What challenges does the Tasmanian devil face?

Answer 1

The most obvious challenge faced by the Tasmanian devil is habitat loss. The timber industry and land-clearing for agriculture has resulted in considerable habitat loss for Tasmanian devils and other native animals.

Second to this is the Tasmanian devil's own feeding habits. This creature cleans up roadkill - carrion by the side of roads - but as a result, an estimated 2000 Tasmanian devils every year are killed by cars.

The introduction of the red fox which has finally made its way to Tasmania, is a threat to the Tasmanian devil as it competes with the Tasmanian devil for food.

A more deadly challenge is the Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD). Since about 1996, the Tasmanian Devil has been threatened by this fatal cancer which has killed more than 90% of adults in high density areas and 45% of adults in medium to low density areas. As a result, the Tasmanian Devil's status was officially listed as "Endangered" as of May 2009. This is a fatal condition which causes cancers around the face and head of Tasmanian Devils. It first appears as small lesions and lumps around the animal's mouth which grow quite quickly, inhibiting the Devil's ability to feed. They slowly starve to death, whilst their their bodily functions gradually break down. It spreads from animal to animal through them biting each other, and given that this is natural behaviour for Devils, it means that the disease can quickly spread through a population.

Whilst there is no actual cure for the disease yet, scientists have identified the genetic marker that causes Tasmanian devils to be predisposed to the disease, and this will go a long way towards finding a cure. Also, scientists have recently reported promising results in cancer cures from a drug manufactured frfom a certain type of brushwood in the North Queensland tropical rainforests. This has worked successfully in trials on cancerous tumours in cats, dogs and horses, and as well as being hoped to be a potential cure in human cancers, it is also hoped to be able to be used against DFTD.

A number of groups have combined to fund, study, analyse and come up with a cure for DFTD. You can find out more about it or assist by going to the attached Web Page and selecting one of the options.