Christchurch’s Orana Wildlife Park welcomes arrival of five Tasmanian devils

Christchurch City Council has advised that Orana Wildlife Park, New Zealand's only open-range zoo, sitting on 80 hectares of land, located on the outskirts of Christchurch has welcomed five young Tasmanian devils. The devils were transferred to Christchurch as part of the Save the Tasmanian Devil (STDP) Ambassador Programme.

Christchurch City Council provides grant funding to Orana Wildlife Park.

Tasmanian devils are the world’s largest surviving carnivorous marsupials. They are nocturnal animals wo live for approximately five to seven years in captivity.

Sadly, devils are classified as endangered mainly due to a rare contagious cancer called Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD). The fatal disease has led to a population decline of over 60% of wild devils and up to 90% in some regions of Tasmania. The main aim of the STDP is to ensure the survival of the species.

The arrival last week of Pendlebury, Chester Campbell, Steele, Fox and John brings the number of Tasmanian devils at the park to nine, meaning Christchurch has one of the largest holdings of devils outside of Australia.

Orana Wildlife Park exotic species manager Rachael Mason enthused "we are thrilled to welcome the five new boys to Orana.

“Chester Campbell is the feistiest of the new arrivals and Fox doesn’t lag far behind in that regard. Steele and Pendleberry are rather mellow and John is the smallest and is quite calm and quiet but has beautiful long whiskers.’’

“It is an absolute privilege for Orana to be involved in the Ambassador Programme and raise awareness on the plight of these magnificent marsupials.”

Devils@Cradle’s Managing Director, Wade Anthony, accompanied the Tasmanian devils to Christchurch.

“Pendlebury and Steele are brothers and Fox is their half-brother and all were born at our sanctuary in 2019. Chester Campbell and John are unrelated and moved to Devils@Cradle from the STDP programme for this transfer. These adult devils are in great condition.

"They have travelled well and I know they will settle in to a happy and healthy life here at Orana because Christchurch (the South Island) has a very similar climate and vegetation to Tasmania and Orana has a wonderful facility constructed specifically for devils,'' Wade says.

Image courtesy Christchurch City Council