Devilish Cancer

Tasmanian devils are native to one region and one region alone; the island of Tasmania. Devils establish physical dominance by posturing and sound. In many cases dominance cannot be established through these methods and results in a fight. T.Devils, when engaged in battle for dominance or mating rights, fight by biting. Wounds almost always occur in and around the face. With each bite there is a high chance that they are spreading cancerous cells to one another. Devil Face Tumor Disease causes infected animals to grow monstrous tumors on their face that usually leads to the death, due to emaciation.

As far as the data shows, DFTD only affects populations of eastern Tasmanian Devils, leaving the western population relatively healthy. Scientists are proposing that western and eastern populations be introduced into a breeding program that will diversify their gene pool and possibly reduce or eliminate the disease completely.

It is projected that without human intervention, Tasmanian Devils could face drastic reductions in populations or even extinction. Will scientists be able to diversify gene pools in these devils enough so that DFTD are rare cases? Or will this deadly disease prove to be the downfall of another australian marsupial? I guess we'll see in due time.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/0227_060227_tasmanian.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/06/070608-devils.html

han beeth kim (2)