Tasmanian Devils: Reintroduction To Australia's Mainland May Restore Ecosystem

Researchers at the University of New South Wales, Australia believe that they could potentially improve biodiversity by limiting the spread of red foxes and feral cats in habitats where dingoes have been culled. 

They suspect that dingoes likely hunted out Tasmanian devils who once roamed across the Australian continent, but went extinct across the mainland close to 3,000 years ago. New findings suggest that their return could offer ecological benefits that have been disrupted by the invasive and unwanted livestock of the dingoes. 

"There are large areas where the dingo is gone and we need a predator who can suppress fox numbers," lead study author Daniel Hunter, a PhD candidate at UNSW's School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, explained in a news release. "The devil is the obvious answer."

"It doesn't pose as serious a risk to livestock, and it has played a major role in stopping foxes from establishing a foothold in Tasmania," Hunter added.

During the study, researchers used computer-modeling techniques to examine the ecological impact of Tasmanian devils, dingoes and foxes, meanwhile using the information to determine how Tasmanian devils would specifically impact a variety of ecosystems.

Overall findings revealed that Tasmanian devils would help in benefiting a range of both small and medium-sized species that might include a variety of rodents, bandicoots and ringtail possums and low-lying vegetation. However, researchers also noted that threatened species particularly vulnerable to fox predation would not likely benefit from devil introduction.

"Devils aren't a silver bullet, but we think that they could do a lot of good on the mainland, and this study indicates that a monitored process of reintroduction could actually work," concluded co-author Associate Professor Mike Letnic from UNSW. "We need to take action to arrest the extinction crisis we have in Australia, and that requires being bold and trying something new."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Biological Conservation.

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