Chris Hemsworth and his wife helped release 11 Tasmanian devils on Australia’s mainland last month, where the animals have been extinct for around 3,000 years.
Working with wildlife conservation group Aussie Ark, Hemsworth and Pataky released the devils at a 1,000 acre wildlife sanctuary in New South Wales. Tasmanian devils became extinct on mainland Australia about 3,000 years ago after they were outcompeted by dingoes. The dingoes never made it to the island of Tasmania, where the devil population continued to thrive. However, the devil facial tumor disease, a cancer first described in the 1990s, has devastated the population on the island, reducing it by around 90 percent, to around 25,000 animals. Hopefully by the power of Thor, devils will once again roam Australia.
“I really believe that over time, we’ll see the devil become a normal part of mainland Australia. It was here 3,000 years ago. You know, that’s an ecological blink of an eye.” -President of AussieArk Tim Faulkner
Here’s a longer clip of the release day”