Endangered devils breeding on Maria Island

By Fiona Blackwood 

Updated Sun Apr 21, 2013 10:52am AEST 

A plan to establish a wild population of Tasmanian devils free of the deadly facial tumour disease is showing signs of success. 

After just five months on Maria Island, off Tasmania's East Coast, the devils have successfully bred, doubling their numbers. 

The Save the Tasmanian devil Program released a total of 15 devils last year. 

Wildlife biologist Phil Wise says one of them, a four year old devil known as Jimmy, grew up in captivity and has relaxed into his new home. 

"It's a really nice part of bringing them back into the wild is they seemed to have calmed down and relaxed so that makes it easy for us," he said. 

As the deadly facial tumour disease continues to wipe out the species on mainland Tasmania the island population has been established along with a number of sanctuaries interstate. 

Mr Wise says the value of the insurance population cannot be underestimated. 

"If the disease does go the way of causing extinction on the mainland of Tasmania then knowing there's a wild population here that's disease free will be something to look back on and be very proud of," said Mr Wise. 

A team of biologists has been trapping and checking the health of the released devils. 

They have found that the animals have established dens and are breeding. 

So far they have counted 15 pouch young. 

The Director of the Save the Tasmanian devil Program, Howel Williams, says it is a sign that the population is thriving. 

"I think this points to the fact that they're really settled in very well and have felt good enough about it that they've been able to reproduce successfully," he said. 

While the devils are reproducing there has been one death. 

A devil was found dead in a collapsed wombat burrow earlier this year. 

Mr Wise says it is part of life in a wild situation where the carnivores have a 60 per cent mortality rate. 

Continued and video: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-19/island-devils-breeding/4640592?section=tas

How Contagious Tasmanian Devil Cancer Goes Invisible

Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer

A cancer that has wiped out 70 percent of wild Tasmanian devils became contagious by "switching off" certain genes that would otherwise enable the immune system to recognize it, a new study finds.

Devil facial tumor disease is one of only two contagious cancers in the world (the other affects dogs and is nonfatal). It spreads when the Australian marsupials bite or nip each other, transmitting cancerous cells that grow into enormous face tumors. The cancer either metastasizes to other organs or prevents Tasmanian devils from eating or drinking. Either way, death usually occurs within six months. Experts predict the species could vanish within 20 years if the tumor disease isn't stopped.

The immune system should catch these tumor cells, but the cancerous invasion causes no immune response in devils, said Hannah Siddle, a University of Cambridge immunology researcher. Siddle and her colleagues have now discovered why: The tumor cells lack surface molecules called major histocompatibility complex molecules. These MHC molecules allow the immune system to detect the invading cells. Without them, the cancer is essentially invisible.

Cotinued:  http://www.livescience.com/27804-contagious-devil-tumor-disease.html