The following was published in
The Weekend Australian of 5-6 November, 2016. A strong case for reintroducting the Tasmanian Devil to the Australian mainland.
INQUIRER SECTION
Feeding time for
Tasmanian Devils is a frenzied affair. A hind quarter of kangaroo is
torn apart in minutes as a jumble of the energetic marsupial
predators snarl and growl and snap at each other as they fight over
titbits.
Dinner is swiftly
dispatched. The animals behave as if starved, but the 160 devils at
the Devil's Ark facility at Barrington Tops in the hinterland of the
NSW Central Coast are well catered for, chomping their way through
75kg of kangaroo and rabbit daily.
In what looms as one
of the most significant developments in natural history management in
Australia since European settlement, preparations are being made for
a trial introduction of Tasmanian Devils to the tall eucalypt forests
and subalpine woodlands of the World Heritage-listed Barrington Tops
area.
Victoria may join
NSW in re-establishing the iconic marsupial in its natural role as a
top-order native predator on the Australian mainland, where the
species was widespread as recently as 1000 years ago: a relative
microsecond in the history of evolution. Authorities in both states
are keen for progress on the ground-breaking proposal.
The aggressive
feeding behaviour of the Tasmanian Devil on display at Devil's Ark is
responsible for the catastrophic decline in devil numbers in
Tasmania. Over the 20 years since it was detected, the fatally
contagious facial tumour disease, spread by animals biting each other
during feeding, has wiped out more than 90 per cent of the state's
devils.
There are
indications that the tide in the war against facial tumour disease is
turning, however. Work on a vaccine is progressing and animals in
some places in Tasmania remain disease-free, sparking hope that
populations may evolve genetically to resist the cancer.
Moreover, the
mainland breeding program has been highly successful as devils breed
freely in captivity. Reintroductions to the island from the mainland
are under way. Last November, 23 animals from Devil's Ark were
released on Tasmania's Tasman Peninsula; they are doing well, with
three females breeding. Others have been released on Maria Island and
elsewhere in Tasmania.
A question is now
being asked. Feral cats and foxes are responsible for the extinction
of about 30 mammal species in Australia and threaten many more.
Devils are known to have kept cat numbers in check in Tasmania and
are likely to have prevented foxes from gaining a foothold on the
island. Why not restore the Tasmanian Devil to its natural place in
the bushland of mainland Australia?
Devil's Ark, a
project of the Australian Reptile Park near Sydney, is one of 36
mainland zoos and sanctuaries participating in the Save the Tasmanian
Devil Program. Disease-free animals from Tasmania are bred in
captivity with the twin aims of re-introducing healthy animals to the
island and establishing a second population on the mainland.
A disease-free
mainland population will likely travel down a different evolutionary
trajectory, providing insurance for the future of the species in case
devils are ultimately unable to survive in Tasmania. Wildlife experts
say there is no reason for a mainland population to remain
exclusively in captivity.
Devil's Ark is the
biggest and most successful of the facilities participating in the
mainland program, with more than 200 joeys born since it was
established with 44 animals in 2010. Operating on 500ha of land
donated by the family of media mogul James Packer amid forest
resembling the wilds of Tasmania, Devil's Ark is home to more than
half the mainland insurance population. The facility plans to more
than double its Tasmanian Devil population to 360 and is advocating a
trial introduction of up to 30 to the wild in the Barrington Tops
area.
With the species
breeding prolifically in captivity, experts say there would be no
difficulty supplying surplus devils for mainland reintroductions.
Devils were probably wiped out on the mainland primarily by the
spread of dingoes. Dingoes may have competed with devils for prey or
introduced a disease that was fatal to the marsupials; it is no
coincidence that the devil survived only in Tasmania, which was never
colonised by dingoes.
Dingoes are largely
absent these days from the two main sites being touted for
reintroduction: Barrington Tops in NSW and Wilson's Promontory in
Victoria. While both state governments are quietly supportive,
Tasmania has legal ownership of all devils in the breeding program
and signals it will try to block proposals for mainland
reintroductions.
That's a mindset
that needs to change, says Devil's Ark keeper Abe Tompkins. “Tasmania
claims these animals as its own and wants to continue marketing
them,” Tompkins says. “They need to understand that things have
changed over the years and it's time for a change in the rules.”
Wildlife experts
question why Tasmania should benefit exclusively from the substantial
resources being expended on mainland breeding programs when there are
powerful reasons for reintroductions in other states.
A paper prepared by
a team of NSW experts says the devil could play a crucial role in
controlling feral cats and foxes on the mainland. With their keen
sense of smell, devils could track down and kill the young of foxes
and cats in their dens. Says one of the paper's authors, University
of Sydney professor of ecology Chris Dickman: “I would be extremely
enthusiastic to see the Tasmanian Devil back on the mainland.”
The
Devil's
Ark animals
are held in spacious
enclosures
but
a large devil population will be housed next year
in a newly
fenced
500ha reserve of
wet eucalypt
forest.
In 2018, under
the
trial proposal,
between
24 and 30 devils of both sexes will
be released in the wild in two
or more
areas
around
Barrington Tops. The
sites would be
selected to safeguard
animals from
motor vehicles; road kill
is a major problem with devils reintroduced to Tasmania.
The Barrington Tops
devils would be sterilised so a wild population could not be
established if the experiment falters. The animals would be monitored
using remote cameras and trapping to examine daily activity,
movements and use of habitat. The trial would operate for three
years, based on the life expectancy of the young adults that would be
involved. If successful, fertile animals would then be released to
establish self-sustaining, wild populations.
The trial would run
as part of an expanded Aussie Ark project in the Barrington Tops.
Free-ranging populations of other endangered mammals, such as the
Eastern Quoll and Brush-tailed Bettong - once common in south-east
Australia but now extinct in the region - would be kept in large,
fenced enclosures of forest. Some may also eventually be reintroduced
to the wild.
Proponents argue
that in addition to the environmental benefits of containing feral
predators on the mainland, reintroducing devils there would be a more
cost-effective way of sustaining an insurance population than the
existing captive breeding facilities, where each devil costs as much
as $10,000. They say research personnel are in place at Devil's Ark
to monitor a trial; that animals will be accustomed to the local
climate and habitat; and that the project has strong backing from
local communities. The Packer family has donated an extra 2000ha of
forested land to help Devil's Ark.
The scope of trial
reintroductions may be limited by funding restrictions: Devil's Ark
operates on an annual budget of $330,000 raised through public
donations.
NSW
Environment Minister Mark Speakman cautions that Tasmania is the
stumbling block to mainland reintroductions. “Any reintroduction
outside Tasmania would require detailed assessment,” Speakman tells
Inquirer. “Such a reintroduction is not a simple
matter. It should be a matter that canvasses the views of community,
land managers, ecologists, species experts and the Tasmanian
Government.”
In
Victoria, state authorities have examined the prospects of
reintroducing Tasmanian Devils to Wilson's Promontory National Park,
which is isolated from the landmass of Victoria by a narrow isthmus,
so animals could be contained during a trial. Zoos Victoria would
oversee the project.
“We
believe every humane and effective option needs
to be explored in the fight to save the Tasmanian Devil from
extinction,” says Zoos Victoria biologist
Marissa Parrott.
“We have looked at the feasibility of a mainland population where
the disease does not occur in the belief that it may be needed in the
future.”
Former
federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt ignored a letter from 14
wildlife
experts last
November which said reintroducing
devils to the
mainland
could address “environmental dysfunction” in Australia; provide a
solution to the “seemingly inexorable threat” facing mainland
wildlife;
and save mainland states millions of dollars in environmental
management costs.
The letter suggests
Canberra
take over funding of Tasmania's expensive devil management program as
a way of inducing the state to accept mainland reintroductions.
The
Devil's
Ark board resolved this week to make a
fresh approach to Hunt's successor, Josh Frydenberg.
The
Tasmanians are unmoved. Tasmanian Environment Minister Matthew Groom
maintains there is no need for mainland reintroductions because the
species is longer at risk of extinction. “There is now a wealthy,
genetically diverse population of more than 700 animals housed in
both captive and semi-wild establishments around the country that are
isolated from the disease,” Groom says.
“The
focus of the Save the Tasmanian Devil program is about securing the
future of the devil where in belongs – in the wild in Tasmania.
Consistent with that, the Tasmanian Government does not support any
proposal to release devils into the wild on the mainland.”
Australian
Reptile Park manager Tim Faulkner believes that attitude could
endanger the future of the species in the wild. “By having two
geographically isolated colonies of devils, in Tasmania and on the
mainland, devils have a higher chance of avoiding an extinction
event,” Faulkner says. “People should worry less about losing the
devil from Tasmania and more about losing it from the entire planet.”
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| Tim Faulkner with Tasmanian Devil: Pic The Australian |
NEWS SECTION
Tasmania has
declared that the Tasmanian Devil is no longer threatened with
extinction by the deadly facial tumour disease.
The declaration by
the Tasmanian Government, in a statement to The Weekend
Australian, was made in response to mounting pressure for the
reintroduction of the iconic marsupial predator to the wild on the
mainland.
Researchers are
planning a trial release of up to 30 devils in the forests of the
Barrington Tops in NSW. Another introduction is under consideration
on Wilson's Promontory in Victoria.
The Tasmanian Devil
was once native to the mainland but disappeared between 1,000 and
4,000 years ago when it was displaced by the dingo, which never
reached Tasmania.
The Australian
Reptile Park near Sydney and its Devil's Ark project on the
Barrington Tops, which houses more than half the mainland's
“insurance” population of 300 Tasmanian Devils, are spearheading
the push for reintroducing the species to the mainland.
Proponents of a
trial reintroduction, proposed to be launched in 2018, say
re-establishing the devil as a top-order native predator on the
mainland would be an effective means of controlling feral cats and
foxes, which have wiped out 30 native mammal species and threaten
many more.
They argue that a
wild mainland population would be further insurance against the
extinction of the species in the wild, with Tasmanian animals
remaining under threat.
The mainland captive
breeding population was established in response to the facial tumour
disease, a contagious cancer that has killed 90 percent of Tasmania's
wild devils.
The governments of
NSW and Victoria are quietly supportive of trial reintroductions but
they are opposed by Tasmania, which legally owns the mainland animals
and jealously guards its claim to sole possession of the species.
In a letter last
November to Devil's Ark manager Tim Faulkner, Tasmanian Environment
Minister Matthew Groom warned that Tasmania would block mainland
reintroductions.
“I continue to be
concerned that activities outside the program create a risk of
diverting valuable resources from the conservation effort, and weaken
the broad community support that exists for the insurance population
initiative,” Mr Groom wrote.
However, Mr Groom
has now declared that mainland reintroductions are not necessary
because the devil is no longer threatened in Tasmania.
“I am pleased to
report that extinction of the species is no longer considered
likely,” Mr Groom said in his statement to The Weekend
Australian.
Contradicting a
widely held view, Mr Groom insisted there had been “no local
extinctions” of wild devils in Tasmania. He said remnant
populations and genetic diversity were being boosted by introductions
from captive breeding programs in all states.
“The focus of the
Save the Tasmanian Devil program is about securing the future of the
devil where it belongs – in the wild in Tasmania. Consistent with
that, the government does not support any proposal to release devils
into the wild on the mainland.”
Devil's Ark's Tim
Faulkner said Tasmania's position was contradictory. “According to
the minister, a year ago the situation was dire and mainland releases
would detract from Tasmania's initiatives,” Mr Faulkner said.
“Now he is
portraying everything as being rosy. As good as things are in
Tasmania, they’re still fragile. Things could accelerate rapidly
for the worse.
“A mainland
reintroduction achieves two things: a more robust population away
from the disease but more importantly, natural control measures to
protect native species from feral pests on the mainland.”
