The Australian Reptile Park has joined forces with sister organisation Aussie Ark to foster two Tasmanian Devil joeys being cared for by Managing Director Tim Faulkner and his family.
Brother-and sister Sam and Messi – named after soccer legends Sam Kerr and Lionel Messi – are being hand-raised by Faulkner and his sons Billy, 11, and Matty, 13.
Faulkner said he was passionate about passing down his knowledge and keeping the Aussie Ark legacy alive for the next generation of Australian conservationists.
The Faulkners adopted the joeys when they were only five months old.
“They came into care because their mum was struggling a bit, which happens,” Faulkner said.
“She had four joeys.
“By taking Sam and Messi into care, we kept them safe and we enabled Mum to really concentrate on the two she still has.
“Thankfully, she’s doing really well now in our Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary.”
The Faulkner home has become the Devils’ playground.
Faulkner has taught Billy and Matty how to bottle-feed the joeys, how to play with them in a way that mimics wild activity with Mum and siblings…and how to clean up after them too.
“Mistakes” on the sofa are common and it’s all hands on deck wiping away the evidence before Faulkner wife gets home from work (and before the joeys wrestle with the toilet paper).
“When the joeys are weaned and independent, they will live at the Australian Reptile Park for a while before joining the breeding program up at Aussie Ark,” Faulkner said.
“For now, they’re with me 24/7.
“I bring them to work with me every day at the Australian Reptile Park, sneaking bottle feeds in between meetings.
“Then I take them home and the boys jump in to help out.
“Raising a Devil is a round-the-clock commitment…but so worth it.”
Tasmanian Devils are extinct on mainland Australia and only remain in the wild in Tasmania where their wild population has been decimated by the highly contagious and deadly Devil Facial Tumour Disease.
Aussie Ark now boasts the largest disease-free “insurance population” in the world, safeguarding the species from extinction.
Faulkner encourages people to visit Sam and Messi soon at the Australian Reptile Park or visit them at the Barrington Tops facility via a Devils in the Wild Tour when the pair eventually joins Aussie Ark’s breeding program.
To help the Faulkners raise Sam and Messi, and for Aussie Ark to continue its vital conservation work with the Tasmanian Devil, donations can be made at aussieark.org.au
Source:
Australian Reptile Park