Ballarat Wildlife Park's Tasmanian devils Neville, Vader and Davina will spearhead a new awareness and fundraising campaign for their species.
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The park will launch the first-ever Tasmanian Devil Day, to be held on December 10, featuring raffles, activities and extra feeding and information sessions to highlight the importance of the conservation of Australia's largest carnivorous marsupial.
Over the past 30 years Tasmanian devil numbers in the wild have fallen dramatically because of the highly contagious devil facial tumour disease and they are now considered endangered.
Ballarat Wildlife Park mammal curator Julia Leonard said the park's three devils, and others in captivity in wildlife parks and zoos, were part of an insurance population in the event the species becomes extinct in the wild.
"We are starting Tasmanian Devil Day because we are part of the breeding program so we can donate money not only toward breeding but also to contribute to a vaccination they are working on for the devil facial tumour," Ms Leonard said.
The idea to launch a day dedicated to the iconic marsupials came after a keeper attended the Australian Society of Zoo Keeping conference earlier this year and heard a presentation from a keeper who created Cloud Leopard Day with similar goals.
Ms Leonard said, thankfully, Tasmanian devils breed well in captivity and she was hopeful there might be the pitter-patter of joey feet next year if breeding of any of Ballarat's devils is approved.
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Some devils bred in captivity across Australia are released on disease-free islands off Tasmania in a bid to maintain wild populations. The captive population of Tasmanian devils is free of the facial tumour disease that has ravaged their wild cousins.
The disease is passed on through saliva and being a scavenging animal in the wild, there are often fights when more than one animal tries to feed on a carcass and the disease spreads easily. It is also transmitted if a devil dies of the disease and other devils prey on the carcass.
Tasmanian Devil Day will be held at Ballarat Wildlife Park on December 10.
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