Tasmanian Devils Born On Australian Mainland For First Time In 3,000 Years

Tasmanian devils have been born on the Australian mainland for the first time in 3,000 years.

It’s been 3,000 years since Tasmanian devils were born on the mainland since dying out after the arrival of dingoes. CNN reports seven Tasmanian devils were born at the 988-acre Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary in New South Wales, Australian NGO Aussie Ark.

Along with the dingo predators, Tasmanian devils also suffered after a contagious form of cancer known as Devil Facial Tumor broke out, killing 90 percent of the population since the species was “discovered” in 1996, CNN reports.

Back in September, Aussie Ark brought 11 of the devils back into the wild in mainland Australia. This came after an earlier trial with15, bringing the number of devils to 26 on the mainland.

“We have been working tirelessly for the better part of 10 years to return Devils to the wild of mainland Australia with the hope that they would establish a sustainable population. Once they were back, it was entirely up to them,” Aussie Ark said in a statement on Monday. “We had been watching them from afar until it was time to step in and confirm the birth of our first wild joeys. And what a moment it was!”

In Tasmania, there are only 25,000 devils left in the wild, according to Aussie. “We’ve been able to historically — albeit in its infancy — return the devil to the mainland, and today is another milestone entirely,” Tim Faulkner, president of Aussie Ark, said in a video posted on Instagram.