Have they asked Warner Bros about sponsoring the fence?

What sort of name is that for a devil?

would they not just spin round and round very fast and rip through the fence like a tornado?

or eat it?

Warners? Pah! It's their bloody fault in the first place.

If they'd just let the Tasmanian Devil have the closing comment once, we wouldn't have the entire remaining population engineering a massive "That's all folks" for us.

But should we?

If this is a natural evolutionary event (as opposed to a man-made one), should we interfere? Survival of the fittest should mean that either a defence to the disease will occur or the species will naturally go the way of many extinct species.

It would be a great shame, but perhaps (scarce) resources would be better spent saving species which are going extinct through man's intervention.

(Penguin, coz it's the only animal one available!!)

Taz hate face cancer!

perhaps the Tasmanian gov't should consider bringing in several animal-psychologists to help deal with the Devils' aggressive behavior, and teach the Devils ways to deal with their issues besides ripping each others faces off. Teach them to be a kind, peace-loving species and this disease will disappear.

Did I miss a trick some where,

so 'cancer' is infectious ? wow, so we can stop it,

BTW: when will the DARPA guys get hold of it as an idea ?

Thankyou, Sarah!

I'd never believed there was an infectious cancer, either.

The logistics to this problem are both daunting and saddening. Anyone who has observed or dealt with large scale artificially created boundries knows that building and maintaining such things is painstakingly labourious and time consuming.

On a small budget breaches will appear quickly, and be repairs could fall behind.

I'm assuming by their very names, the Devils are pretty aggressive animals, which means that if there were a breach, the infection could spread very rapidly due to male terratorial fighting?

The news of the lack of genetic diversity is also alarming. Although many eccological changes have been blamed for the demise of many species, when anylised, most can be attributed to a lack of diversity amongst the species, including the dodo. Lest we forget a great deal of animal behaviour is dictated by genetics, not just their form, and it is flexibility through diversity that saves a species from dramatic environmental changes.

When pigs were introduced to the island, it was the the dodos species-wide habbit of nesting on the ground near the beaches that spelled the end. The hunting story was a myth, as sailors records showed the meat was not very nice to eat (hence the introduction of pigs).

this leaves the rather unsavoury prospect of culling, which exasipates the lack of genetic diversity still further.

Unless a cure is found, I'm afraid I can't find a great deal of optimism in this situation.

Another human intervention, although in a more distant past, that can have helped cause the genetic problem: the Devils used to be all over Australia, and not just Tasmania. It is hypothesized that the introduction of the Dingo (a domestic dog gone feral) has led to the Devil's extinction from the very big island, leaving them only on the small one...

Perhaps I'm just an ignorant yank, but I always thought the kangaroo was the national animal of Australia... the nation to which Tasmania belongs as a state. As far as de facto "national animal" goes, if it isn't the 'roo, it would seem to me more likely to be an emu or maybe even dingo, despite its non-native status. I'm pretty sure Tasmanian devils are associated solely with the island-state of Tasmania, where they are probably the de facto state animal, if not officially.

Of course, please feel free to correct and/or flame me if I'm wrong, especially any Aussies who know better by proximity.

You sir, are far from an ignorant "yank".

Your comments are right.

Tasmania is a State of Australia, if the TD were anything it would be a State animal.

Ref: http://www.csu.edu.au/australia/state-emblems.html#tas

NB: The TD is an unofficial State animal.

The Australian coat of arms includes two native animals, the (red) kangaroo and the emu

(Macropus rufus) and (Dromaius novaehollandiae).

The myth is they were chosen as neither animal is 'able to take a backward step'.

Best wishes to you from Aussie!

"A bit rich considering it's more or less the national animal."

Australian States:

New South Wales- Victoria - Queensland - South Australia - Western Australia - Tasmania

Australian Territories:

Australian Capital Territory - Northern Territory - Christmas Island - Cocos (Keeling) Islands - Jervis Bay - Norfolk Island - Ashmore & Cartier Islands - Coral Sea Islands - Indian Ocean Territories - Australian-Antarctic Territory - Heard & McDonald Island