Editing Tasmanian devil (section)

==Conservation status==
[[File:Didelphis cynocephala and Didelphis ursina, 1808.jpg|right|thumb|An 1808 impression featuring the Tasmanian devil and a [[thylacine]] by [[George Prideaux Robert Harris|George Harris]]|alt=A black and white drawing of a devil, which is in the upper half of the picture, facing right, and a thylacine in the lower half, facing left. Both are shown in profile and depicted on a matting of grass or other vegetation.]]
The cause of the devil's disappearance from the mainland is unclear, but their decline seems to coincide with an abrupt change in climate and the expansion across the mainland of [[indigenous Australian]]s and [[dingo]]es.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Johnson|first1=C. N.|last2=Wroe|first2=S.|date=2016-07-27|title=Causes of extinction of vertebrates during the Holocene of mainland Australia: arrival of the dingo, or human impact?|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1191/0959683603hl682fa|journal=The Holocene|volume=13|issue=6|pages=941–948|language=en|doi=10.1191/0959683603hl682fa|bibcode=2003Holoc..13..941J |s2cid=15386196}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Prowse|first1=Thomas A. A.|last2=Johnson|first2=Christopher N.|last3=Bradshaw|first3=Corey J. A.|last4=Brook|first4=Barry W.|date=2014|title=An ecological regime shift resulting from disrupted predator–prey interactions in Holocene Australia|url=https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1890/13-0746.1|journal=Ecology|language=en|volume=95|issue=3|pages=693–702|doi=10.1890/13-0746.1|pmid=24804453|bibcode=2014Ecol...95..693P |issn=1939-9170}}</ref> However, whether it was direct hunting by people, competition with dingoes, changes brought about by the increasing human population, who by 3000 years ago were using all habitat types across the continent, or a combination of all three, is unknown; devils had coexisted with dingoes on the mainland for around 3000 years.<ref name=Johnson2003/><!--cites previous 2 or 3 sentences--> Brown has also proposed that the [[El Niño–Southern Oscillation]] (ENSO) grew stronger during the Holocene, and that the devil, as a scavenger with a short life span, was highly sensitive to this.<ref name=Brown2006/> In dingo-free Tasmania,<ref>Owen and Pemberton, p. 40.</ref> carnivorous marsupials were still active when Europeans arrived. The extermination of the [[thylacine]] after the arrival of the Europeans is well known,<ref>Owen and Pemberton, p. 43.</ref> but the Tasmanian devil was threatened as well.<ref name="PWS" />

Habitat disruption can expose dens where mothers raise their young. This increases mortality, as the mother leaves the disturbed den with her pups clinging to her back, making them more vulnerable.<ref>Owen and Pemberton, pp. 75–76.</ref> Cancer in general is a common cause of death in devils.<ref>Owen and Pemberton, p. 171.</ref> In 2008, high levels of potentially [[carcinogenic]] flame retardant chemicals were found in Tasmanian devils. Preliminary results of tests ordered by the Tasmanian government on chemicals found in fat tissue from 16 devils have revealed high levels of [[hexabromobiphenyl]] (BB153) and "reasonably high" levels of [[decabromodiphenyl ether]] (BDE209).<ref>{{cite news|last=Denholm |first=M. |url=http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23087523-421,00.html |title=Cancer agents found in Tasmanian devils |publisher=News Limited |date=22 January 2008 |access-date=30 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413035950/http://www.news.com.au/story/0%2C23599%2C23087523-421%2C00.html |archive-date=13 April 2009 }}</ref> The Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal is the official fundraising entity for the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program. The priority is to ensure the survival of the Tasmanian devil in the wild.

===Population declines===
At least two major population declines, possibly due to disease epidemics, have occurred in recorded history: in 1909 and 1950.<ref name=Guiler1983/> The devil was also reported as scarce in the 1850s.<ref name=Bradshaw2005/> It is difficult to estimate the size of the devil population.<ref name="distimpactdftd"/> In the mid-1990s, the population was estimated at 130,000–150,000 animals,<ref name=fed/> but this is likely to have been an overestimate.<ref name="distimpactdftd"/> The Tasmanian devil's population has been calculated in 2008 by Tasmania's [[Department of Primary Industries and Water]] as being in the range of 10,000 to 100,000 individuals, with 20,000 to 50,000 mature individuals being likely.<ref name=DPIWEweb1/> Experts estimate that the devil has suffered a more than 80% decline in its population since the mid-1990s and that only around 10,000–15,000 remain in the wild as of 2008.<ref>{{cite web|last=Connellan|first=I|title=Tasmanian devils: Devil coast|url=http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/tasmanian-devils-devil-coast.htm|work=Australian Geographic|access-date=22 August 2010|date=October–December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830032310/http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/tasmanian-devils-devil-coast.htm|archive-date=30 August 2010|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The species was listed as vulnerable under the Tasmanian ''[[Threatened Species Protection Act 1995]]'' in 2005<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Department of the Environment and Heritage|date=July 2006|url=http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/45200a21-6135-4464-a5f6-1f9ac5ab9e7b/files/tasmanian-devil-policy.pdf|title=EPBC Policy Statement 3.6 – Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii)|access-date=3 September 2015}}</ref> and the Australian ''[[Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999]]''<ref name=fed/> in 2006, which means that it is at risk of extinction in the "medium term".<ref name=vul>{{cite web|title=Advice to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee (the Committee) on Amendment to the list of Threatened Species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) Sarcophilus harrisii (Tasmanian Devil) Listing Advice|author=Beeton, Robert J. S.|publisher=Threatened Species Scientific Committee|url=http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/species/pubs/299-listing-advice.pdf|access-date=23 October 2010|year=2009}}</ref> The [[IUCN]] classified the Tasmanian devil in the lower risk/least concern category in 1996, but in 2009 they reclassified it as endangered.<ref name="iucn" /> Appropriate wildlife refuges such as [[Savage River National Park]] in North West Tasmania provide hope for their survival.

===Culling===
The first European Tasmanian settlers ate Tasmanian devil, which they described as tasting like [[veal]].<ref name=Harris>{{cite book|author=Harris, G. P.|year=1807|chapter=Description of two species of Didelphis for Van Diemen's Land|title=Transactions of the Linnean Society of London|volume=IX}}</ref> As it was believed devils would hunt and kill livestock, possibly due to strong imagery of packs of devils eating weak sheep, a bounty scheme to remove the devil from rural properties was introduced as early as 1830.<ref name="Owen and Pemberton-9">Owen and Pemberton, p. 9.</ref> However, Guiler's research contended that the real cause of livestock losses was poor land management policies and feral dogs.<ref name="Owen and Pemberton-9"/> In areas where the devil is now absent, poultry has continued to be killed by [[quoll]]s. In earlier times, hunting possums and wallabies for fur was a big business—more than 900,000 animals were hunted in 1923—and this resulted in a continuation of bounty hunting of devils as they were thought to be a major threat to the fur industry, even though quolls were more adept at hunting the animals in question.<ref>Owen and Pemberton, p. 19.</ref> Over the next 100 years, trapping and poisoning<ref>Owen and Pemberton, pp. 19, 26–27.</ref> brought them to the brink of extinction.<ref name=PWS>{{cite web|url=http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=387|title=Tasmanian Devil, Sarcophilus harrisii|publisher=Parks & Wildlife Service Tasmania|access-date=26 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206221530/http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=387|archive-date=6 February 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After the death of the last thylacine in 1936,<ref>Paddle, p. 195.</ref> the Tasmanian devil was protected by law in June 1941 and the population slowly recovered.<ref name=PWS/> In the 1950s, with reports of increasing numbers, some permits to capture devils were granted after complaints of livestock damage. In 1966, poisoning permits were issued although attempts to have the animal unprotected failed.<ref name="Owen and Pemberton-99">Owen and Pemberton, p. 99.</ref> During this time environmentalists also became more outspoken, particularly as scientific studies provided new data suggesting the threat of devils to livestock had been vastly exaggerated.<ref>Owen and Pemberton, pp. 101–109.</ref> Numbers may have peaked in the early 1970s after a population boom; in 1975 they were reported to be lower, possibly due to overpopulation and consequent lack of food.<ref>Owen and Pemberton, pp. 118–119.</ref> Another report of overpopulation and livestock damage was reported in 1987.<ref>Owen and Pemberton, pp. 120–121.</ref> The following year, ''[[Trichinella spiralis]]'', a parasite which kills animals and can infect humans, was found in devils and minor panic broke out before scientists assured the public that 30% of devils had it but that they could not transmit it to other species.<ref>Owen and Pemberton, pp. 127–129.</ref> Control permits were ended in the 1990s, but illegal killing continues to a limited extent, albeit "locally intense". This is not considered a substantial problem for the survival of the devil.<ref name=vul/> Approximately 10,000 devils were killed per year in the mid-1990s.<ref name=draft/> A selective culling program has taken place to remove individuals affected with DFTD, and has been shown to not slow the rate of disease progression or reduced the number of animals dying.<ref name=LachishMcCallum/> A model has been tested to find out whether culling devils infected with DFTD would assist in the survival of the species, and it has found that culling would not be a suitable strategy to employ.<ref name=BeetonMcCallum/>

===Road mortality===
[[File:Tasmanian Devil roadsign.jpg|right|thumb|A road sign telling drivers that there may be devils nearby|alt=A square-shaped metal tilted at 45 degrees on a metal post. The sign is painted yellow with a picture of a black devil in profile. It is at the side of a straight road cutting through wooded forest and two vehicles can be seen.]]
Motor vehicles are a threat to localised populations of non-abundant Tasmanian mammals,<ref name="Hobday-2010"/><ref name="Jones, Menna E.-2000"/> and a 2010 study showed that devils were particularly vulnerable. A study of nine species, mostly marsupials of a similar size, showed that devils were more difficult for drivers to detect and avoid. At high beam, devils had the lowest detection distance, 40% closer than the median. This requires a 20% reduction in speed for a motorist to avoid the devil. For low beam, the devils had the second shortest detection distance, 16% below the median. For avoidance of roadkill to be feasible, motorists would have to drive at around half the current speed limit in rural areas.<ref name="Hobday-2010"/> A study in the 1990s on a localised population of devils in a national park in Tasmania recorded a halving of the population after a hitherto gravel access road was upgraded, surfaced with bitumen and widened. At the same time, there was a large increase in deaths caused by vehicles along the new road; there had been none in the preceding six months.<ref name="Jones, Menna E.-2000"/>

The vast majority of deaths occurred in the sealed portion of the road, believed to be due to an increase in speeds.<ref name="Jones, Menna E.-2000"/> It was also conjectured that the animals were harder to see against the dark bitumen instead of the light gravel. The devil and quoll are especially vulnerable as they often try to retrieve roadkill for food and travel along the road. To alleviate the problem, traffic slowing measures, man-made pathways that offer alternative routes for devils, education campaigns, and the installation of light reflectors to indicate oncoming vehicles have been implemented. They are credited with decreases in roadkill.<ref name="Jones, Menna E.-2000"/> Devils have often been victims of roadkill when they are retrieving other roadkill. Work by scientist Menna Jones and a group of conservation volunteers to remove dead animals from the road resulted in a significant reduction in devil traffic deaths.<ref name="Owen and Pemberton-14"/> It was estimated that 3,392 devils, or 3.8–5.7% of the population, were being killed annually by vehicles in 2001–2004.<ref name=vul/> In 2009, the Save the Tasmanian Devil group launched the "Roadkill Project", which allowed members of the public to report sightings of devils which had been killed on the road.<ref>{{cite web |title=Roadkill Project |publisher=Save the Tasmanian Devil |url=http://www.tassiedevil.com.au/tasdevil.nsf/Roadkill-Project/1A27B0F89FF95EF8CA2576D20077F70B |access-date=10 December 2015 |archive-date=18 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318093646/http://www.tassiedevil.com.au/tasdevil.nsf/Roadkill-Project/1A27B0F89FF95EF8CA2576D20077F70B |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 25 September 2015, 20 immunised devils were microchipped and released in Narawntapu National Park. By 5 October four had been hit by cars, prompting Samantha Fox, leader of Save the Tasmanian Devil, to describe roadkill as being the biggest threat to the Tasmanian devil after DFTD.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tassiedevil.com.au/tasdevil.nsf/news/367C04BF953C460BCA257ED50002D816 |title=Devil deaths spark renewed plea for drivers to slow down |date=5 October 2015 |publisher=Save the Tasmanian Devil |access-date=10 December 2015 |archive-date=30 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630054955/http://www.tassiedevil.com.au/tasdevil.nsf/news/367C04BF953C460BCA257ED50002D816 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A series of solar-powered alarms have been trialled that make noises and flash lights when cars are approaching, warning the animals. The trial ran for 18 months and the trial area had two-thirds less deaths than the control.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/05/11/drivers-pose-significant-threat-endangered-tasmanian-devil|title=Drivers pose 'significant' threat to endangered Tasmanian devil|work=News|date=14 May 2016 |access-date=14 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-09/alarm-system-to-reduce-tasmanian-devil-roadkill-shows-promise/7013558|title='Virtual fence' shows promise in reducing road toll of Tasmanian devils|date=9 December 2015|work=ABC News|access-date=14 May 2016}}</ref>

===Devil facial tumour disease===
{{Main|Devil facial tumour disease}}
[[File:Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease.png|thumb|Devil facial tumour disease causes tumours to form in and around the mouth, interfering with feeding and eventually leading to death by starvation.|alt=A black devil with several pink-red coloured tumours growing on many parts of its body. The two largest are one covering where its right eye is, and another below the left eye. The right eye is no longer visible and both of these are around one-third the size of a normal devil face. It is lying on a green fabric.]]
First seen in 1996 in Mount William in northeastern Tasmania, [[devil facial tumour disease]] (DFTD) has ravaged Tasmania's wild devils, and estimates of the impact range from 20% to as much as an 80% decline in the devil population, with over 65% of the state affected. The state's west coast area and far north-west are the only places where devils are tumour free.<ref name=Deakin2012/><ref name=DFTDUpdateJune20005>{{cite web|publisher=Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment |date=June 2005 |url=http://www.dpiwe.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/Attachments/LBUN-6D73V5/$FILE/Tas_devil_update_June2005.pdf |title=Devil Facial Tumour Disease Update |access-date=30 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907075720/http://www.dpiwe.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/Attachments/LBUN-6D73V5/%24FILE/Tas_devil_update_June2005.pdf |archive-date=7 September 2008 }}</ref><ref name=DPIWEDMS2005>{{cite web|publisher=Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment |date=February 2005 |url=http://www.dpiwe.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/Attachments/LBUN-6996MH/$FILE/DFTD_DMS_Feb05a.pdf |title=Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) Disease Management Strategy |access-date=30 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907075712/http://www.dpiwe.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/Attachments/LBUN-6996MH/%24FILE/DFTD_DMS_Feb05a.pdf |archive-date=7 September 2008 }}</ref> Individual devils die within months of infection.<ref name=DPIWEweb3>{{cite web|publisher=Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment |url=http://www.dpiwe.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/LBUN-5QF86G?open |title=Devil Facial Tumour Disease |access-date=30 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050921014142/http://www.dpiwe.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/LBUN-5QF86G?open |archive-date=21 September 2005 }}</ref> The disease is an example of [[transmissible cancer]], which means that it is contagious and passed from one animal to another.<ref name=shea>{{cite news|author=Shea, N.|title=Wildlife: Devils in danger|work=National Geographic|date=November 2006}}</ref> This tumour is able to pass between hosts without inducing a response from the host's immune system.<ref name="Siddle 16221–16226">{{Cite journal|last1=Siddle|first1=Hannah V.|last2=Kreiss|first2=Alexandre|last3=Eldridge|first3=Mark D. B.|last4=Noonan|first4=Erin|last5=Clarke|first5=Candice J.|last6=Pyecroft|first6=Stephen|last7=Woods|first7=Gregory M.|last8=Belov|first8=Katherine|date=2007-10-09|title=Transmission of a fatal clonal tumor by biting occurs due to depleted MHC diversity in a threatened carnivorous marsupial|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=104|issue=41|pages=16221–16226|doi=10.1073/pnas.0704580104|issn=0027-8424|pmc=1999395|pmid=17911263|doi-access=free}}</ref> Dominant devils who engage in more biting behaviour are more exposed to the disease.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wells |first1=Konstans |last2=Hamede |first2=Rodrigo |last3=Kerlin |first3=Douglas |last4=Storfer |first4=Andrew |last5=Hohenlohe |first5=Paul |last6=Jones |first6=Menna |last7=McCallum |first7=Hamish |title=Infection of the fittest: devil facial tumour disease has greatest effect on individuals with highest reproductive output |journal=Ecology Letters |date=2017 |volume=20 |issue=6 |pages=770–778 |doi=10.1111/ele.12776 |pmid=28489304 |pmc=6759051 |bibcode=2017EcolL..20..770W |url=https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa45075 }}</ref>

Wild Tasmanian devil populations are being monitored to track the spread of the disease and to identify changes in disease prevalence. Field monitoring involves trapping devils within a defined area to check for the presence of the disease and determine the number of affected animals. The same area is visited repeatedly to characterise the spread of the disease over time. So far, it has been established that the short-term effects of the disease in an area can be severe. Long-term monitoring at replicated sites will be essential to assess whether these effects remain, or whether populations can recover.<ref name=DPIWEDMS2005/> Field workers are also testing the effectiveness of disease suppression by trapping and removing diseased devils. It is hoped that the removal of diseased devils from wild populations should decrease disease prevalence and allow more devils to survive beyond their juvenile years and breed.<ref name=DPIWEDMS2005/> In March 2017, scientists at the University of Tasmania presented an apparent first report of having successfully treated Tasmanian devils with the disease. Live cancer cells that were treated with [[IFN-γ]] to restore [[MHC-I]] expression, were injected into the infected devils to stimulate their immune system to recognise and fight the disease.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Tovar C, Pye RJ, Kreiss A, Cheng Y, Brown GK, Darby J, Malley RC, Siddle HV, Skjødt K, Kaufman J, Silva A, Baz Morelli A, Papenfuss AT, Corcoran LM, Murphy JM, Pearse MJ, Belov K, Lyons AB, Woods GM |display-authors=6 |title=Regression of devil facial tumour disease following immunotherapy in immunised Tasmanian devils |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=7 |pages=43827 |date=March 2017 |pmid=28276463 |pmc=5343465 |doi=10.1038/srep43827|bibcode=2017NatSR...743827T }}</ref> In 2020 it was reported that one of the last DFTD-free wild population of Tasmanian devils was suffering from inbreeding depression and has undergone a significant decline in reproductive success in recent years.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Gooley | first1 = RM | last2 = Hogg | first2 = CJ | last3 = Fox | first3 = S | last4 = Pemberton | first4 = D | last5 = Belov | first5 = K | last6 = Grueber | first6 = CE | year = 2020 | title = Inbreeding depression in one of the last DFTD-free wild populations of Tasmanian devils | journal = PeerJ | volume = 8 | issue = | page = e9220 | doi = 10.7717/peerj.9220 | doi-access = free | pmid = 32587794 | pmc = 7304431 }}</ref>