Aussie Ark wildlife ranger Adam Mowbray has had a dream come true when given the chance to hand-raise two Tasmanian devil joeys
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🐳
AnimalsTranscript
00:00It's devil joey time, and how adorable are these two?
00:15It's midwinter, and Aussie arks and endangered Tasmanian devils are breeding.
00:21Sadly these two joeys had to be removed from their mum.
00:25The mother originally had four in pouch, but has cannibalised on two of them.
00:29It sounds brutal to us humans, but it's actually a survival strategy of the devils, and it's
00:33also quite common.
00:35So we decided to intervene and save the remaining two joeys just in case.
00:41The sister brother pair are four months old.
00:46Being their mum is a big commitment, they need to be fed every five hours, day and night.
00:51This is the first devils I've been able to hand raise.
00:54They're only drinking milk, and in a month or two I'll transition them to meat.
00:58So I've just got one of the little devil joeys with me at the moment, we're just going
01:00to give her a quick weigh, then we'll feed her, and then we'll weigh her again so we
01:03know how much she's drunk.
01:05So she's 330 grams.
01:11I feel very privileged to be able to be mum to these joeys.
01:15This species is extinct on mainland Australia, and is sadly still being decimated by the
01:19deadly devil facial tumour disease in Tasmania.
01:25Aussie Ark's breeding and rewilding program is the biggest of its kind, helping to secure
01:29the devil's future in the wild.
01:33I need you to help me raise these joeys.
01:37These two joeys need names.
01:39Help Aussie Ark name them, and if your names are chosen, you'll be invited to the Ark to
01:43attend a devil release.
01:45The best way to name them is to digitally adopt a devil, or make a donation via aussieark.org.au.
01:55So stay tuned, we'll record my journey with them until they're finally weaned and independent,
01:59and begin their lives at the Ark.