Eleven Tasmanian Devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) from the island state of Tasmania have been reintroduced into the mainland of Australia for the first time in 3,000 years.
The Tasmanian Devil is a marsupial mammal, an animal with a pouch. It once roamed the mainland of Australia and is now listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. The Tasmanian Devil lived on the the mainland of Australia for 40,000 years until it died out due to the European introduction of foxes and cats in the 19th century that preyed on many native marsupial mammal species.
The Tasmanian Devil continued to live on the Tasmanian island in southern Australia, but many died over the past 20 years, since 2000, due to the Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD), which is a cancer of the face. It is estimated that there are only 25,000 Tasmanian Devils left in Tasmania.
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