Tasmanian devils 'will be extinct in 10 years'

Bonnie Malkin, The Telegraph 20 Oct 08;

Australia's iconic Tasmanian devil could be extinct within a decade if a vaccine against the rare cancer that is devastating their population is not developed, zoologists have warned.

Scientists are so concerned about the future of the animals that they have asked the public to help fund a breeding program for 500 disease-free devils in zoos and wildlife parks on the Australian mainland.

They hope the program, known as the Noah's Ark option, will provide "an insurance policy" for the species in case a vaccine can't be found.

The fierce black-furred mammals are under threat from Devil Facial Tumour Disease. The highly-contagious cancer results in a painful death for devils, as the malignant tumours prevent the animals from eating, sometimes pushing out teeth and invading eye sockets. They eventually starve to death.

Guy Cooper, Taronga Zoo conservation society director, said the disease was spreading faster than expected. "The forecasts are now down to 10 years", he said. "Basically now it is too late for science to come up with the answer.

"The only way to safeguard this animal and guarantee its future is the insurance program."

There are already 115 devils in the program but the society hopes to raise $500,000 from the public to expand it. They also hope their work will help to identify a genetic group of devils that is resistant to the disease.

However, the animals breed only two or three times during their short lives and so far just one disease-resistant devil has been found.

The disfiguring cancer is transmitted when the devils bite each other during fights over food and while mating. The cancer has spread across most of Tasmania's east coast, where the devils are genetically very similar.

Taronga Zoo spokesman Mark Williams said the small gene pool was the root of the problem. "Because the devils are a close genetic line they think the devils' system doesn't recognise the cancer as a disease."

The disease emerged 10 years ago and since then it is estimated that the devils' original population of 150,000 has been cut by two thirds. In some parts of Tasmania 80 per cent of the populations have been wiped out.

The size of a small dog, Tasmanian devils are the world's largest marsupial carnivores. Scientists are determined that they are not allowed to follow the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, into extinction.

The devils earned their name from early British settlers for their steel trap jaws and demonic nocturnal screeches.