Meet Peanut Butter & Jelly – Vegemite’s First Tasmanian Devil Joeys!

New Koala joey born in the Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary to mother Banksia

Conservation organisation Aussie Ark is thrilled to announce that hand-raised Tasmanian Devil Vegemite has given birth to her very first joeys; Peanut Butter (son) and Jelly (daughter). And the joey’s first health check and gender reveal confirms the brother-sister pair are thriving despite a dramatic start in life shaped by flood, snow and cyclonic wind.

Vegemite was born at the Ark but sadly orphaned with sister Toast. The pair were hand-raised by Birds & Mammals’ Keeper Lauren Hunter from sister organisation the Australian Reptile Park. When Vegemite reached sexual maturity, she was transferred back to the place of her birth on the Barrington Tops to join the breeding program. And this winter, the Devils’ breeding season, Vegemite fell pregnant!

Typically, a female Devil would be hidden away in a den during winter, focused on her role as mum. But in May the statewide flood emergency deluged yards, and in June and July snowfall, cyclonic wind, and then the NSW ‘weather bomb’ felled trees and destroyed fences. This included a fence of Vegemite’s habitat, necessitating her evacuation. She was transferred into an intensive yard in the Species Recovery Unit and offered a custom-made box as a den. During this transfer, the Aussie Ark team realised she had two joeys in her pouch!

Aussie Ark Operations Manager Dean Reid conducted the joeys’ first health check and gender reveal and is thrilled with their progress.

“They are both super cute!” Mr Reid said. “And we are so proud of Vegemite. She has transitioned so well into being a healthy, happy, wild-living Devil…helping save her species from extinction with these two precious joeys. It’s the kind of full circle conservation success story we love here at Aussie Ark.”

After the health check, Mr Reid reunited Vegemite with Peanut Butter and Jelly and was rewarded with the special treat of witnessing the joeys riding their mum’s back by latching on with tiny teeth and feet. This is an instinctive behaviour of the joeys, ensuring they don’t lose their mum as she travels to and fro from the den.

“This is what Devils do in the wild, and it’s very rare to witness,” Mr Reid said. “I feel very lucky today to see it.”

If you’d like to help Aussie Ark continue its vital work breeding and rewilding the Tasmanian Devil, please donate now, or consider doing a symbolic adoption at Aussie Ark.