Kicker - Saving baby devils

NICK EICHER, HOST: Something of a special baby boom has just taken place in Australia.

Not of humans, but of the Tasmanian Devil.

…the powerful, vicious, evil-tempered (but lovable) brute—hungry at all times—it will eat anything, but is especially fond of wild duck.

BROWN: Uh, Nick...that’s a cartoon!

EICHER: Got carried away, sorry.

The marsupials had gone extinct on mainland Australia.

But after introducing back into the area several adult Tasmanian Devils last year, seven Tasmanian Devil babies have arrived and survived.

Tim Faulkner is president of one of the conservation groups responsible:

FAULKNER: Today marks the first time in 3,000 years or there abouts that Tasmanian Devil has roamed mainland forests. And as an apex predator it’s critically important.

Conservationists hope they’ll save the Tasmanian Devils from total extinction. And they believe that by reintroducing the species to Australia, it will help restore and rebalance the wilderness.

TAZ: [Growls, screeches, and raspberries]

Or for those of us brought up on Looney Tunes, it’ll save us from heartbreak.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

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