HOBART, Australia — A dividing line of marking tape separates a clearcut area from intact native forest in the Denison Range of Tasmania, Australia’s southernmost state. An hour’s drive from the state capital, Hobart, the forest sits just outside the boundary of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, Na UNESCO site. The logged area is […]
For 13 years now, scientist Michelle Power has been grabbing samples of human waste and animal poop from Antarctica to Australia to try and answer a vital question. Has the bacteria in humans that has grown resistant to antibiotics – an issue considered to be one of the world’s greatest health challenges – made its […]
Camera traps bring you closer to the secretive natural world and are an important conservation tool to study wildlife. This week we’re meeting the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world: the Tasmanian devil. Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) used to live in Australia but now they can only be found in the island state of Tasmania, […]
Milk from Tasmanian devils could offer up a useful weapon against antibiotic-resistant superbugs, according to Australian researchers. The marsupial’s milk contains important peptides that appear to be able to kill hard-to-treat infections, including MRSA, say the Sydney University team. Experts believe devils evolved this cocktail to help their young grow stronger. The scientists are looking […]
Within just a handful of generations, Tasmanian devils appear to have evolved resistance to an unusual contagious cancer that was widely expected to make the ill-tempered carnivorous marsupials extinct in the wild. The remarkable finding gives hope that the unique animals could survive the disease, which has already wiped out 80% of the animals in […]
The Tasmanian devil population has plummeted to around 10,000 from an estimated 250,000 before 1996, when Devil Facial Tumor Disease was first discovered. The disease causes large lumps to form around the animal’s mouth and head, making it hard for it to eat. “Tasmanian Devils in the wild have been absolutely decimated by this disease,” […]
Investigations are under way into the discovery of five dead Tasmanian devils south of Hobart as new research shows a decline in population of the threatened species is affecting the island state’s ecosystem. The carcasses of five of the carnivorous marsupials, including a mother with two babies in her pouch, were found near the township […]
It had been considered extinct for nearly 80 years, but the Tasmanian tiger has been declared alive and kicking by an intrepid group of British naturalists. A team of investigators from the Centre for Fortean Zoology, which operates from a small farmhouse in north Devon, is currently in Tasmania hunting down clues to prove the […]