Abstract
An emerging infectious facial cancer threatens Tasmanian devils with extinction. The disease is likely to occur across the range of the devil within 5 years. This urgent time frame requires management options that can be implemented immediately: the establishment of insurance populations, in captivity, wild-living on islands, and aiming for eradication in areas that can be isolated. The long-term options of the spontaneous or assisted evolution of resistance or development of a field-deliverable vaccine are unlikely to be available in time. The disease’s characteristic allograft transmission through intimate contact simplifies isolation of insurance populations and breaking transmission in suppression trials. Better knowledge of contact matrices in wild devils will help focus timing and demographic targets of removals. A metapopulation approach is needed that integrates captive and wild-living island and peninsula (disease suppression) populations to minimize the loss of genetic diversity over 50 years until either extinction and reintroduction can occur, resistance evolves or a field-deliverable vaccine is developed. Given the importance of the insurance populations and the low genetic diversity of devils, a conservative target for retention of 95% genetic diversity is recommended. Encouraging preliminary results of the first disease-suppression trial on a large peninsula show fewer late stage tumors and no apparent population decline. Limiting geographic spread or suppressing the disease on a broadscale are both unlikely to be feasible. Since the synergy of devil decline and impending fox establishment could have devastating consequences for Tasmanian wildlife, it is crucial to manage the dynamics of new and old predator species together.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson RM, May RM (1981) The population dynamics of microparasites and their invertebrate hosts. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences (London) 291:451–524
Anonymous (1994) Appendix B: policy for translocations of the vertebrate animals in Australia (draft). In: Reintroduction Biology of Australian and New Zealand Fauna, Serena M (editor), Sydney: Surrey Beatty and Sons, pp 256–258
AUSVET (2005) Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease Response. Technical Workshop: 29–31 August 2005. Final Report: Department of Primary Industries, Water, and Environment, Hobart, Tasmania
Ballou JD (1995) In: Gilpin M, Foose TJ (eds) Population Management for Survival and Recovery: Analytical Methods and Strategies in Small Population Conservation, New York: Columbia University Press
Ballou JD, Lacy RC (1995) Identifying genetically important individuals for management of genetic diversity in captive populations. In: Ballou JD, Gilpin M, Foose T (eds) Population Management for Survival and Recovery, New York: Columbia University Press, pp 76–111
Beck BB, Rappaport LG, Stanley Price MR, Wilson AC (2004) Reintroduction of captive-born animals. In: Olney PJS, Mace GM, Feistner ATC (eds) Creative Conservation, Interactive Management of Wild and Captive Animals, London: Chapman and Hall, pp 265–286
Boots M (1998) Cannibalism and the stage-dependent transmission of a viral pathogen of the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella. Ecological Entomology 23:118–122
Brothers ND, Pemberton H, Pryor V, Halley (2001) Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: Seabirds and Other Natural Features. Hobart, Tasmania: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
Burbidge AA, McKenzie NL (1989) Patterns in the modern decline of Western Australia’s vertebrate fauna: causes and conservation implications. Biological Conservation 50:143–198
Cardillo M, Bromham L (2001) Body size and risk of extinction in Australian mammals. Conservation Biology 15:1435–1440
Courchamp F, Chapuis JL, Pascal M (2003) Mammal invaders on islands: impact, control and control impact. Biological Reviews 78:347–383
Cross PC, Lloyd-Smith JO, Bowers JA, Hay CT, Hofmeyr M, Getz WM (2004) Integrating association data and disease dynamics in a social ungulate: bovine tuberculosos in African buffalo in the Kruger National Park. Annales Zoologici Fennici 41:879–892
Dobson A, Foufopoulos J (2001) Emerging infectious pathogens of wildlife. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences (London) 356:1001–1012
Donnelly CA, Woodroffe R, Cox DR, Bourne J, Gettinby G, Le Fevre AM, et al. (2003) Impact of localized badger culling on tuberculosis incidence in British cattle. Nature 426:834–837
Farmer W (2006) Conservation Genetics of the Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), Honours thesis, University of Tasmania
Foose T, Ballou J (1988) Management of small populations. International Zoo Yearbook 27:26–41
Foose TJ, de Boer L, Seal US, Lande R (1995) In: Population Management for Survival and Recovery, Ballou JD, Gilpin M, Foose TJ (editors), New York: Columbia University Press, pp 273–294
Frankham R (1995) Effective population size/adult population size ratios in wildlife: a review. Genetical Research 66:95–107
Frankham R, Ballou JD, Briscoe DA (2002) Introduction to Conservation Genetics, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
Franklin IR (1980) Evolutionary change in small populations. In: Soule ME, Wilcox BA (eds) Conservation Biology: An Evoutionary-Ecological Perspective, Sunderland, MA: Sinauer, pp 135–150
Franklin IR, Frankham R (1998) How large must populations be to retain evolutionary potential? Animal Conservation 1:69–71
Gehrt SD, Prange S (2007) Interference competition between coyotes and raccoons: a test of the mesopredator release hypothesis. Behavioral Ecology 18:204–214
Glen AS, Dickman CR (2005) Complex interactions among mammalian carnivores in Australia, and their implications for wildlife management. Biological Reviews 80:387–401
Guiler ER (1970) Observations on the Tasmanian devil, Sarcophilus harrisii (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae) I. Numbers, home range, movements, and food in two populations. Australian Journal of Zoology 18:49–62
Hamede R, McCallum H, Jones M (2008) Seasonal, demographic and density-related patterns of contact between Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii): Implications for transmission of Devil Facial Tumour Disease. Austral Ecology (in press)
Hope JH (1972) Mammals of the Bass Strait islands. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 85:163–196
IUCN (1987) Position Statement on Translocation of Living Organisms, Gland, Switzerland: IUCN
Johnson CN, Isaac JL, Fisher DO (2007) Rarity of a top predator triggers continent-wise collapse of mammal prey: dingoes and marsupials in Australia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences (London) 274:341–346
Jones ME (1997) “Character displacement in Australian dasyurid carnivores: size relationships and prey size patterns.” Ecology 78(8):2569–2587
Jones ME (2003) Convergence in ecomorphology and guild structure among marsupial and placental carnivores. In: Jones ME, Dickman CR, Archer M (eds) Predators with Pouches: The Biology of Carnivorous Marsupials, Melbourne, Australia: CSIRO Publishing, pp 281–292
Jones ME, Barmuta LA (1998) Diet overlap and abundance of sympatric dasyurid carnivores: a hypothesis of competition? Journal of Animal Ecology 67:410–421
Jones ME, Barmuta LA (2000) Niche differentiation among sympatric Australian dasyurid carnivores. Journal of Mammalogy 81:434–447
Jones ME, Paetkou D, Geffen E, Moritz C (2004) Genetic diversity and population structure of Tasmanian devils, the largest marsupial carnivore. Molecular Ecology 13:2197–2209
Jones ME, Rose RK (1996) Preliminary Assessment of Distribution and Habitat Associations of the Spotted-tailed Quoll (Dasyurus maculatus maculatus) and Eastern Quoll (D. viverrinus) in Tasmania to Determine Conservation and Reservation Status. Report to the Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement Environment and Heritage Technical Committee, Tasmanian Public Land Use Commission, Hobart, Tasmania
Lachish S, Jones M, McCallum H (2007) The impact of devil facial tumour disease on the survival and population growth rate of the Tasmanian devil. Journal of Animal Ecology 76:926–936
Lloyd-Smith JO, Schreiber SJ, Kopp PE, Getz WM (2005) Superspreading and the effect of individual variation on disease emergence. Nature Letters 438:355–359
Loehle C (1995) Social barriers to pathogen transmission in wild animal populations. Ecology 76:326–335
Macdonald DW, Thom MD (2001) Alien carnivores: unwelcome experiments in ecological theory. In: Gittleman JL, Funk S, Macdonald DW, Wayne RW (eds) Carnivore Conservation, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp 93–122
Marshall DR, Brown HD (1975) Optimum sampling strategies in genetic conservation. In: Frankel OH, Hawkes JG (eds) Crop Genetic Resources for Today and Tomorrow, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp 53–80
McCallum H, Jones M (2006) To lose both would look like carelessness... Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease. PLoS Biology 4:1671–1674
McCallum H, Tompkins DM, Jones ME, Lachish S, Marvenek S, Lazenby B, et al. (2007) Distribution and impacts of Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease. EcoHealth 4 (this issue)
Meyers LA, Pourbohloul MEJ, Newman D, Skowronski M, Brunham RC (2005) Network theory and SARS: predicting outbreak diversity. Journal of Theoretical Biology 232:71–81
Mitchell BD, Banks PB (2005) Do wild dogs exclude foxes? Evidence for competition from dietary and spatial overlaps. Austral Ecology 30:581–591
Mooney N (2004) The devil’s new hell. Nature Australia Summer 2004/2005:31–41
Moritz C (1994) Defining ‘Evolutionary Significant Units’ for conservation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 9:373–375
Moritz C (1999) Conservation units and translocations: strategies for conserving evolutionary processes. Hereditas 130:217–228
Moritz C, Faith DP (1998) Comparative phylogeography and the identification of genetically divergent areas for conservation. Molecular Ecology 7:419–429
Pearse AM, Swift K (2006) Transmission of devil facial-tumour disease. Nature 439:549
Pyecroft SB, Pearse AM, Loh R, Swift K, Belov K, Fox N, et al. (2007) Towards a case definition for devil facial tumour disease: what is it? EcoHealth 4 (this issue)
Rudolf V, Antonovics J (2007) Disease transmission by cannibalism: rare event or common occurrence? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences (London) 274:1205–1210
Sakai AK, Allendorf FW, Holt JS, Lodge DM, Molofsky J, With KA, et al. (2001) The population biology of invasive species. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 32:305–332
Salo P, Korpimäki E, Banks PB, Nordström M, Dickman CR (2007) Alien predators are more dangerous than native predators to prey populations. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences (London) 274:1237–1243
Saunders G, Lane C, Harris S, Dickman CR (2006) Foxes in Tasmania: a Report on the Iincursion of an Invasive Species, Canberra, Australia: Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre
Savidge JA (1987) Extinction of an island forest avifauna by an introduced snake. Ecology 68:660–668
Schmitz OJ, Hambäck PA, Beckerman AP (2000) Trophic cascades in terrestrial systems: a review of the effects of carnivore removal on plants. American Naturalist 155:141–153
Short J, Turner B (2005) Control of feral cats for nature conservation. IV. Population dynamics and morphological attributes of feral cats at Shark Bay, Western Australia. Wildlife Research 32:489–501
Soule M, Gilpin M, Conway W, Foose T (1986) The millennium ark—how long a voyage, how many staterooms, how many passengers. Zoo Biology 5:101–113
Spielman D, Brook BW, Briscoe DA, Frankham R (2004) Does inbreeding and loss of genetic diversity decrease disease resistance? Conservation Genetics 5:439–448
Switalski TA (2003) Coyote foraging ecology and vigilance in response to gray wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone National Park. Canadian Journal of Zoology–Revue Canadienne De Zoologie 81:985–993
Vicente J, Delahay RJ, Walker NJ, Cheeseman CL (2007) Social organization and movement influence the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in an undisturbed high-density badger Meles meles population. Journal of Applied Ecology 76:348–360
Wolfe LL, Miller MW, Williams ES (2004) Feasibility of “test-and-cull” for managing chronic wasting disease in urban mule deer. Wildlife Society Bulletin 32:500–505
Woodroffe R, Donnelly CA, Cox DR, Bourne FJ, Cheeseman CL, Delahay RJ, et al. (2006) Effects of culling on badger Meles meles spatial organization: implications for the control of bovine tuberculosis. Journal of Applied Ecology 43:1–10
Woods GM, Kreiss A, Belov K, Siddle HV, Obendorf DL, Muller HK (2007) The immune response of the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisi) and devil facial tumour disease. EcoHealth 4 (this issue)
Wright S (1931) Evolution in Mendelian populations. Genetics 16:97–159
Acknowledgments
We thank Stephen Pyecroft, Alex Schaap, John Whittington, Barrie Wells, Rupert Woods, and Steven Smith who have contributed to the ideas in this document; Greg Hocking for the provision of spotlighting data; and Marco Restani for collaboration. We are very grateful to the numerous individuals who have helped with captive and wild management. For captive management, we are grateful to the trappers, keepers, and veterinarians who collected and maintain the Tasmanian government quarantine populations, especially James Harris for veterinary services; the owners, managers, and keepers of all of the Tasmanian Wildlife Parks and four mainland Australian zoos; and Qantas for transporting devils to the mainland. We are indebted in so many ways to the Dunbabin family (Tom, Cynthia, and Matthew), on whose land we conducted the disease-suppression trial; to John Hamilton for trialing devil-proof road grids and housing orphan devils; to Jim Platt for road engineering to secure the peninsula; and to the wildlife carers who raise the orphans. We thank Richard Koch (Parks and Wildlife Service) for assistance with developing island plans. The trapping and captive programs could not function without countless hours put in by large numbers of volunteers.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jones, M.E., Jarman, P.J., Lees, C.M. et al. Conservation Management of Tasmanian Devils in the Context of an Emerging, Extinction-threatening Disease: Devil Facial Tumor Disease. EcoHealth 4, 326–337 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-007-0120-6
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-007-0120-6