Brian Walters wrote:
Thanks Bob
As Peter said, they still exist in the wild but they are being
decimated by the mystery facial tumor disease. Hopefully the cause
will be found before they are gone.
It's not looking good from the available literature. The illness must
be an oncologist's nightmare - a cancer that is (apparently easily)
transmissable without an immune response, that has nearly 100% fatality.
Best hope at the moment is to isolate a large, uninfected population
in captivity until the wild group reaches extinction. Very, very sad.
I think I saw one in the wild when I was in Tasmania in 2004 - it was
a long way off and it might have been wishful thinking on my part.
Cheers,
Brian
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Brian Walters
Western Sydney, Australia
