1 AUTHORS’ ACCEPTED VERSION 2 Version of record: Grueber CE, Peel E, Wright B, Hogg CJ, Belov K (2019) A Tasmanian devil breeding 3 program to support wild recovery. Reproduction, Fertility and Development, 31, 1296-1304. DOI: 4 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD18152 5 A Tasmanian devil breeding program to * 6 support wild recovery 7 Grueber CE1,2, Peel E1, Wright B1, Hogg CJ1, Belov K1,3 8 1 The University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Sydney, 9 NSW 2006, Australia 10 2 San Diego Zoo Global, PO Box 120551, San Diego, CA 92112, USA 11 3 Corresponding author. Email:
[email protected] 12 Word count: 5,242 (main text) + 82 references and 3 figures 13 Keywords: adaptation to captivity, conservation, insurance population, microsatellites, pedigree, 14 reproductive success, translocation, 15 * This article was written as an outcome of the Reproduction Down Under meeting held in 2017 to 16 celebrate the career of our friend and mentor Professor Marilyn Renfree. Marilyn shattered the glass 17 ceiling and paved the way for female marsupiologists in Australia. We are pleased to share the 18 Tasmanian devil story in this special issue as our tribute to the effect Marilyn has had on our careers. 19 Her impact on the field (and us) is immense. 20 Abstract 21 Tasmanian devils are threatened in the wild by devil facial tumour disease: a transmissible cancer 22 with high fatality rate. In response, the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program (STDP) established an 23 “insurance population” breeding program across Australia.