Tasmanian Devil
Facial Tumour Disease
www.tassiedevil.com.au
February 2007
ISSN 1833-4954
In this issue:
Welcome
2
Noah’s ark
Welcome to our quarterly newsletter, which coincides with the Senior Scientist’s first
forum on the Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD).
3
DFTD: The
story so far
4
Members of the
devil team
Running over three days at the Hobart campus of the University of Tasmania, the
aim of the Scientific Forum is to review progress in understanding and managing the
disease and to facilitate open and critical discussion of the current research program
and plans.
Topics to be covered include the cause and transmission of the Tasmanian devil
disease, captive and wild management, the impact on devil populations, steps towards
a possible vaccine and the development of a preclinical test.
The expertise of the invited scientists will be crucial as we work together to find the
solution to the serious threat facing the largest surviving marsupial carnivore.
5
Round the
traps
6
Spread of the
disease
6
Frequently
asked
questions
The scientific forum will be followed by a series of public presentations organised by
the University of Tasmania to highlight what has been achieved so far in combating
the disease and saving the devil. This will give the public a chance to hear directly
from some of the
scientists who are
working to save the
devil.
The public support
for the Tasmanian
devil disease team
continues to be
overwhelming.
Andrea Harris, the
local artist who was
the driving force
behind a successful
auction of art and
craftwork at the
Tasmanian Museum
and Art Gallery last
December, recently
Steven Smith, Manager of the Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease
presented me with
a cheque for $2,427. Program, and Andrea Harris, artist and organiser of a devil fund-raising
auction last December.
Continued next page ...
2
www.tassiedevil.com.au
Donations
... from previous page
This sum was raised by sales of donated items,
ranging from evening bags and silver jewellery to a
watertank and plaster gnomes.
A US-based ecotourism group “Cheesemans’
Ecology Safaris” that has regularly visited Tasmania
over the past 12 years to look at birds and
mammals has donated $1,810 to help save the
Tasmanian devil. Clients on their most recent
“safari” donated the money in October last year.
The latest round of scholarships and grants using
funds donated to the University of Tasmania Devil
Appeal have been selected and will support some
exciting new research (see below). A full list is
shown at:
www.utas.edu.au/devilappeal
Steven Smith – Manager, Devil Facial
Tumour Disease Program
Scholarships and grants
Researchers looking into a possible diagnostic test
for the Devil disease are among this year’s grant
recipients from the Tasmanian Wildlife Research
Advisory Committee (TWRAC), at the University
of Tasmania.
Noah’s Ark
During December and January, 47 Tasmanian devils
from the captive insurance population were sent
to four interstate wildlife parks (the mainland was
selected because of its freedom from the devil
disease). The animals – 29 adults and 18 imps – will be
part of a captive breeding program that could play a
major role in the conservation efforts for the species.
The Tasmanian devils in these ‘Noah’s Ark’ shipments
will be kept in strict quarantine at their new homes
for at least a year, by which time it’s hoped they
will be cleared to breed with other captive devil
populations. These animals could then be used, if ever
needed, to re-populate mainland Tasmania.
A further intake of Tasmanian devils from diseasefree areas of the state is planned to be undertaken
this month. Sadly, two adult devils that went to
Currumbin Zoo in Queensland died within weeks
of arrival. The cause of the deaths has not been
determined, however devils have been kept at the
zoo for more than 15 years without problems in the
past.
These grants and scholarships are funded from
public donations received through the Tasmanian
Devil Research Appeal Fund, for research into the
facial tumour disease.
Drs Breadmore, Hilder and Shellie were allocated a
$4,000 Eric Guiler research grant for their exciting
new work into a pre-clinical diagnosis of DFTD.
This could be the precursor to a much larger postdoctoral study, if its results are promising.
Dr Rodrigo Hamede was also an Eric Guiler
research grant recipient. He was allocated $5,000
to assist with his PhD study into epidemiology and
the transmission dynamics of DFTD
Two PhD students, Nick Beeton and Alex Kreiss,
have been allocated Qantas scholarships. Alex is
studying the immune responses of the Tasmanian
devil, while Nick will look at Tasmanian devil
population and disease modelling.
[email protected] • telephone (03) 6233 6556 • GPO Box 44, Hobart, Tasmania 7001
3
www.tassiedevil.com.au
Devil Facial Tumour Disease: The story so far
A new and fatal condition
Our focus
The first signs of the Tasmanian devil disease were
observed in 1996. It’s a new and fatal condition in
Tasmanian devils, characterised by cancers around the
mouth and head.
The program focuses on four key areas.
The most recent trapping results confirm the disease in
Tasmanian devils from 60 different locations across 59
per cent of the state. An estimated 40 per cent of the
species across Tasmania has been wiped out.
• Population monitoring – Gathering data in the
field to clarify disease distribution and impacts, and
to help determine conservation strategies.
• Disease diagnostics – A laboratory-based
investigation of the disease, including the
definition, transmission, possible causes, and so
on. For the latest published research, go to the
Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease pages at:
www.tassiedevil.com.au.
• Wild management – Establishing methods for
managing the impact of the disease in the wild.
This includes continuing attempts on the ForestierTasman Peninsula, in southern Tasmania, to create a
disease-free region.
• Captive management – A captive breeding population
with ‘founders’ taken from areas of the State where there
hasn’t been any record of the disease.
Healthy populations
What we know about the disease
The Tasmanian devil disease appears to be a new
condition that is restricted to Tasmanian devils.
Once the cancer becomes visible, it proves fatal within
three to 12 months. Small lesions or lumps in and
around the mouth quickly develop into large tumours
on the face and neck, making it difficult for these
animals to eat. Death results from starvation and the
breakdown of body functions.
Nearly all the Tasmanian devils that succumb are
between two and three years of age.
A research program, co-ordinated by the Department
of Primary Industries and Water (DPIW), has been
established to investigate the Tasmanian devil disease
and identify management options. It draws upon input
from researchers and experts at a range of institutions,
including the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organisation (CSIRO), the University of
Tasmania, University of Queensland, University of
Sydney, Murdoch University, Landcare Research (in New
Zealand), and wildlife parks and zoos.
With reports of the continuing spread of the
disease, it can be easy to overlook the healthy
and viable populations that remain in the wild in
western Tasmania. These populations are significant
in providing data on what healthy population
structures are like.
To date, populations in the western third of the
state remain free of signs of the Tasmanian devil
disease. A survey completed last year by a team
from the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, led
by senior curator Dr David Pemberton, confirmed
healthy and viable populations of Tasmanian devils
at Discovery Beach, south of Macquarie Harbour.
The geography of this region, combined with the
fact that it is part of the South West Conservation
area, mean that these devils are probably most
remote from the known ‘disease-front’ and if the
disease continues to move westwards across
Tasmania, they may be the last healthy wild devils
on the Tasmanian mainland.
[email protected] • telephone (03) 6233 6556 • GPO Box 44, Hobart, Tasmania 7001
4
www.tassiedevil.com.au
Devil team members
The diversity of expertise among members of the Devil
Facial Tumour Disease Program plays an important
role in furthering our knowledge of the disease. It
also provides access to a wide range of resources and
facilities.
This quarterly Newsletter will allow us to introduce
two members of the team each edition:
Geoff King – farmer
Fifth-generation beef producer and member of the
DFTD Stakeholder Reference Group, Geoff King,
believes farmers are as much responsible for managing
Tasmania’s natural assets as they are for producing food.
Is this responsibility a burden?
‘No’, Geoff said. ‘It’s a privilege.’
For seven years,
Geoff has been
running wildlife
tours on a destocked parcel of his
land at Arthur River,
on the west coast.
(Recent trapping
results indicate that
populations remain
healthy and viable
in this part of the
State).
Geoff’s tour allows
visitors to be guided within metres of Tasmanian
devils eating in the wild, and it’s such a hit that
Geoff is closing the gap toward what he would
have been making had he kept cattle on the
block.
‘My respect for devils has only come with my
respect for the land,’ he said. ‘Growing up, I guess
I thought they were a frightening animal. I’d only
ever heard their noises and never seen one up
close.
‘But today, I just feel lucky that my family were
cattlemen who chose this block as a winter run.
And now, with King’s Run Wildlife Tours, the land
has shown that it’s got a completely different
character.’
Geoff, who is also the president of the Tasmanian
Conservation Trust, became involved with the DFTD
Steering Committee believing the disease poses a
biodiversity concern for all farmers.
‘There’s something about a big chunk of one particular
part of wildlife going out of a region,’ he said. ‘And in
Tasmania, that’s complicated even more by the fact that
foxes are about.
‘If devils are controlling the spread of foxes, and we
take out that limiting factor, then we have an ecological
disaster.’
Clare Hawkins – wildlife biologist
The challenge of the Tasmanian devil disease is that
it’s a true mystery, believes wildlife biologist for the
Department of Primary Industries and Water,
Dr Clare Hawkins.
‘The fact that it’s a mystery is one of
the special aspects of working on this
program,’ said Clare, who heads the team
maintaining Tasmanian devil monitoring
sites across the state. ‘And just like any
mystery, we’re slowly gathering clues from
our work in the field about the behaviour
of the disease in wild populations, to help
us figure out how we might control it.’
British-born Clare came to Tasmania in
late 2001 to study spotted-tailed quolls.
The trapping part of her monitoring
program brought her face to face with
the Tasmanian devil – she
captured 130 devils in her
quoll study, and only 22
quolls.
This was typical of the
many links that Clare
formed with Tasmanian
devils throughout her
academic career, making
her extremely wellcredentialed when the
Devil Disease Program was
established.
She’d been fascinated by
carnivorous mammals since
Continued next page ...
[email protected] • telephone (03) 6233 6556 • GPO Box 44, Hobart, Tasmania 7001
5
www.tassiedevil.com.au
Round the traps
Unwelcome guests: The month of March marks the
beginning of the mating season for Tasmanian devils. And
occasionally devils take up residence and breed under
farmhouses.
Nearby stock are rarely harmed as most predators
seem reluctant to hunt near their ‘home’. But while
devil imps can be amusing, the noise, smell and mess
may, for some, be a bit hard to handle.
If you have any concerns, or if you want advice about
how to seal entrances under your house without
putting devils at risk, contact the Department of
Primary Industries and Water on (03) 6233 6556.
Occasionally landholders trap and relocate devils.
It’s illegal to do so, and could further spread the
Tasmanian devil disease. This would impact on local devil
populations across the State - particularly in areas such
as the Tasman Peninsula, where trials are underway to
remove the disease from the region.
Devils on the net: A great new website devoted to
the devil has been launched at www.tassiedevil.com.au.
This website is a joint initiative of the Tasmanian
Government (the Department of Primary Industries
and Water, and the Department of Tourism, Arts and the
Environment) and the University of Tasmania. It brings
together the other websites relating to the devil in
Tasmania, and makes it easier to keep up to date with
progress on the disease, and to know how to help.
Contact us: For more information about the Devil
Facial Tumour Disease Program, please phone the Devil
Disease Hotline on (03) 6233 2006, or email:
[email protected]
Devil team members
... from previous page
studying Zoology at Oxford University. Her academic
and professional experience also includes a Masters
Degree in ecology, more than two years in Madagascar
researching fossas (mammalian carnivores that are
unique to the island) for her PhD, and then completing
post-doctorate work with epidemiologists in Scotland,
focusing on disease in wildlife.
team of people working across the state to try to give
us an overall picture of how the disease works,’ she said.
‘But part of the nature of this job is that it can be quite
stressful because there is a sense of urgency all the
time. There is an expectation hanging over us – if we do
the wrong thing, it could be serious. The whole public is
watching, and we feel the weight of that responsibility.’
‘This is a great job to have because we’ve got a whole
[email protected] • telephone (03) 6233 6556 • GPO Box 44, Hobart, Tasmania 7001
6
www.tassiedevil.com.au
Spread of the
disease
Trials are underway examining the transmission
of the Tasmanian devil disease. Preliminary
results support the growing scientific
acceptance that the infective agent is a rogue
cell-line passed between devils by allograft.
Put more simply, we are getting more and
more evidence to support the theory that the
Tasmanian devil disease is spread by the cancer
cells themselves being passed from one animal
to another.
For this reason, new cases continue to occur in
areas where the disease had not previously been
recorded. And in the northeast region, where
signs of the Tasmanian devil disease were first
reported, there has been a 90 per cent decline
of average spotlighting sightings from 1992-95 to
2002-05.
It’s uncommon for wildlife diseases to lead
directly to population extinction in the absence
of other severe threats. But to date, there
has not been any evidence of population or
individual resistance or recovery from the
disease.
A further potential, unquantified threat is the
introduction into Tasmania of the red fox, which
would compete directly with Tasmanian devil
juveniles. Both species share preferences for den
sites and habitat, and are of similar size.
Frequently asked questions
QUESTION: Do you treat the Devil Facial Tumour
Disease in individuals?
ANSWER: Treatment hasn’t yet been trialled for the
following reasons:
Initially we needed to make the best use of available
resources by investing time into the study of the disease.
Most importantly, if a cure for this disease is found, we
need to be able to use it from a wildlife management
point of view rather than on individual animals - we want
to keep the devils wild and in the wild
Surgery and chemotherapy would be difficult, if not
impossible, to implement from a population point of view.
Nevertheless, nothing is ruled out that may help to save
the devil, and research is proposed to investigate the
possibility and feasibility of cancer treatment for devils in
some limited situations.
QUESTION: Can the Devil disease spread to
other animals?
ANSWER: The Mount Pleasant Laboratories, in
Launceston, are the only animal health laboratories in
Tasmania, and handle all cases concerning farmed and
wild animals. To date, they have found no evidence of the
Tasmanian devil disease in other animals.
The field team is running surveillance with many traps and
has caught many species that showed no clinical signs of
the disease. Species include possums, quolls, cats and even
a sausage dog.
[email protected] • telephone (03) 6233 6556 • GPO Box 44, Hobart, Tasmania 7001