The Tasmanian devil (pictured), long beleaguered by a deadly and contagious form of face cancer, is slated to be listed as an endangered species this week.
A spokeswoman for Tasmania’s primary industries minister says that the animal will be listed as an endangered species by state officials on 21 May.
The carnivorous marsupial, which was once hunted for food and to protect livestock, was first protected by law in 1941, and listed as vulnerable in 2006. Cancer is thought to have cut the population by up to one-half between 1995 and 2005.
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See also Correspondence: Action needed to prevent extinctions caused by disease
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Cancer forces Tasmanian devil onto endangered list. Nature 453, 441 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/453441f
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/453441f
