Escaped devil spotted on suburban Gold Coast CCTV after week on loose

Mary the Tasmanian devil escaped from her enclosure on the Gold Coast last Tuesday. A nearly 20-person rescue team has searched on foot day and night, using sniffer dogs as well as a thermal drone. What's next? Wildlife carers have thanked residents for supplying video of sightings. Carers are honing search efforts to recover a two-year-old Tasmanian devil on the loose in a leafy Gold Coast suburb. The devil, named Mary, has been missing for a week since breaching her enclosure with what wildlife park Paradise Country staff described as an "abnormally large leap", last Tuesday. More than a dozen staff and specialists have spent the past week in a frantic search for the marsupial, bringing in sniffer dogs and thermal drone technology to pinpoint her location. A spokesperson for Paradise Country said the sightings were crucial to assist the team in narrowing the search area, but that Mary had been "quite elusive". Loading... The sighting has helped carers to triangulate a search area that backs onto the Saltwater Creek Reserve, with humane traps placed nearby in anticipation of Mary's movements. Prime conditions for devil survival Carers have found devil droppings in the surrounding bushlands as well as the remnants of a kangaroo and wallaby carcasses. University of Queensland captive animal expert Al Mucci said there were promising signs for Mary's survival. "As long as there's food and water, she'll be able to survive comfortably for as long as she wants," he said. "The weather is on her side, she doesn't have to adjust too much at the moment, the biggest threat is humans, dogs and vehicles." He said devils could travel about 10 kilometres in a night, but that would not be in a "straight line". "[Mary is] moving quietly, she is nimble while cruising around the neighbourhoods and bushland," Mr Mucci said. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Primary Industries, which takes in Biosecurity Queensland, said it was working with Paradise Country to ensure the park met its obligations. The park was closed after noticing Mary missing during daily morning checks to allow a widespread search, but reopened a day later.