This lodge inside the Freycinet National Park is dedicated to saving Tasmanian devils from extinction.
Anticipation filled the air.
Sometimes, the devils can hear our voices and they might just come along.
A guide at the Saffire Freycinet lodge shows guests the Tasmanian devil enclosure.Credit:Courtesy of Saffire Freycinet and Tourism Tasmania
As if on cue, a grizzled black ball of fur emerged from the bushes.
someone in the group called out.
It was a Tasmanian devil, the worlds largest carnivorous marsupial.
The Hazards Mountains reflected in the glass walls of a suite at Saffire Freycinet.Courtesy of Saffire Freycinet and Tourism Tasmania
This ones named Moltema, Ugle said.
The creature scampered over, sniffing the air in search of food.
Then another female, Mayberry, appeared, and the two came face-to-face, growling and barking.
Saffire Freycinet sits on Great Oyster Bay, in eastern Tasmania.Courtesy of Saffire Freycinet and Tourism Tasmania
Its not necessarily aggression, Ugle reassured us.
Often theyre just sizing each other up to determine whos hungrier.
The property is also at the forefront of the effort to save Tasmanias best-known animal from extinction.
Sadly, because of habitat destruction and a high incidence of road collisions, the species is facing extinction.
But there is hope.
The captive breeding program Save the Tasmanian Devil has been producing a new population of cancer-free animals.
After we witnessed the scuffle between Moltema and Mayberry, we got to observe mealtime.
Ugle explained that they were actually working together to share the difficult job of tackling the two cadavers.
They can also form bonds with each other, and in captivity often sleep together in the same den.
