay still longer than 10 seconds and spend every minute exploring my lounge room and kitchen and constantly rumbling each other.

It is just amazing to watch them play fighting and vocalising with each other, learning and developing skills that will so important in later life.

In the last few days I have been weaning them away from a bottle to lapping milk from a saucer, main reason being that as their teeth are now developing they keep biting through the latex nipples. No wonder the mother devil weans them around this time in the wild... Awwch!

They have also started eating solids now on a daily basis.

I usually feed them a mince mix around 7pm and they can smell the meat being prepared and usually go crazy. If I've been foolish enough to not be wearing socks at this time, which I usually am, they start to nibble my toes while waiting, quite a funny site as a friend pointed out to me the other day.

Now I know what you’re thinking... Do little devils have a cake with such an important celebration?

Well not exactly, but they did enjoy a nice size devil patty :)

This is now ...

And that was then ... 6 weeks ago

Month one of raising little devils

Any keeper will tell you that the highlight of their job is watching young animals growing up; and sometimes we are even lucky enough to lend a hand in this process…

 “After a hard day’s work...the little ones are all fed and snoozing by the fire...the hum of the washing machine can be heard and soon a load of pouches and towels will be hung out to dry...with a glass of red in my hand I contemplate a nap before our next feeding time”.

Raising young ‘ens can be hell, but for these little angles it’s well worth it!

Following such a successful breeding season and bearing in mind that captive bred devils could well be the saviour to prevent the extinction of the Tasmanian devil, Devil Ark has decided to assist wean and hand rear joeys of special genetic importance.

My two little devils were removed from their mother who had four joeys, a very full pouch and a heavy burden! So we waited until these two where approaching an age of independence and we started assist weaning them. This happens around an age of 120 days - when joeys are in and out of the pouch and often can be seen on the mother’s back.

 Assist weaning is something we try and do with females with four joeys. It gives mum some relief and helps her to recover faster. As you can imagine, one joey can be hard enough to look after, let alone four clinging to your back! In a few months these two will be returned to an enclosure with their siblings so they can learn to be little devils.

When I first had my little charges they weighed around 200grams and have short thin coats and rounded features. The male has a white stripe on his chest and is black all over. While the female has a broken white stripe on her chest, and stripes across her shoulders and tail base and black all over. These are the markings they will retain for the rest of their lives. For the next few months they’ll spend their time in and out of my ‘pouch’ which consists of a combination of beanies and knitted sacks and towels (made from cotton or wool – nothing artificial).

They are currently being bottle feed using a special marsupial milk replacer. This was initially every four hours round the clock. Fortunately their tummies gradually grew and I could increase the feeding volume and thankfully the time in between each feed expanded to every six hours.

They sure love their tucker! When I wrap them up and put bottle to their mouth they greedily drink.

One month on and their fur has thickened and features have sharpened, they really look just like mini devils now. Starting out at 200grams they weigh almost 500grams now. They are growing well -putting on weight every day. They are also quite mobile now, and before a feed love nothing more than a good chase and rumble - all important behaviour that will be necessary in their adult lives. Like all young though, they can’t help but to fall asleep once with a full belly of milk.

regular weigh ins to ensure appropriate weight gains

A bonus of this hand rearing is the opportunity for people to ‘meet’ and interact with these beautiful animals. Often it changes people’s attitudes when they come face to face with a ‘real’ Tasmanian devil. I have heard many people say things like “they are so much softer than I expected”; “oh they don’t smell after all”; “I thought they would be mean”. Having hand reared animals allows everyone to appreciate them as much as we do. And every convert counts!

Over the course of the next few months I look forward to bringing you more stories about my hand rearing adventures. The joeys will start be getting up to more mischief as they are introduced to solid foods. They already have developed a habit of stealing socks and stashing them behind the fridge!

Finally we do request your help please. We are seeking special people to adopt one of our 32 joeys. The little female I’m raising was recently adopted at the Gloucester Platypus festival and we are just waiting on her new adoptees, six year old twins Evaena and Nathan, to name her.

Now we just need the rest of our joeys to find generous ‘adoptive’parents. If we act together we can save the devil.

See you at the next festival.

The long waiting game is over - devilish joey success

After months and months of not always so patient waiting, we are excited to say that the 2012 breeding season at Devil Ark has been a huge success.

Last year we produced 26 joeys and this year we have counted 32 joeys!

The joeys currently range in size from little pink jelly beans, to fully furred mini devils. With such a strong result, it must be said that conditions for these animals are as close perfect as can be provided.

It was mid-February when we first noticed signs of reproductive behaviour, the most obvious was devils not eating their food - remember these animals are largely scavengers and will gorge feed, eating as much as one third of their own body weight!

Usually the devils will only leave behind chewed bones, if anything, so when we started noticing whole food items being left we knew the breeding season had started.

As a marsupial (non-placental mammal) the Tasmanian devil has an extremely short gestation period, around 19 - 21days. On average 20- 30 tiny joeys no larger than the size of a grain of rice are born; and four tiny joeys could fit on top of a five cent coin. After birth the joeys must make their way into the safety mum’s pouch.

joeys at approx 80 days

The Tasmanian devil is an extremely competitive animal and this behaviour starts right from birth. Of the 20- 30 joeys that are born, only a maximum of four will survive (the mother only has four teats in her pouch). What we’re seeing here is survival of the fittest right from the word go! Only the strongest four with the best instincts will make it into the pouch, latch onto a nipple and continue to develop.

The reason we have different age groups of joeys as not all females birthed at the same time. The age difference is around three months.

Female devils can cycle three times (usually 55 days apart) during a breeding season. This is known as 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd oestrus cycles.

Once the joeys are too big for mums pouch (usually at around 4 ½ months) they will be left in their burrow, which has a nest right at the end with rotting plant material to keep the little joeys warm. Devils are great diggers and burrows can be over two metres in length, going down on a slight angle for over a metre.

Devil joeys are usually well weaned by eight months and will disperse from the maternal burrow not to long after. These animals do not live in family packs or mobs and will live a solitary life only coming together for carrion feeding and breeding.

Like proud parents, Devil Ark keepers watch females with tails and back legs hanging out of ever stretching pouches, we can’t wait to have an up close look at the next generation of Tasmanian devils.

approx 100 days - joeys are now covered in a fine layer of velvety fur