豪本土でタスマニアデビル自然繁殖、３０００年ぶり

【シドニーＡＦＰ＝時事】オーストラリア固有の有袋類タスマニアデビルが、３０００年ぶりに豪本土で自然繁殖した。保護団体が２５日、明らかにした。大掛かりな「再野生化」計画の成功に期待が高まっている。（写真はオーストラリアのバーリントントップス国立公園内の保護区に再導入されたタスマニアデビル。保護団体「オージー・アーク」提供）
　保護団体「オージー・アーク」と複数の協力団体は、シドニー北方のバーリントントップス国立公園に昨年設置された広さ４００ヘクタールの保護区内で、タスマニアデビルの子７匹が生まれたと発表した。
　有毒植物や害獣、自動車などの被害を避けるために設置された同保護区内に、成体２６匹が放されてから１年足らず。この再野生化の取り組みは「歴史的」と評価されていた。
　オージー・アークによると、レンジャーらが複数の雌の育児のうを調べたところ、「申し分なく健康」な子どもたちが見つかった。数週間後に生育状況を改めて確認する予定だという。
　タスマニアデビルは黒や茶色の被毛を持ち、体重は最大８キロほど。通常、人間を襲うことはない。豪本土では、同じく固有種のディンゴに捕食されるなどして約３０００年前に絶滅したとされる。
　豪南部タスマニア島にはかつて１５万匹ほどが生息していたとされるが、１９９０年代半ばに顔面に腫瘍ができる謎の伝染病が流行し、個体数が激減。島内に今も生息する野生の個体は２万５０００匹に満たないとみられ、絶滅危惧種に指定されている。
　オージー・アークは今後数年間に、さらに多くのタスマニアデビルを保護区内に放すことを計画。最終的には、より多くの危険にさらされる囲いのない場所にも放っていくという。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/05/26-13:24）

Tasmanian devils have been born in the wild on Australia's mainland 3,000 years after the marsupials disappeared from the continent, conservation groups said Tuesday, raising hopes that a major rewilding effort could succeed.
Aussie Ark and a coalition of other conservation groups revealed that seven of the carnivorous mammals were born inside a 400-hectare (1,000-acre) sanctuary at Barrington Tops, north of Sydney.
The news came less than a year after 26 adult Tasmanian devils were released in the sprawling sanctuary, which is fenced off to protect them from threats including feral pests, noxious weeds and cars.
At the time, conservationists described it as a historic project akin to the successful return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in the United States in the 1990s.
Once (the devils) were back in the wild, it was up to them, which was nerve wracking, said Aussie Ark president Tim Faulkner.
We had been watching them from afar until it was time to step in and confirm the birth of our first wild joeys (babies). And what a moment it was.
Rangers inspected the females' pouches and found the joeys in perfect health, the organisation said, with additional health checks planned in the coming weeks.
Tasmanian devils, which weigh up to 8 kilograms (18 pounds) and have a black or brown coat, prey on other native animals or scavenge carcasses but are typically not dangerous to humans.
On Australia's mainland, they are believed to have been wiped out by packs of dingoes -- wild dogs native to the vast continent -- an estimated 3,000 years ago.
Known for their extremely loud growl, powerful jaws and ferocity when confronting rivals over food or mates, devils are classified as endangered after a contagious facial tumour disease ravaged the remaining population on the Australian island state of Tasmania.
It is estimated that fewer than 25,000 Tasmanian devils still live in the wild, down from as many as 150,000 before the mysterious, fatal disease first struck in the mid-1990s.
Don Church, president of Re:wild, said the birth of the joeys was one of the most tangible signs the reintroduction project on the mainland was working.
This doesn't just bode well for this endangered species, but also for the many other endangered species that can be saved if we rewild Australia, the country with the world's worst mammal extinction rate, he said.
Aussie Ark plans to release more Tasmanian devils into the sanctuary in the coming years along with quolls, bandicoots and rock wallabies, before eventually introducing the animals to unfenced areas where they will contend with a greater number of threats.