NSW: A new breeding facility to save the Tassie devil

AAP General News (Australia)
08-27-2009
NSW: A new breeding facility to save the Tassie devil

By Belinda Merhab

SYDNEY, Aug 27 AAP - It's a helluva place for a devil.

Another little corner of devil heaven in central NSW.

Another step in a project to save the Tasmanian devil from becoming extinct.

The state-of-the-art $700,000 facility dedicated to the breeding of disease-free devils
was launched at Dubbo's Taronga Western Plain Zoo on Thursday by NSW Environment Minister
Carmel Tebbutt.

Over the past decade, 70 per cent of Tasmania's devil population has been wiped out
by devil facial tumour disease, a contagious cancer spread through biting.

It has a 100 per cent mortality rate.

The facility is part of the Insurance Breeding Program of the Save The Tasmanian Devil Project.

It is the second to be built at the zoo, following the success of the first which was
built in 2007 to house 12 wild disease-free devils.

Jointly funded by the NSW Government and the Taronga Conservation Society Australia,
the facility features an irrigation system to keep the area damp and cool like Tasmania.

And mounds of dirt for the devils to burrow under to escape the Dubbo heat.

Zookeeper David Schaap said the program was insurance against the extinction of the species.

The original program had been hugely successful with 13 devils born so far, nine in
2008 and four this year, he said.

"Mainland Australia is one huge quarantine facility," Mr Schaap said.

"We've taken the devils out of the wild from, as far as we know, disease-free areas.

They were also captured when they were very very young, ideally, just when they were emerging
from the den.

"Because they were only just emerging ... basically they just haven't been exposed
to the disease yet."

Mr Schaap said the zoo was attempting to breed animals which are genetically compatible
and possibly more immune to the disease.

Inbreeding has made the disease more prevalent.

When an uninfected devil is bitten by an infected one, their genes are so closely related
the immune system does not recognise the foreign cells and does not fight them.

"In a captive breeding environment, we do have the ability to pinpoint genetically
valuable animals. We endeavour to produce genetically robust animals ... produce devils
that are going to ensure the survival of the species," he said.

Fortunately, devils reach sexual maturity at the age of two, meaning the joeys born
in 2008 will be mature for the next breeding season in February next year.

"We anticipate having a population explosion and we're going to have a huge amount
of devils to contribute."

The animals will be held in the facility until the disease is eradicated from the wild.

Mr Schaap said there were two possible scenarios for the eradication of the fatal cancer.

The first was the "very slim" potential for a new vaccine which was unlikely because
the disease constantly mutates.

He said the second was more likely - that the entire wild devil population would die
in Tasmania within 10 to 20 years, taking the contagious disease with them.

"Once that occurs, once all the devils die, which would be an incredibly sad position
to reach ... we can return these healthy devils into what will be a disease-free environment,"

Mr Schaap said.

More than 100 healthy devils are being held at zoos and wildlife parks around Australia
and two zoos in New Zealand are currently seeking biosecurity approval in order to import
devils for breeding.

Ms Tebbutt said the expansion of the breeding facility at Taronga Western Plains Zoo
made it one of the key institutions involved in the program.

AAP bm/hn/it/de

KEYWORD: DEVILS (PIX AVAILABLE)

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