Rewilding Australia, one devil at a time | CBC Documentaries

Over tens of millions of years, Australian animals have advanced on the remoted continent into the distinctive creatures we all know immediately: platypuses, kangaroos, koalas and Tasmanian devils. 

Since the arrival of Europeans, Australia has been beneath assault. Early settlers launched a menagerie of invasive species which have threatened the native wildlife and led to the highest charge of mammal extinction on the earth. 

During the 2019–2020 wildfire season, Australia was hit with one of many worst wildlife disasters in trendy historical past. With practically three billion animals lifeless and an space bigger than the dimensions of England up in smoke, it threatened most of the continent’s iconic creatures with extinction. 

But devoted individuals and organizations, like Aussie Ark, are working diligently to avoid wasting what’s left and rewild the continent with native species. 

At a safe breeding facility in Barrington Tops National Park in New South Wales, conservationists examine japanese quolls and Tasmanian devils for valuable cargo: their child joeys. The marsupial predators are native to Australia and key to the ecosystem. Tasmanian devils haven’t lived wild on the mainland in 3,000 years, whereas quolls had been declared extinct there in 1963. Both species might solely be discovered on the island of Tasmania, the place they managed to carry on.

Aussie Ark, in collaboration with different conservation organizations, has been breeding devils and quolls in hopes of re-establishing them on Australia’s mainland. The crew has had success in reintroducing 28 quolls and 26 devils and has plans to launch many extra within the coming years. 

It’s a large enterprise, however this system is giving hope for the way forward for Australia’s wildlife. Watch the video above for the total story. 

Watch Wild Australia: After the Fires on The Nature of Things.