Mary the Tasmanian devil is out in front of visitors again at a Gold Coast wildlife park, three months after she was found bruised and starving following a fortnight on the loose.
The two-year-old escaped from a quarantine enclosure at Paradise Country at Oxenford on June 2, clearing it with what staff called an “abnormally large leap”.
She had only arrived at the park weeks earlier from a zoo in New South Wales, along with a second devil named Mavka.
Keepers spent more than two weeks hunting for her with sniffer dogs, thermal drones and humane traps. Mary dodged the lot.
A home security camera picked her up about two kilometres away, narrowing the search. She was caught in bushland on the night of June 16.
Vets found her dehydrated, underweight and injured. She spent five days in a specialist hospital being treated for inflammation of the brain before returning to the park for round-the-clock care.
Months of physiotherapy and a diet of chicken and kangaroo followed. She was let out into her outdoor habitat on Friday.
Wildlife curator Lauren Mousley told the ABC the day was a long time coming.
“It took a lot of dedication, hard work, happy tears and sad tears,” she said.
“But it’s a great day … and we believe she’s ready for it.”
Paradise Country wrote on Facebook that guests can now watch her “mischievous antics as she explores the exhibit”.
Queensland’s Department of Primary Industries inspected the park after the escape and found the enclosures already met legal requirements.
Even so, the park has domed the ledges above the habitat, shifted the trees to the centre and added more non-climbable guards.
Mousley said Mary should meet Mavka again within weeks.
The park said last month the process had already started with the pair swapping scents.
