Tasmania, Australia
Tasmanian devils are being moved to another island in hopes of saving them from a mysterious cancer. The fox-size marsupials, native to the island of Tasmania, are dying from a rapidly spreading cancer of the face. “I think there’s a real risk of extinction within 20 years across the whole of Tasmania,” said wildlife researcher Hamish McCallum. Scientists are preparing to move 30 devils to Maria Island, a former prison island and now a wildlife sanctuary. McCallum shrugs off the fears of some of his colleagues that the devils, which can be vicious, will feast on Maria Island’s endangered birds. “I don’t want to get into an argument about whether a devil is worth more than a 40-spotted pardalote,” he said.
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