Tasmanian Devil Sanctuary May Save Species

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The beleaguered Tasmanian devil, whose numbers have been decimated by a mysterious cancer, has been given new hope with a sanctuary created to support a breeding program. The devil is a species native to Tasmania, Australia's island state. Scientists there hope the sanctuary will provide some respite as they try to come up with a way to save the marsupial from becoming endangered.

Australia's Tasmanian devil might have a fearsome reputation but, as a species, it's future is not so bright. A deadly facial cancer, first reported in 1996, has destroyed an estimated 70 percent of the population.

It's believed the cancer is spread via saliva when the animals bite one another during mating season. Tumors form, preventing the animals from feeding and they eventually die.

Conservationists have been trying to preserve healthy devils by isolating them in zoos, but in Coles Bay on the east coast of Tasmania, they are now exploring a new approach.

A 60-acre parcel of land, dubbed "Devil Island", has been donated as a sanctuary for healthy animals. Devil Island CEO Bruce Englefield says this gives them a fighting chance.

[Bruce Englefield, Devil Island CEO]:
"Devils can be disease free and safe but keep all their wild behaviors or learn them as much as possible."

The Devil Island sanctuary is now home to 18 healthy devils. The Environment Department's Mark Holdsworth says they were taken from a disease-free area on the state's west coast.

[Mark Holdsworth, Environment Department]:
"What we are trying to do here is to maintain wild behavior in captive devils as part of the insurance population and this is the first time we have actually tried this."

Jan Cameron, a Tasmanian businesswoman, donated the land for the sanctuary.

[Jan Cameron, Tasmanian Businesswoman]:
"Well I hope they breed like crazy and we can take them off here and put them on other sites."

Conservationists are confident a vaccine and cure for the cancer will eventually be developed. When that happens says Bruce Englefield, the animals will be released back into the wild.

[Bruce Englefield, Devil Island CEO]:
"Eventually, it may be not be them, it may be their children, their grandchildren 50 years down the track."

Devil Island is one of two new free-range enclosures. It's hoped the high fences surrounding it can keep these iconic carnivores disease free.

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[slowmopoke]

Canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT), also called transmissible venereal tumor (TVT), Canine transmissible venereal sarcoma (CTVS), Sticker tumor and infectious sarcoma is a histiocytic tumor of the dog and other canids that mainly affects the external genitalia, and is transmitted from animal to animal during copulation. It is one of only three known transmissible cancers; another is Devil facial tumor disease, a cancer which occurs in Tasmanian devils.

[CerealzTheDude]

hopefully their population makes a comeback