Tasmanian devil may become endangered species because of cancer

Tasmanian devil may become endangered species because of cancer
The population falls sharply as scientists search for a cure

By Tim Johnston

MOUNT CATTLEY, Tasmania: It could be the end of an icon.

Over the past decade, a form of cancer has killed almost three out of four Tasmanian devils, the world's largest marsupial carnivore and inspiration for the cartoon character Taz.

Animals with the disease develop tumors on their heads and in their mouths, making it difficult for them to eat. Most animals die within months of the lesions appearing, often from starvation.

The condition, Devil Facial Tumor Disease, was first noticed by a photographer in 1996. Since then, the estimated population of the animals, which are found in the wild only in the Australian island state of Tasmania, has dropped from 200,000 to between 50,000 and 60,000, according to researchers say.

Two-thirds of the remaining Tasmanian devils are thought to be affected, and scientists wonder whether they will be able to find a cure in time to save the rest.

"The process is now in the works to have it listed as an endangered species," said Hamish McCallum, chief scientist of the Devil Facial Tumor Program, which is financed by the government.

McCallum's researchers say they suspect that the disease is spread when cancer cells are passed between animals, usually by biting.

"The best hypothesis is that it is transmitted as part of biting, and most of the biting happens at the time of mating," he said. But beyond this, little is known about the cancer. No other species has shown signs of it.

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http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/16/news/devil.php

"It might have been pure chance or bad luck, or a devil might have come across a powerful carcinogen or mutagen in a dump, but no one knows," McCallum said.

to decrease further in just over a decade.

No, it's not. Taz the cartoon character (my favorite WB character of old, not the 90s version) is alive and well, and Taz has actually been helping (belatedly, but still) his very live buddies.

Story and pics here:
http://www.tourismtasmania.com.au/media/pr/2006/pr20060621.htm

I have a feline-tazzie hybrid:

http://www.vultureviews.net/posting/raztazz/origin.htm

Burkitt's lymphoma in humans
Feline Leukemia Virus in cats
Rous Sarcoma in chickens

There are others
Have to go examine a patient.

cervical cancer, to be precise: this is what the controversial Merck vaccine Gardasil is meant to protect against.

edit: this reminds me of my brief stint as the part-time technology expert at a private school for troubled kids in Conn. The students had chosen the Tasmanian devil as their mascot (probably based on the cartoon character); I even pointed them towards Tasmanian websites (this was fairly high-tech in the mid-90s). :(

even a mutation of a known cancer-causing virus in another species, like FeLV. Cats are not native to Tasmania, so when they came in they brought alien viruses (FeLV, FIV). FeLV is behind a lot of cancers in cats.

Stranger things have been known to happen.

What if it can spread to other animals?

bees, birds, frogs, etc...

"The bill has come due," etc...