It's Valentine's Day and love is in the air at Devil Ark!

Love doesn’t get much better than this!

Following our first successful breeding season at Devil Ark last year, our next season is almost upon us.

The female Tasmanian devil’s body has already started to prepare for mating, which will start later this month. The skin around her neck is thickening (ready for a few “love bites”) and her pouch is deepening to accommodate her new joeys.

Is this what love at first sight looks like?
Hen and Conan meet for the first time... we know their off sping will be cute!

Mating occurs over a seven day period after the female selects her mate. If she doesn’t fall pregnant with her first ovulation, she can have two more cycles before the end of June. Devils aren’t monogamous so she could have many partners if not defended by the male. He ‘mate guards’ by sprawling across the entrance of his mate’s den to prevent other unwelcome male visitors.

 Her skin is thickening...

Gestation is a brief 21 days, after which around 30 tiny devils are born. Since mum only has four teats, it is a race for the first four to fuse themselves to her teats to survive. They will feed from their mother for six months before venturing from their den in Spring.

These juvenile devils will become fully independent by December. Last year’s Devil Ark babies are now in a crèche and will be moved into free range enclosure when they reach breeding age next year.

Devil Ark’s first breeding season last year was a great success with 26 baby devils born at Devil Ark - the largest number of devil joeys ever born in captivity. Devil Ark has quickly become the largest breeding facility for the endangered Tasmanian devil and we are now home to almost 100 devils in large free range enclosures that mimic the natural landscape of their native Tasmania.

With the insidious DFTD (Devil Facial Tumour Disease) now reaching the final disease-free area in Tasmania’s North West, extinction in the wild seems inevitable. This highlights the importance of Devil Ark’s goal to preserve this fascinating marsupial.