Contagious cancer threatens Tasmanian devils
Australia’s famous Tasmanian devil has been placed on the country’s endangered list because of a deadly contagious facial cancer which threatens to wipe the species out.
Environment minister Peter Garrett, formerly of Aussie rockers Midnight Oil, said the disease had caused a 70 percent reduction in the Tasmanian devil population since it was first identified in 1996, according to a report on CNN.com.
The animals are only found in the wild on the island of Tasmania and are estimated to have died out on the Australian mainland around 400 years ago. Until the 1940s they were hunted as they posed a threat to livestock.
Some conservationists fear their number could already have dropped to less than 20,000 because of the disease. Devil facial tumor disease is spread by biting and causes golf ball-size tumours to break out on the face and neck.
As part of efforts to protect the species, a population of captive disease-free devils has been established on the mainland. The Australian government has also committed $7.8 million over five years to the Save the Tasmanian Devil program, according to Garrett.