Tasmania Devils Insurance for the Future Program

Featherdale Wildlife Park welcomed 2 year old Tasmanian Devil brothers, Saxon and Vandal from Peel Zoo in Western Australia as part of the Tasmanian Devil Insurance Population. This vital program has been developed to build a sustainable captive population of Tasmanian Devils, free from the fatal Devil Facial Tumour Disease which has decimated the Tasmanian wild population in the past two decades.

Since discovery of the disease, sightings of wild Devils have decreased by approximately 70 percent.  The Cancer is transmitted like a contagious disease and is characterised by large facial tumours around the face and neck.  The Disease makes it increasingly difficult to compete for and, digest food, with most Devils dying within a few short months of tumours first appearing.

The Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA), in conjunction with the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (DPIPWE), are managing the Devil Breeding Program and are working towards maintaining the captive insurance population of 550 Devils.  This strategy may one day assist in re-establishing wild Tasmanian Devil populations in Tasmania.