Knuckle and Blaze are Aussie Ark's youngest (and arguably, cutest) tiny Tasmanian devils, and are being hand-raised.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
This is because their young and inexperienced mother struggled to care for all of her four joeys, the maximum number a devil can carry in her pouch because of the number of teats.
So, operations manager Dean Reid stepped in four weeks ago to help the mother devil out, taking two of the joeys to hand raise himself and leaving two with the mother.
"Female devils go through three oestrus cycles per year, in February and April and June/July," Mr Reid said.
"These are third oestrus joeys, so this is why they are so small at this time of year."
Aussie Ark reports that both pairs of joeys are now thriving.
Although hand-raising devils can be time consuming - the joeys need four bottle feeds every 24 hours, Mr Reid says he love's being a devil dad.
"They will stay with me until they're weaned and fully independent," Mr Reid said. "After which they'll start their life at the Ark in the Barrington Tops, joining our world-famous breeding and rewilding program to help secure the future of their species."
Knuckles was named after a famous character in Sonic the Hedgehog and Blaze was so named because of a stripe of white fur on his rump.
You can meet the joeys face-to-face during Aussie Ark's Open Days when the gates of the Barrington Tops facility open for the entire month of January. Find out more at www.aussieark.org.au/aaopendays.