Two Tasmanian devils from Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Australia are settling into their new home at the San Diego Zoo’s Australian Outback after completing their mandatory quarantine, zoo officials announced Wednesday.
A “laid-back” male devil named McLovin and a “shy” female named Quirindi (pronounced Kwa-ren-dee) arrived in San Diego from Taronga late last year, zoo officials said.
“The devils are part of a partnership program between San Diego Zoo and Taronga Zoo, designed to increase awareness of the species and to inspire needed support for Tasmanian devil conservation. The San Diego Zoo is currently one of the few zoos in the U.S. with Tasmanian devils, making these newest additions extremely significant,” according to a San Diego Zoo statement.
Tasmanian devils are native to the island state of Tasmania—part of Australia—where they live in forest, woodland and agricultural areas. As effective nocturnal hunters, they use their keen senses of smell and hearing to find prey or carrion. They are known for establishing dominance with fierce-sounding snarls and high-pitched screams, especially at meal time, the statement said.
The species is listed as “Endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. They face the threat of extinction in the wild due to devil facial tumor disease (DFTD), a rare, contagious cancer found only in Tasmanian devils. DFTD is transmitted from one animal to another through biting, a common behavior among devils when mating and feeding. The disease kills all infected devils within six to 12 months, and there is no known cure or vaccine. Both McLovin and Quirinidi are disease-free, the statement continued.
“The devil facial tumor disease is estimated to have wiped out more than 80 percent of the wild population,” said Katie Tomlinson, senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo. “The disease is incredibly rare and is one of few contagious cancers in the world. The good thing about that is, it attracts a lot of scientific attention. San Diego Zoo supports research that’s being done on the disease, so there’s still a lot of hope for the devils.”
San Diego Zoo Global, along with numerous research institutes and zoos around the world, is supporting the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program—a government initiative established in 2003 to respond to the threat of devil facial tumor disease. Its mission is to combat the epidemic to ensure the survival of the Tasmanian devil and help the species’ population recover in the wild.
Guests at the San Diego Zoo can visit McLovin and Quirindi at their new home inside Conrad Prebys Australian Outback.
–Staff
