A trio of baby Tasmanian devils – known as imps – made their debut in the outside world on Sunday.

They’re not newborns, however. The devils are about 5 months old – they’ve just been hanging out in mum Sooty’s pouch since birth.

Zoo manager Rochelle Penney explained that up to 30 imps or joeys were born into the pouch, and were about the size of a grain of rice.

But a mother devil only has four teats, so only up to four can survive.

The new imps, all girls, will stick pretty close to mum for the next few months, either staying in the den or hitching a ride on her back as she explores her pen.

‘‘As mothers, devils are very protective,’’ Mrs Penney said.

Mrs Penney said they would be making their first public appearance at the zoo’s threatened species awareness weekend on September 5 and 6.

She said the zoo staff were expecting to see more baby devils appearing from pouches in the coming months.

The devils’ birth is part of Tasmania Zoo’s Devils Heaven devil breeding program, which is a conservation breeding program that has been operating for more than 10 years.