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Some Real Devils Debut Monday At ABQ Zoo

ABQ Zoo

  The Albuquerque BioPark is welcoming four Tasmanian devils to the zoo.

The animals will make their public debut Monday. After that, visitors will be able to see the Tasmanian devils daily in the zoo's Australia area.

BioPark Director Rick Janser says officials have been working to bring the Tasmanian devils to Albuquerque for the past 10 years. The BioPark is the second facility in the U.S. to house Tasmanian devils.

The dog-sized marsupials have spent the past week settling in after arriving from Australia's Healesville Sanctuary.

Tasmanian devils are found only on the island of Tasmania. Some wild populations have declined by more than 80 percent due to a contagious, fatal cancer first detected in 1996.

While scientists search for a cure, zoos are raising a healthy, cancer-free insurance population.

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