Hand-reared Tasmanian devils Itchy and Scratchy, pictured here in August last year, are among the three escapees. Picture: THEO FAKOS
WEST Australian zoo owner David Cobbold says he feels like a "pining parent" as he continues to search for his three runaway Tasmanian devils.
The feisty trio escaped overnight on Tuesday after a tree crashed into their enclosure at Peel Zoo at Pinjarra, about 80km south of Perth.
Mr Cobbold spent today scouring paddocks around Pinjarra as he followed up on snippets of information about the runaways.
He said he felt like a pining parent who had lost a child.
"I just want them to be safe and warm and fed. Two were hand-reared and I am desperate to locate them," he said.
The juvenile devils -- called Itchy, Scratchy and Genghis -- are offspring from animals bought from East Coast Natureworld, at Bicheno, in 2010.
Paw prints were found behind the zoo shortly after the breakout.
Then, at 7am today, a truck driver reported seeing "two little bears" crossing the road.
There has also been an unverified sighting of a devil at a nearby golf club.
This afternoon a report came in that a devil had been sighted about 70km south of the zoo.
"Devils can travel 20km a night," Mr Cobbold said.
"My gut feeling tells me they are closer to home.
"I don't want to discount anything, so we will follow up on any tip."
Traps were laid last night in a desperate bid to catch the devils.
"But there was not so much as a nibble on the meat inside," Mr Cobbold said.
"We didn't even catch a possum."
Like any worried parent, Mr Cobbold said he couldn't wait to give the three "amigos" a good talking to when they were found – hopefully safe and well.
He said the local community had been very supportive of the zoo's efforts to recapture the devils, with regular posts on the zoo's Facebook page providing useful clues.
The search will continue tomorrow.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
WA devils remain on the run
Dengan url
http://kembangtrotoar.blogspot.com/2012/10/wa-devils-remain-on-run.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
WA devils remain on the run
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar