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Wildlife: A Devil of a Time
Looney Tunes made the cartoon version of the Tasmanian devil a star, but these days the real-life species is not burning so bright.
In 1996, a deadly and contagious face cancer, spread by biting, began running rampant through the population on the island of Tasmania, the species' only home, south of Australia. The disease causes tumors that block the mouth, causing the animals to die from starvation—often within their first year of life. So many have died that the Australian government declared the species endangered last May, worried it may go extinct in just 25 years.
As the search for a vaccine continues, the stubby 20- to 30-pound creatures have taken matters into their own hands, according to researchers from the University of Tasmania. Previously breeding only after reaching two years of age, some of the devils have adjusted to their shorter lifespans by speeding up their own reproductive cycles. A 2004 study showed that only 13 percent of the devils in a national park reproduced before they turned one. Two years later the rate had risen to 83 percent.
Researchers
still remain wary about the animal's long-term survival. But for now, it appears
that—like its cartoon counterpart, which moves like a whirlwind through any
situation—the world's largest marsupial carnivore is refusing to take this
disease lying down.
