If you visit Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary on Friday May 20^th 2011, don’t be surprised to see the staff wearing something other than the usual khaki!  We will be celebrating Black and White Day which was established to highlight the dangers facing Tasmanian devils in the wild and to help raise much needed funds to save this amazing Australian marsupial from extinction.

For those of you who aren’t aware, yes, Tasmanian devils are marsupials.  This means that like koalas and kangaroos, devils give birth to extremely undeveloped young which then complete most of their development inside their mother’s pouch.  Devils give birth to as many as 40 tiny joeys but with only 4 teats inside the pouch, most will not survive.

Tasmanian devils have a quite a fierce reputation which is somewhat undeserved.  Anyone fortunate enough to have worked with devils will tell you that they are really quite shy animals but their noisy feeding habits combined with a powerful set of jaws that are capable of crushing bone can make this difficult to believe!

Devils mostly feed on carrion and while this is advantageous in ridding the forests of animal carcasses, it can increase the risk of them being hit by cars as they feed on unfortunate wildlife which has already met this fate.

In recent times the numbers of wild devil populations have plummeted following the outbreak of a highly contagious disease known as Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD).  DFTD is 100% fatal and has caused the status of the devil (as listed in the IUCN Red List) to drop from “common” to “endangered” and with the numbers still decreasing, it is very likely this disease could lead to the extinction of Tasmanian devils in the wild.  But there is still hope!  A lot of research is being done to learn more about this puzzling disease and breeding populations have been established in zoos on mainland Australia where (so far) they are safe from DFTD.  Sanctuaries have also been set up in Tasmania for disease free devils to try and prevent the complete loss of this remarkable animal.

So when you visit Lone Pine’s gorgeous females “Stripey” and “Sparky” on Friday May 20^th spare a thought for the wild devils and do what you can to help save this truly unique and intriguing Australian animal.