![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/88cad8eb-h2vf5sgm4vqh9mx_pmw9t.jpeg\")
Tasmanian devil Talei pictured after his full hip replacement in 2021. Image \/ Stuff<\/p>\nThe world\u2019s first Tasmanian devil to undergo a hip replacement has died at a New Zealand zoo.<\/p>\n
Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch announced the passing of their \u201ccherished\u201d seven-year-old devil Talei this week.<\/p>\n
They said the beloved marsupial, who captured global attention in 2021 when he received the groundbreaking surgery, passed away suddenly.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecently, our dedicated animal care team noticed that Talei wasn\u2019t quite himself and immediately alerted our veterinary team,\u201d the park said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite receiving prompt medical attention, his condition deteriorated rapidly and he sadly passed away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tasmanian devil Talei pictured after his full hip replacement in 2021. Image \/ Stuff<\/p>\n
Talei arrived at Orana Wildlife Park as a juvenile in 2019 as part of the Save the Tasmanian Devil Ambassador Programme. He was transferred from Devils@Cradle along with three other devils.<\/p>\n
His revolutionary hip replacement was carried out after he began suffering severe pain and lameness due to the damaged joint. <\/p>\n
The outer layer of cartilage had worn away, leaving bone effectively rubbing against bone.<\/p>\n
\u201cTalei\u2019s long life is a testament to the dedication of our team and the veterinary professionals who made his hip replacement possible,\u201d the park said.<\/p>\n
In the wild, Tasmanian devils usually live up to five years, but they can reach around seven years in captivity.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/cc60841e-ai0i90yzkmju9he_mn9dh.jpeg\")
Tasmanian devil Talei pictured after his full hip replacement in 2021. Image \/ Stuff<\/p>\n
The species remains under serious threat from devil facial tumour disease and vehicle strikes.<\/p>\n
According to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, there could be between 10,000 and 100,000 Tasmanian devils still living in the wild across the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The world\u2019s first Tasmanian devil to undergo a hip replacement has died at a New Zealand zoo. Orana…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":["post-273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}