CONSERVATION BACKGROUND

Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) was first observed in the mid-1990s.  Over the past ten years, DFTD is believed to have killed 30 – 50% of the wild Devil population. At any one wild site, up to 83% of trapped adults display signs of DFTD.

Not only does DFTD threaten the long-term survival of Devils, the decline of Devils may have severe ecological impacts.  If populations of Tasmanian Devils are reduced, feral predators such as foxes and cats will have more opportunities to establish in the wild, with terrible consequences for native Tasmanian species such as bandicoots. 

CONSERVATION STATUS

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Endangered
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Federal): Endangered
Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 (Tas): Endangered

Tasmanian Devils are threatened by:

• Devil Facial Tumour Disease
• Road kills: more than 2000 Devils are killed on roads annually
• Dog kills
• Foxes, both directly by killing juvenile Devils and indirectly e.g. competition
• Persecution: historically, Devils have been systematically poisoned and shot.  This is greatly reduced today
• Low genetic diversity, which can reduce population viability and resistance to disease

SAVE THE TASMANIAN DEVIL PROGRAM

The ‘Save the Tasmanian Devil’ program aims to urgently address the various issues associated with DFTD.  The overall objective is to ‘maintain an enduring and ecologically functional population of Tasmanian Devils in the wild in Tasmania’, by:

• Maintaining the genetic diversity of the Tasmanian Devil population
• Maintaining the Tasmanian Devil population in the wild
• Managing the ecological impacts of a reduced Tasmanian Devil population over its natural range

The program focuses on:

• Population monitoring to clarify DFTD distribution and impacts, and to determine conservation strategies
• Laboratory-based diagnostics to investigate the disease, its transmission and possible causes
• Wild population management to reduce the impact of the disease in the wild. This includes continuing attempts in southern Tasmania to create a disease-free region
• Captive breeding programs with 'founders' taken from disease-free areas of Tasmanian to provide insurance populations

CONSERVATION PARTNERS

The ‘Save the Tasmanian Devil’ program is an initiative of the Australian and Tasmanian governments in partnership with the University of Tasmania. 

Suzuki Australia is committed to saving the Tasmanian Devil through a partnership with Zoos Victoria.  Suzuki will donate funds from the sale of every Suzuki SUV to help save the Tasmanian Devil.  It has also provided uniquely branded Grand Vitaras to help raise awareness of the plight of Tasmanian Devils.