Tassie Devils

[J-Train]

Watching Sunrise this morning (yeah I know!) they had a thing on about Tassie Devils and how the facial tumour disease is wiping them out in Tasmania. As a result, a captive breeding programme has been initiated in zoos and wildlife sanctuarys across a few states in Australia with the aim of replacing the ones in the wild that are dying from the disease. Um, don't get me wrong, but how is that a viable solution?
Isn't that the Tasmanian Devil equivalent of sending lambs to the slaughter?

I mean, if the human population in Tasmania was suffering from a highly contagious and terminal illness, it wouldn't be a good idea to have other states send healthy people to Tasmania to replenish their dwindling numbers, thus exposing more numbers to disease and continuing the cycle?

Wouldn't it make more sense to let wild Tasmanian Devils carrying the disease die out completely and then ship in the healthy population, and in the meantime, invest more time and research into producing a vaccine/cure?

 

[ExTasDeeMan]

Well considering that the tassie government give more money to Hawthorn than to the survival of the species, i'm sure they have the best idea.

 

[Tormented Tiger]

Are the devils by any chance gnawing on the pox ridden koalas?

 

[CAS79]

To the op.

Maybe

But there is a theory behind this. The populations in recent decades have become separated from each other. The Devils except up the North west of the state are inbreeding (que Tasmanian jokes now).

It appears the tumor is not necessarily contagious but the cancer cells from one devil is recognised by the genetic make up of the devil who receives the cell. In Most animals cancerous cells are not contagious because the body recognises it as a cell belonging to another not their own.

By introducing a hopefully diversified genetic devil into the population it wont pick up the cancer as it will reject the incoming cell and breed their genetic material into the future population.

Where the devils population remains the strongest for diversity the disease is not killing them off at the same rate, but is still a risk, but as other populations die theirs too will surly become too isolated and become inbred.

I don't know if it will work, but that's the theory.

 

[Chickn ona Chain]

Would it not be possible to try to implement a large-scale breeding program on the mainland, and eventually try to re-introduce the devil to Tassie?

 

[HarryTiger]

OT: I'd like to see them use their gene technology to revive the Tasmanian Tiger.

 

[Tormented Tiger]

Would it not be possible to try to implement a large-scale breeding program on the mainland, and eventually try to re-introduce the devil to Tassie?

A similar trial has been tried before with the general populous. The thing is we always cut the wrong head off and end up with drooling messes.

 

[BomberGal]

To the op.

Maybe

But there is a theory behind this. The populations in recent decades have become separated from each other. The Devils except up the North west of the state are inbreeding (que Tasmanian jokes now).

It appears the tumor is not necessarily contagious but the cancer cells from one devil is recognised by the genetic make up of the devil who receives the cell. In Most animals cancerous cells are not contagious because the body recognises it as a cell belonging to another not their own.

By introducing a hopefully diversified genetic devil into the population it wont pick up the cancer as it will reject the incoming cell and breed their genetic material into the future population.

Where the devils population remains the strongest for diversity the disease is not killing them off at the same rate, but is still a risk, but as other populations die theirs too will surly become too isolated and become inbred.

I don't know if it will work, but that's the theory.

This still makes it contagious, in the same way that a cold is contagious but some people will invariably have a natural immunity (you don't catch every cold you come into contact with). It's also not just a theory about genetic differences. I've listened to a couple of seminars about this in the last year. The Tasmanian Devils in the northwest do actually have a different set of self recognition markers to the ones in the rest of the island. The ones who are susceptible to the disease who currently are the most 'inbred', as they seem to have just one variant of the relevant marker and are all succumbing to the disease. The disease, of course, expresses the same self marker and thus the animals cannot recognise it as not belonging. The animals in the northwest actually have multiple varieties of this marker and NOT the one the tumour has, and thus when presented with the tumour cells, recognise them as foreign and can destroy them. The hope for introducing 'foreign' devils is indeed that they will express different markers and introduce variation into the population. And J-Train, to ease your consternation, these animals would express different markers and therefore also be able to recognise the tumour as foreign and destroy it.

Basically, an inbreeding population is very bad for a species, and their numbers at the moment are almost too small to rescue them from eventual extinction anyway - which is why variation must be somehow introduced now, and very controlled breeding programs. However the answer for curing the tumour cannot lie here - if we don't get rid of it, what's the point of keeping their numbers up - and it's interesting to see the research being done to create possible cures.

OT: I'd like to see them use their gene technology to revive the Tasmanian Tiger.

"Gene technology" is a really bizarre, vague and misleading phrase to use, to be honest. The term means very little, and especially less in the general public who don't have good science knowledge. It almost makes it sound like some magical or high-tech concept. It's not, and it's not really a whole lot to do with genes specifically here, save for the lack of genetic diversity. I can assure you, though, that much research is going into the molecular mechanisms of this tumour and its recognition by devils.