Zoos Victoria is creating a “halfway house” for endangered species using a new conservation strategy in which they will be released onto mainland Australia in the aim of testing their survival fitness.
A former Aboriginal reserve called Coranderrk will be used to release four of the devils, as well as 40 each of the Leadbeater’s possum and helmeted honeyeater. All of the species are endangered, with just 60 helmeted honeyeaters remaining.
The 140-hectare site adjoining the Healesville Sanctuary, will be used to test the “survival fitness” of captive species, ahead of potential release to new sites.
While the Tasmanian devils won’t be free to roam beyond the area, it is a significant reintroduction to Victoria for a species that is thought to have become extinct everywhere in Australia, other than Tasmania, about 400 years ago.
Dan Harley, Zoos Victoria’s threatened species biologist, told Guardian Australia that the initiative is a major shift in strategy in boosting numbers of threatened species.
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