the Tasmanian devil is unique to
Tasmania and is the islands unofficial
mascot it is a rural cleaner playing a
vital role in the ecosystem by devouring
carcasses that might otherwise lead to
disease full-grown Tasmanian devils are
famous fighters their ferocity is
legendary particularly when it comes to
food once these scavengers find a
carcass in the forest it’s a feeding
frenzy
pound for pound Tasmanian devils have
the most powerful bite in the world
designed for ripping open carcasses and
crushing bones
Wildlife Photographer Cristo bars sets
out on a journey which will make history
he is hoping to photograph the elusive
nocturnal creature the Tasmanians called
the devil but nothing in the world could
prepare him for what walks in front of
his lens
what he photographs looks like something
out of a horror film suddenly another
grossly distorted Tasmanian Devil
emerges from the dark another what is
happening in the forests of Tasmania
what is creating these disfigurements
its given the name devil facial tumour
disease or DFTD it’s a new strain of
cancer the fact that there was no record
of this sort of disease showed us we had
a new problem and devils seem to have a
new problem
Tasmanian Devils have been found with a
new kind of cancer three different
locations same disease but where has
this cancer suddenly come from on the
Australian mainland the devil is
believed to have been wiped out by
dingoes over 400 years ago the island is
the last devil outpost but for over a
century Devils were hunted and poisoned
by farmers by the 1930s their numbers
had fallen to a dangerously low level
and killing devils was outlawed in 1941
now when they started to build up again
because they started with a very low
number of Devils we obviously got quite
a lot of inbreeding inbreeding means
Devils are genetically alike so their
immune systems recognize the infectious
cancer cells as their own cells and
don’t fight them if the Devils were more
genetically dissimilar the cancer cells
would appear to be alien and their
immune systems would respond most of the
devil’s here are very closely related so
the wrong disease can go right through
the population and that’s what we’re
seeing
the mystery the mutant Devils is solved
the ultimate challenge is next how to
save the devil
Tasmania and is the islands unofficial
mascot it is a rural cleaner playing a
vital role in the ecosystem by devouring
carcasses that might otherwise lead to
disease full-grown Tasmanian devils are
famous fighters their ferocity is
legendary particularly when it comes to
food once these scavengers find a
carcass in the forest it’s a feeding
frenzy
pound for pound Tasmanian devils have
the most powerful bite in the world
designed for ripping open carcasses and
crushing bones
Wildlife Photographer Cristo bars sets
out on a journey which will make history
he is hoping to photograph the elusive
nocturnal creature the Tasmanians called
the devil but nothing in the world could
prepare him for what walks in front of
his lens
what he photographs looks like something
out of a horror film suddenly another
grossly distorted Tasmanian Devil
emerges from the dark another what is
happening in the forests of Tasmania
what is creating these disfigurements
its given the name devil facial tumour
disease or DFTD it’s a new strain of
cancer the fact that there was no record
of this sort of disease showed us we had
a new problem and devils seem to have a
new problem
Tasmanian Devils have been found with a
new kind of cancer three different
locations same disease but where has
this cancer suddenly come from on the
Australian mainland the devil is
believed to have been wiped out by
dingoes over 400 years ago the island is
the last devil outpost but for over a
century Devils were hunted and poisoned
by farmers by the 1930s their numbers
had fallen to a dangerously low level
and killing devils was outlawed in 1941
now when they started to build up again
because they started with a very low
number of Devils we obviously got quite
a lot of inbreeding inbreeding means
Devils are genetically alike so their
immune systems recognize the infectious
cancer cells as their own cells and
don’t fight them if the Devils were more
genetically dissimilar the cancer cells
would appear to be alien and their
immune systems would respond most of the
devil’s here are very closely related so
the wrong disease can go right through
the population and that’s what we’re
seeing
the mystery the mutant Devils is solved
the ultimate challenge is next how to
save the devil
Please follow and like us: