Devil Ark

Devil Ark is an animal preservation project based in New South Wales, Australia.

Devil Ark
Date opened2011
LocationBarrington Tops,
New South Wales, Australia
No. of species100+
Major exhibitsTasmanian devil
Websitewww.devilark.org.au

Devil Ark is a preservation project targeting Tasmanian devils, which are headed towards extinction. Tasmanian devils are facing an aggressive non-viral transmissible parasitic cancer named devil facial tumour disease which has the prognosis to kill the diseased Tasmanian devils with a 100% rate within one year from infection. A group of healthy Tasmanian devil individuals are being raised in captivity at the Ark to produce offspring, which is slowly progressing. This project aims to create a set of one thousand genetically representative devils, and is now a major focus of the insurance policy. Previously Tasmanian devils were held in Zoo captivities but there was almost no chance that they would produce offspring while being there. Devil Ark is located on 1350 meters altitude in similar weather conditions as found in Tasmania at 500 hectares breeding facility at Ellerston station, just north of Barrington Tops in New South Wales;[1] an initiative of the Australian Reptile Park. in 2013 it was announced that Devil Ark is open for tours on the first Saturday of every month.[2] 2016 saw the 200th Tasmanian devil born through the project.

The Devil Ark concept was discussed among zoos in 2006 and formally presented at the Tasmanian devil workshop held in Hobart in 2008, where most stakeholders, researchers and wildlife agencies were represented. The first founding Tasmanian devils were released at Devil Ark in January 2011 and Devil Ark was incorporated as a separate entity in November 2011.[3] The project is registered as a charity and is fully dependent on voluntary donations.

The Ark and its devils have been featured on the wildlife television series Bondi Vet and its spin-off Outback Adventures with Tim Faulkner.

References
  1. "Devil Ark: saving Tasmanian devils". Australian Geographic. 5 March 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  2. "Barrington Tops Devil Ark preparing to open to the public as an exclusive wildlife attraction". Daily Telegraph. 15 November 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  3. "How Devil Ark come into being". Devil Ark. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.

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