Aussie Ark, formerly Devil Ark, is an animal preservation project based near the

Barrington Tops Barrington Tops is part of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales, Australia, between Gloucester and Scone. In 1934, the area was difficult to access and was described as being "not traceable to any man-made feature". Part of the area has ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. The

wildlife sanctuary A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geolog ...

is called the Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary.

History

The project was initially called Devil Ark, when its original goal was to only breed and preserve

Tasmanian devil The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii''; palawa kani: ''purinina'') is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It was formerly present across mainland Australia, but became extinct there around 3,500 years ago; it is now con ...

s from an aggressive, non-viral transmissible and fatal disease known as

devil facial tumour disease Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is an aggressive non-viral clonally transmissible cancer which affects Tasmanian devils, a marsupial native to the Australian island of Tasmania. The cancer manifests itself as lumps of soft and ulcerating tis ...

. The Devil Ark concept was discussed among zoos in 2006 and formally presented at the Tasmanian devil workshop held in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

in 2008, where most stakeholders, researchers and wildlife agencies were represented. The first founding Tasmanian devils were released at Devil Ark in January 2011 and Devil Ark was incorporated as a separate entity in November 2011.

Description

The park is known as Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary. The project is registered as a charity and is fully dependent on voluntary donations.

Tasmanian devils

A group of healthy Tasmanian devil individuals were raised in captivity at the Ark to produce offspring. The project aimed to create a set of one thousand genetically representative devils and is now a major focus of the insurance policy. Previously, Tasmanian devils held in

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

s would rarely produce offspring in captivity. Aussie Ark is located on altitude in similar weather conditions as found in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

at 500 hectares breeding facility at Ellerston station, just north of Barrington Tops in New South Wales; an initiative of the

Australian Reptile Park The Australian Reptile Park is located at Somersby on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is about north of Sydney, and is just off the M1 Pacific Motorway, near Gosford. The Park has one of the largest reptile collections in ...

. In 2013 it was announced that Devil Ark would open for tours on the first Saturday of every month. 2023 saw the 500th Tasmanian devil born through the project.

Other species

Due to its success, the project expanded to include other species such as

koalas The koala (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), sometimes inaccurately called the koala bear, is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family '' Phascolarctidae''. Its closest living re ...

, the Manning River turtle,

eastern quoll The eastern quoll (''Dasyurus viverrinus'', formerly known as the eastern native cat) is a medium-sized carnivorous marsupial (dasyurid), and one of six extant species of quolls. Endemic to Australia, they occur on the island state of Tasmania, ...

s and the brush-tailed rock wallaby, as well as creating more

wildlife sanctuaries A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologi ...

. In 2020, Aussie Ark helped reintroduce Tasmanian devils back to the Australian mainland, in the Barrington Tops of New South Wales. Its breeding program of the eastern quoll reported a record number of joeys born in spring (November) 2022.

In the media

The Ark and its animals have been featured on the wildlife television series

Bondi Vet ''Bondi Vet'' is an Australian factual television series. It follows the lives of veterinary surgeon Chris Brown at the Bondi Junction Veterinary Hospital (near Bondi Beach), and emergency veterinarian Lisa Chimes at the Small Animal Specialis ...

and its spin-off Outback Adventures with Tim Faulkner.

References

External links

Aussie Ark
{{coord missing, New South Wales 2011 establishments in Australia Zoos established in 2011 Zoos in New South Wales