On a beautiful rainy day like today up in Healesville Sanctuary in the Yarra Valley,
you're almost transported to another world. A world of rich green,
of misty landscapes, a world that hides one of our top predators, the Tasmanian Devil.
These incredible creatures live in the forests of Tasmania, they blend in,
they're impossible to see because they often only come out at night. But all is not well,
being a top predator hasn't saved our Tasmanian Devils from extreme threats. Come with me,
let's learn from somebody who knows so much about Tasmanian Devils and the threats they're facing.
Joining me today is Monica Zabinskis who has
the unique pleasure of working with Tasmanian Devils. Monica, welcome. Thanks Jenny.
Tasmanian Devils, did you set out to work with the most ferocious creature that lives in Australia?
So I didn't set out to work with Tasmanian Devils, but since I started working with
them 10 years ago they just won a piece of my heart and I've never looked back.
We both are sharing the love for Tasmanian Devils and I think a lot of
Australians do, they're just such a charismatic creature and they're the apex predator in a
lot of Australia. That means when things are going wrong they're often the first to suffer.
Absolutely, so Tassie Devils, they used to be considered
a bit of a pest. They got a really bad reputation and were trapped and hunted for 100 years,
and then in 1996 we actually realized that these guys were under a bit of threat as well, and since
then with devil numbers going down in the wild it gives that opportunity for introduced species
to take hold in areas that they used to live and that has a really big problem for our wildlife.
So in 1996 what we realised was they suffer from a facial tumour and it's a really debilitating.
What it does, and maybe you should explain Monica of what is the impact of those facial tumours.
So Devil Facial Tumour Disease as you mentioned was found in the population in 1996.
Since then it's wiped out 80 percent of the entire population of devils. While yes,
there's still high numbers of devils in the wild as what we might think are high numbers,
the genetic diversity that we've lost and the population that has been lost from this cancer
is really devastating and when we're trying to understand well, what does that mean,
how do we have a transmissible cancer? The way I like to explain it is it's kind of like an organ
transplant, but instead of an organ transplant, the cancer cells from one individual are getting
transplanted into another individual when they bite each other or interact over breeding season
and things like that. But instead of your body rejecting that foreign cell, their body
is actually getting infected by the cancer and that's how it's spreading through the population.
So what have we been doing here at Zoos Victoria, knowing about this terrible disease,
knowing this huge impact on the population, what have we been up to?
So I've been pretty lucky to work with devils for 10 years now and pretty proud to say that
here at Healesville we've bred 184 Tasmanian Devils, bred and raised,
which has been absolutely amazing to be able to contribute that number of animals for the program.
Now I'm going to stop you for a moment, because we don't have 184 devils out the back.
Where do our devils go when you've bred them?
That's a good question, so 184, no we don't have that many here. Firstly, some
people might not realise devils only live until they're about six-years-old, seven-years-old,
they're quite a short-lived carnivore and they breed for only a few years of their life, about
two to five years, so the animals that we breed here it really depends on what is
actually happening in the wider Tasmanian Devil program, so we certainly don't work on our own,
there's a whole group of people and partners that work together on this species, and
when we breed Tasmanian Devils, depending on what their genetics are and what's required
for saving the species will depend on what their role might be. So they may stay here
and continue to breed over the years, we have released some into the wild,
so it's been so special to be able to be a part of the program here,
check those pouches and see those precious little jelly beans in there, and then later on in their
life being able to to know that they're going to live out the rest of their life in the wild. That
day when I was able to transport those animals and see them off on the plane, to know that they're
going to be running out there in the bushland of Tassie was a really special moment for me.
Because for us that's also another important part of your work Monica, is
making sure that the devils that we're raising are raised as wild devils and have a repertoire,
so they're scared of the right things but they're also bold enough to go and find food.
Absolutely, so when we mention that we've bred that many,
visitors to the Sanctuary might wonder why we only have two enclosures on display,
but actually so many of our animals are housed off display and we try and work with them really hands
off so that we can maintain those wild behaviours. So a lot of my job whilst I love working in
with our devils and meeting them every day, is actually watching them on a computer screen, is
having cameras to see if they're healthy trying to keep those behaviours as natural as possible
so that if those animals get released into the wild they have the best chance to being wild.
Devils, are they really as fearsome as everyone thinks?
No, they're all really so much bravado. So they all have such unique personalities and that
bravado you know, you see it they have ferocious jaws they have a very thick set upper body.
Now that you've worked with devils and you get to know each one, you get to see
like all creatures, we have multiple different roles and personalities,
so describe a little bit about what actually a devil is.
A devil is so individual in their personality, it's such a great morning when I'm going in and
servicing the devil enclosures and some of them I can see them watching me from their dens and they
just disappear and keep to themselves, others come right running over and have a sniff of my boots
and I guess when they feel threatened they retreat. Their natural behaviour is they are
shy cryptic animals and that's why people possibly didn't know a lot about them,
they would just fall away
They're not going to rush up to something that's threatening
Absolutely, in the wild people might be doing a bush walk in tassie and they might
walk straight past the devil and not even know. Whilst we think devils are generally nocturnal
they'll come out, they'll bask in the sun and they might just be hanging out underneath a grass
tusk and you won't even know. When we see them fighting with each other it's very specific about
that interaction between each other over food and it doesn't reflect their personality altogether.
And Monica my last question for you would be what's your hope for the future?
How are devils going and what do we think is going to happen next?
The future looks bright for devils but it's not there yet, so my hope for devils in the
future is that we can continue to do what we do here at the Sanctuary, continue to breed devils.
Yeah, I'm hopeful too and I think tassie devils is just one where definitely we can see
the role that's been played by recovery teams, the Tasmanian Government, the number of partners in
the recovery program actually is making a difference and we see a day where we'll still
play a supporting role but we're not looked at as the sole solution for these animals.
Absolutely, the future is bright for devils if we keep working together
and there's certainly a lot of a lot of partners involved in that.