Devils in detail

By Kath Gannaway
PRIVACY is just not an issue for Healesville Sanctuary’s Tasmanian Devils as they bare everything from their teeth to their tails for a world-wide audience.
Devil mums Pheonix and Lucy and six of their little devils were in a deep anaesthetic-induced sleep as a barrage of cameras captured every angle of their medical examination last week – a first for the joeys.
The veterinary team, however, have to cope, eyes wide open, with being under the media glare which can help raise awareness and, hopefully support for efforts to save the critically endangered species which faces extinction due to the devil facial tumour disease. A film crew from Germany was among the print and television media which resulted in wide-spread coverage.
Threat of extinction, the unique nature of the disease, which is transmittable between the devils by contact, and the efforts of Healesville Sanctuary and other organisations to build a captive ‘insurance’ population makes their story newsworthy.
Regular examinations including blood samples, swabs, checking the mouth for any signs of the tumour and micro-chipping the joeys are all part of the vet team’s role.
Healesville Sanctuary holds the largest mainland captive population of 62 disease-free devils, plus 21 born this year.
To become a Devils’ Advocate and help support the survival of this iconic species, log onto www.zoo.org.au.