The programme on UK Channel 5 last night was not pleasant viewing .
I had read plenty about this disease that is decimating devils in Tasmania but had not seen pictures or film of the effects of it before . The poor creatures were shown with with massive open tumours around their heads .
This was the best of the series I have seen as you could not guess the answer in the first 5 minutes . After starting off with the premise that you cannot 'catch' cancer , the conclusion was that this disease is actually transmitted from contact between animals - either through fighting or mating . It seems that most of the animals are in-bred and very close genetically though which helps transmission . At the end they had found an animal from another part of the island whose immune system seems able to fight the disease .
I have read elsewhere that the devils are now breeding earlier as an adaptation to the disease - it only affects older animals . This was not mentioned on the programme . They also looked at the captive breeding programme being set up as a resevoir .
They are undoubtedly fascinating creatures but their natural behavior does not make them attractive - to me at least !
I remember a pair in the Clore at London Regent's Park years ago . They are not long-lived and I do not think the pair ever bred .
I had read plenty about this disease that is decimating devils in Tasmania but had not seen pictures or film of the effects of it before . The poor creatures were shown with with massive open tumours around their heads .
This was the best of the series I have seen as you could not guess the answer in the first 5 minutes . After starting off with the premise that you cannot 'catch' cancer , the conclusion was that this disease is actually transmitted from contact between animals - either through fighting or mating . It seems that most of the animals are in-bred and very close genetically though which helps transmission . At the end they had found an animal from another part of the island whose immune system seems able to fight the disease .
I have read elsewhere that the devils are now breeding earlier as an adaptation to the disease - it only affects older animals . This was not mentioned on the programme . They also looked at the captive breeding programme being set up as a resevoir .
They are undoubtedly fascinating creatures but their natural behavior does not make them attractive - to me at least !
I remember a pair in the Clore at London Regent's Park years ago . They are not long-lived and I do not think the pair ever bred .
