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The Search for Lost Species Is Uncovering Hope for Humanity
Conservation efforts are focused on rebalancing ecosystems so all species can thrive
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On September 10, 2020, Tim Faulkner, an Australian conservationist, gathered a small team of wildlife rangers in a scrubby forest 120 miles north of Sydney. When he gave the signal, the rangers lined up in a semicircle. Each held a small, white barrel. Faulkner paused, then gave a quick nod.
One ranger lowered his barrel to the ground and lifted a panel on one end, revealing a creature the size of a large rat, with a shiny black coat and a face like a teddy bear. It poked its head out, sniffed the air, and, after some encouragement and a firm pat on the backside, slinked out into the bush. The event marked a momentous occasion in Australia’s history: It was the first time in 3,000 years that a wild Tasmanian devil had set foot on the mainland.
“Devils are superheroes,” Faulkner tells Future Human. “They’re not a threat to agriculture, they don’t eat livestock, and they don’t eat children. They’re our insurance against fire, feral pests, weeds — you name it.”
A lifelong wildlife activist, Faulkner is now the head of Aussie Ark, a nonprofit that has spent the last decade trying to save the Tasmanian devil from extinction. Devils…