There was a short piece on that in the March 2007 issue of Scientific American (title: Sympathy for the Devil), with a picture of a Tasmanian Devil showing horrific face tumors.
The article says:
Devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) started in northeast Tasmania about 10 years ago and now covers 56% of Tasmania, with an 80% decline in population in the areas where the disease first showed. Tumors (that become infested with maggots) appear on the face, eventually forcing the teeth from the jaw, and the animal starves to death.
Devil DNA has 14 paired chromosomes, but the tumor cells only have 13 paired chromosomes with identical chromosome arrangements.
47 disease-free individuals have been shipped to wildlife parks on the Australia mainland. The Tasman peninsula (a 250-square-mile area in southeast Tasmania) might be used for reintroduction since healthy animals could be introduced there but be cut off from the rest of Tasmania.
Finally, a couple of interesting quotes from the article.
This relates to the OP (note the use of the term “whirling dervishes”)
If recent history has taught us anything, it’s the stingrays you have to watch out for in Australia. As for New Zealand carnivorous mammals, they are easily avoided due to the loud whooshing sound they make when they approach.
During our last trip back to NZ my stepson took us out to Sandfly Bay (Otago Peninsula) to try to see the Yellow Eyed Penguins. I was glued behind my (new for the trip) camera, taking shots of the fur seals and birds , when I almost walked into a rock … that snorted. It was this big fella. :eek: Had to do some laundry that night.
We got to see one Yellow Eyed Penguin. Great trip.
I have a similar story. I used to live around there, and walked around a peninsula near my home, clambering over the rocks, when suddenly a rock snuffed, and lolloped into the sea. A baby seal!
I also used to live around the Otago Peninsula. You can get quite close to the penguins if you want to. They have nests through the sand dunes and most of them are marked with a piece of tape. You can walk up and have a look in to see the little guys standing around.
What I liked about that particular beach was that you had a good chance of being the only person on it.
Edit: I don’t think I used to go to Sandfly Bay. The beach I went to was on the ocean side of the peninsula and had a natural “pyramid” at the car park.
This was a couples of days later, heading out to Taiaroa Head. We didn’t see any Albatrosses, but that photo captures the perfection of the day, the place. I like Europe, it is interesting and fun, but places like that take my breathe away and I think about heading back (and I am not even a mainlander).
Google gives many hits on this. Here’s another from the National Geographic:
“The disease has spread rapidly. Today biologists report that few animals evade it long enough to live into old age, which for a Tasmanian devil means about five years”
