Tassie devil joeys Sam and Messi adopted by managing director of Aussie Ark Tim Faulkner and sons

CUTENESS OVERLOAD! A pair of Tasmanian devil joeys part of an insurance population free from a vicious and deadly disease have taken over the home of an Aussie conservationist. See the pics.

Australian Reptile Park & Aussie Ark Director, Tim Faulkner and how he’s hand-raising two Tasmanian devils with the help of his sons Billy and Matty. The boys have named the devils ‘Sam’ and ‘Messi’ after their favourite soccer stars.

A pair of Tasmanian devil joeys part of an insurance population free from a vicious and deadly disease have taken over the home of an Aussie conservationist.

The joeys, called Sam and Messi, are a brother-sister duo named after soccer legends Sam Kerr and Lionel Messi.

They’re currently being hand-raised by managing director of Aussie Ark, Tim Faulkner and his sons Billy and Matty in their family home.

The pair were adopted when they were five months old.

“They came into care because their mum was struggling a bit, which happens,” Mr Faulkner said.

Sam and Messi.

“She had four joeys and by taking Sam and Messi into care, we kept them safe and we enabled mum to really concentrate on the two she still has.

“Thankfully, she’s doing really well now in our Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary.”

Both Sam and Messi will one day live at the Australian Reptile Park before eventually moving on to join the breeding program at Aussie Ark.

Australian Reptile Park & Aussie Ark Director, Tim Faulkner.

One of the adorable joeys.

Mr Faulkner said Billy and Matty had really enjoyed bottle-feeding the joeys and learning how to play with them in a way that mimics wild activity.

Tasmanian devils have had their population decimated by the highly contagious and deadly devil facial tumour disease.

Mr Faulkner said Aussie Ark now boasted the largest disease-free “insurance population” in the world.