After a three year stint at a mainland health clinic, a group of 22 Tasmanian devils have jetted back to their island home for release into the wild.
The critters are among a team of 39 which were released on Wednesday night at southeast Tasmania's Forestier Peninsula, an area specially quarantined with a devil-proof fence to protect the healthy specimens from others carrying the potentially fatal facial tumour disease, which has decimated numbers of the species.
The 22 devils were removed from the peninsula in 2012 and taken to Devil Ark in NSW, as part of a plan to boost numbers of healthy devils.
The other 17 members of the group were taken into captivity in Tasmania.
Authorities hope the peninsula will prove to be a healthy breeding ground for the devils which are currently listed as endangered.
But the threat isn't over for these fighting fit devils.
The carnivorous species is known for its scavenging and therefore regularly prey on roadkill where they too become victims.
Tasmanian environment minister Matthew Groom has asked motorists to slow down and take care, especially at night on roads across the peninsula.
"There is the possibility that this will be a confronting element of the re-establishment of a wild population of devils," Mr Groom said of roadkill.
The devils will be tracked by researchers.
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