http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1c/TazManiaVersionOfTaz.jpg

 

the Tasmanian Devil population is being exterminated by a very rare and deadly facial cancer. the authorities are worried that it might go the way of the Thylacine or tasmanian tiger (below) and be wiped out completely.

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b8/Thylacine.jpg

 

so efforts are on to try and save this very rare animal and to help, the authorities in Tasmania have asked Warner Brothers if they can use the character of Taz from Tazmania and looney tunes. however do you think this trivializes the campaign for conservation like some people have said or do you think its bloody needed to spread the word of their plight?

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/78/Devil_facial_turmor_disease.jpg

 

Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is a fatal disease of the Tasmanian Devil. First seen in 1999, the disease has ravaged Tasmania's wild devils, and estimates of the impact range from 20% to as much as a 50% decline in the devil population with over 65% of the State affected.[1][2] Affected high-density populations suffer up to 100% mortality in 12–18 months.[3] The disease has mainly been concentrated in the State’s eastern half, although in early 2005, three cases were confirmed in South Tasmania.[citation needed]

 

DFTD begins as lesions and lumps around the mouth. The lesions and lumps develop into cancerous tumours that spread from the face to the entire body. The tumours interfere with feeding, and the affected animal may starve to death.

 

Using cultures of the cancerous tissue to study the condition, researchers have identified the cancer as neuroendocrine in nature, and all cancer cells have identical chromosomal rearrangements.[4] A virus was initially thought to be the cause of DFTD, but no evidence of such a virus could be detected in the cancer cells. The cancer cells themselves are an infective agent, with transmission of the disease occurring by biting, feeding on the same material, and aggressive mating. Final confirmation of this came when researcher Anne-Maree Pearse and colleagues found an infected animal that had a chromosomal abnormality in its non-tumourous cells that did not appear in its tumour cells, proving that the tumour cells could not be descended from the animal's own cells.[5][6][7] Pearse believes that this may prove vital to the survival of the devils. Since June 2005, three females have been found that are partially resistant to DFTD.[8]

 

The DFTD cells have a similar karotype to cancer cells from canine transmissible venereal tumor, a cancer of dogs that is transmitted between animals by physical contact.[4]

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/57/BabyTaz.JPG

That´s a bloody horrible image, imagine if some disease like that start to spread among humands, how fragile is our species.