Weekend Edition: More Hope for the Devil

Tasmania's devil (Sarcophilus harisii) is locked in a battle for wild survival that it seems to be doomed to loose. A fatal form of viral cancer that is thought to be transmitted through facial bites from infected animals has decimated the population of Devils on its last remaining island home. Since the cancer was discovered, 84% of the marsupials have died. Devils went extinct on the Australian mainland in the 1600s. US Person posted previously about hope to develope a vaccine from the serum of what appeared to be a resistant individual male, but those hopes were dashed when he, too, succumbed to the disease. {02.04.12, Hope for the Devil} When Cedric got sick, attention turned to isolating the remaining healthy population in the island's northwest, but late last year the disease reached there too, eliminating the possibility that a quarantine would be successful in stoping the infection. About 500 Devils are held by zoos worldwide, insuring a healthy genetic reservoir when the animal faces predicted extinction in the wild in about 25 years. Conservationists have not given up the fight, and are looking for other remote locations in which to save healthy, wild Devils. Maria Island, a wildlife rich island 5 kilometers off Tasmania's eastern coast, is a candidate for relocation in the government's "Save the Devil" program. The plan is somewhat controversial since some conservation groups think relocating a carnivorous and naturally aggressive marsupial to a 115 square kilometer island would be too costly for birds and other animals already living there.

Enter the Packer family into the Devil's saga. They have made a fortune in gambling and media; but their donation of 1200 acres of farmland in a pristine national park to the devil conservation cause may prove to be the "Devils' Ark", and their greatest contribution to humanity. Located in mainland Barrington Tops the alpine forested hills are much like the Devils' island habitat. The plan is to keep 6-10 animals in pens two to three football fields in size that are heavily vegetated and surrounded by devil-proof fencing. Breeding is optimized to ensure healthy genetic lines, but otherwise the animals are left to themselves with a carcass provided a regular intervals for feeding. This absence of extensive human interaction and sharing of territory insures the animals remain wild and develop proper behavioral skills since they have to fight with other devils for food and mating rights. So far, in the first year of operation, 24 joeys were produced. Breeding success indicates the devils are adapting to their new home. Currently there are 100 devils in the ark and plans are to reach 350 by 2016 with room for a thousand. Eventually the hope is to begin returning healthy animals to their original Tasmanian home in 30 or so years, when the disease and its victims have died out. The rapid spread of the cancer and its lethality is a lesson for managing other genetically vulnerable and isolated wildlife like the koala. Because of its geographic isolation and population bottlenecks, the Tasmanian Devil is in-bred[1]; consequently a deadly virus is able to spread rapidly between mammals that are "immunological clones".

[1] Lachish, S.; Miller, K.; Storfer, A.; Goldizen, A.; Jones, M. (2010).