Sympathy for the devil
Although neither as famous nor as cuddly as the koala (yes, koala, not koala bear), Australia’s tasmanian devils are a national icon, even inspiring the Warner Brothers cartoon character Taz. But for at least a decade, a deadly cancer has been killing off these native creatures to the point where the tassie devil is now officially set ...
Although neither as famous nor as cuddly as the koala (yes, koala, not koala bear), Australia's tasmanian devils are a national icon, even inspiring the Warner Brothers cartoon character Taz.
Although neither as famous nor as cuddly as the koala (yes, koala, not koala bear), Australia’s tasmanian devils are a national icon, even inspiring the Warner Brothers cartoon character Taz.
But for at least a decade, a deadly cancer has been killing off these native creatures to the point where the tassie devil is now officially set to become an endangered species. The cancer, Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD), causes lesions usually around the mouth of the devils, which then develop into tumors that make it impossible for the animals to eat. Eventually they die of starvation. DFTD is killing almost three out of four of the animals, such that the total population of wild tasmanian devils has declined from 200,000 ten years ago to around 50,000 today.
Scientists still don’t know what causes DFTD, or how to detect it before it strikes. While there is some hope that isolated populations may be able to escape the tumors, many researchers fear that this might be the end of the natural population of tasmanian devils on the island of Tasmania. This is because even if they do survive, their dwindled numbers mean that other foreign predators, such as foxes or feral cats, could end up dominating areas once occupied by the devils. This would be a tragic end for the voracious Taz, but Tasmanians aren’t giving up just yet.
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