The Save the Tasmanian Devil Program established an Insurance Population in 2005, gathering animals from areas of the State where there had not been evidence of DFTD. As at January 2010, the Insurance Population had grown to 277 disease-free Tasmanian devils.
The animals in the Insurance Population could play an important role, if ever needed, in helping to re-establish healthy wild populations in Tasmania.
Tasmanian devils in the Insurance Population were initially isolated and housed in purpose-built quarantine enclosures before being sent to wildlife institutions in mainland Australia approved by the Zoo and Aquarium Association. The decision to remove Tasmanian devils to the mainland of Australia was based on the need to ensure that we had a healthy population of devils that was at absolutely no risk of infection from diseased wild devils. This national conservation effort has only been possible because of the expertise and passion of the zoos and wildlife parks that have expended a great deal of time and resources in setting up and maintaining Insurance Population facilities.
As it became clear that DFTD was not airborne, and therefore the risk of infection to captive populations was much lower than first thought, the Program instituted a locally-based Insurance Population that is housed at facilities in Tasmania.
To date the Insurance Population only consists of Zoo and Aquarium Association members, which insures that the population is managed to the standards of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
The Program's Insurance Population currently comprises:
On advice from the Captive Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG) and the Zoo and Aquarium Association, the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program has determined that it needs an effective Insurance Population of around 500 breeding devils to maintain the genetic diversity and behavioural integrity of the species over a period of 50 years. This target number is only required in the event that no disease free Tasmanian devils are available to supplement the Insurance Population. This may mean having as many as 1,500 devils being intensively managed in captivity - a massive task.
Other options
Free-ranging enclosures (FREs) are one of the Program's favoured options for an economically and behaviourally sustainable alternative to intensive management. The first of the FREs was constructed on land donated by the Devil Island Project. There is very little known about managing Tasmanian devils in this way so the Program's experts are working through issues relating to the size of the enclosures, the numbers and ratio of animals that can be housed, den construction, and food sources with animals from the Tasmanian-based Insurance Population.
Up to 80 Tasmanian devils will be released on an offshore island in 2010. At this stage we will be using a limited number of animals of various ages, typical of what you would find in a wild population. This first release will be a controlled project and, as a precaution, the males will be sterilised to prevent the population breeding and becoming established until we can be sure that this is an ecologically sustainable action for the devils and the island ecology. Our aim with this initial release is to observe and monitor.
The Program is also looking at the feasibility of ‘virtual islands' in 2010 - fencing off peninsulas or other geographically suitable areas of land in Tasmania.
Interlinked strategies for Insurance Population
The Insurance Population concept and parameters grew out of an international workshop held in Hobart in July 2008. Read more
populations in Tasmania.