I worked with the Tasmanian government's Save the Tasmanian devil program for eight years, and was fortunate enough to be involved in studying these fabulous marsupials first hand. These carnivorous marsupials are a lot more timid and placid than one would expect, given the noisy representation by the Warner bros. cartoon Taz, and the gregarious behaviour of devils in wildlife parks and zoos.
The Tasmanian devil was listed as endangered in 2009, due to the devastatingly fatal devil facial tumour disease, spread mostly by biting. As their population took a beating, this led to a far greater impact of every other risk to their population - including roadkill and habitat disruption. During the forestry burns earlier this year, a devil was discovered and photographed completely incinerated by the burns designed to facilitate speedy eucalypt regrowth for future logging. This happens every year and forestry is never held accountable for this senseless killing of wildlife.
Let's permanently protect forests for our endangered Tasmanian devils. Let's end the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (the EPBC Act) exemptions that forestry hides behind, leading to a total lack of accountability and responsibility when it comes to endangering this iconic species.
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