Tasmanian Devils moved to island to avoid extinction??

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Moving Tasmanian devils to isle questioned By Rod McGuirk Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia — Tasma­nian devils — the marsupial made famous as a snarling cartoon char­acter named Taz — are being relo­cated to an island off Australia to avert their extinction by a conta­gious cancer. Some scientists fear the move could endanger rare birds and other animals on the island, but other experts say it is a last resort and should pose no problem since the devils are scavengers, not

predators. ‘‘The path to extinction is looking pretty certain on Tasmania,’’ said William Karesh of the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, who organized a workshop in Australia to help the government and biologists develop a plan to save the devils. The fox-like animals with power­ful jaws and a bloodcurdling growl — made famous by their Looney Toons namesake — are being wiped out on the island state of Tasmania by a contagious cancer that creates grotesque facial tumors. The disease was first noticed in the mid-1990s in the state’s north­east, where 90 percent of the devils have since perished. It is spreading south and west, and scientists esti­mate that within five years, there will be no disease-free population in Tasmania — the only place in the world where the devils exist

outside zoos. ‘‘I think there’s a real risk of extinction within 20 years across the whole of Tasmania,’’ said Hamish McCallum, a professor of wildlife research at the University of Tasmania. McCallum is among a group of experts who plan to transfer 30 dev­ils off Tasmania’s east coast to Maria Island — a former 19th­century prison. The move, which state and fed­eral governments are expected to approve within weeks, is controver­sial because scientists can only guess at the impact the introduced carnivores will have on the unin­habited island’s ecology. ASSOCIATED PRESS A biologist monitors a Tasmanian devil. They may be moved to an island in hopes of saving them from extinction.

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