Taz in Trouble! Icon Devil May Not Make It

Dec. 23, 2008— -- With a tornadolike force, Taz, the ornery Tasmanian devil cartoon character, could take down nearly any threat in its path.

But in reality, the fierce Aussie animal that inspired the Warner Bros. cartoon is having a devil of a time fighting a cancer that is on the verge of wiping out the entire wild population.

The news is disturbing to many on the Australian island of Tasmania that consider the critters an "icon of the state," not to mention a major tourist draw.

Experts say the rare cancer has killed about 50 percent of the country's devils since 1996.

For the last two years, Australian scientists had hoped that one lone devil they named Cedric held the key to the survival of the species. The 3-year-old male from Tasmania had shown a strong antibody response to the contagious, normally fatal, cancer and scientists thought he might be immune.

But scientists recently learned that Cedric too had contracted the disease, called devil facial tumor disease (DFTD).

Although previous experiments had demonstrated that Cedric's immune system could fight off the cancer, earlier this month, scientists spotted two facial tumors that are characteristic of the highly contagious disease.

"It was quite disheartening," said Greg Woods, associate professor of immunology at the Menzies Research Institute at the University of Tasmania. Woods has worked with Cedric for nearly two years.

Woods said that the tumors were "too small to see" and that he expects Cedric to make a full recovery.

Researchers thought "he may be a ray of hope for the other devils, and that ray of hope dimmed a little bit," Woods told ABCNews.com.

But, thanks to the popular and endearingly manic Tasmanian devil cartoon that has entertained generations of children, the real devils' plight is tugging at the heart strings of many beyond scientific circles.

Spirits Fall as 'Super Devil' Contracts Cancer

Scientists were hopeful about Cedric because the lack of genetic diversity among the devils in northeast Tasmania, where the disease was first identified, makes the animals particularly vulnerable.

Cedric, who lives on the island's west coast, has genes that differ from his counterparts in the east. The disease has not yet penetrated the west coast populations and scientists hoped that Cedric's "immunity" meant that other west coast devils might also be naturally resistant to the disease.

He was injected with a slightly different strain of the disease in June and the two tumors, which were removed Dec. 15, indicate that he is not the "savior" many hoped he would be.

"It's certainly an obstacle in the idea that we can find resistant animals," said Hamish McCallum, a professor of wildlife research at the University of Tasmania's School of Zoology. "It doesn't blow it out of the water … [but] the notion that [Cedric] and others are completely resistant is something we no longer have confidence in."

An Icon of the State

Those who grew up with a daily dose of Warner Bros.' "Looney Tunes" character Taz might be surprised to find that the real Tasmanian devil is not all that cantankerous and is in fact strangely adorable.

About the size of a raccoon, the devils are black and white with pointy, red ears that flush with blood when the animals are stressed or excited.

Though the animals don't entirely lack appeal, there is a very good reason for their sinister-sounding name.

"[They have a] dreadful sort of banshee wails," McCallum said, especially when they eat.

When the first European settlers arrived in Tasmania, the howls and cries that the animals released into the night helped earn the scavengers their moniker.

Hearing the frightening sounds at night, settlers assigned the word "devil" to the relatively small animals that tend to be highly aggressive, but usually only toward each other.

But Tasmanians say they are proud of their miniature menaces.

"The Tasmanian devils are very important. They're an icon of the state," said Felicia Mariani, CEO of Tourism Tasmania.

International tourism is a key contributor to the state's economy, and many of the international visitors -- particularly from North America -- visit Tasmania to see the devils and other exotic animals in the wild, Mariani said.

"It's quite a gorgeous little animal," she said. "And outside of what it does for tourism, it's actually a very important cog in the wheel of the food chain over here."

The 'Wild Child' Within Us

In creating the animated Taz, Warner Bros. lifted the real devils' unmistakable growl, seemingly insatiable appetite and scrappy demeanor. The result was a character that has spawned legions of fans, Facebook groups, Web sites and, of course, merchandise.

"The thing about Taz is he's always embodied the most childlike exuberance that's possible to display," said Jim Cummings, the voice actor who played Taz in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Cummings took over the role from Mel Blanc, who premiered the character in the 1950s and provided the punctuated growl for Taz in shows such as "Tiny Toons" and "Taz-Mania."

Cummings said he had never heard a real Tasmanian devil until he was recording a few television spots for Animal Planet and mistakenly thought an audio recording of the real animals was his work.

"[Taz] represents that wild child within us -- the id that wants to let it all hang out," Cummings said. "People related to that. He's kind of the standard bearer for all things wild and crazy."

Cummings said he hadn't heard about the devils' precarious situation but offered to help in whatever way he could.

No Case Has Not Been Fatal

Since the first reported case of DFTD in 1996, the Australian government estimates that the devil population has plummeted from about 150,000 to a range of 20,000 to 50,000.

Largely because of this disease, scientists say the devils, which are the largest living carnivorous marsupials in the world, could be extinct in the wild within 20 years.

"The real worry is we know of no case where [the disease] has not been fatal," in the wild, said McCallum. DFTD is one of only a couple of known contagious cancers in the animal world. The most well known is canine transmissible venereal tumor, which is transmitted between dogs during sex.

Scientists are still uncovering many details about DFTD, but McCallum said that they believe the disease is transmitted when one animal with a tumor bites another.

Because these animals are particularly prone to biting -- when they eat and during the mating season -- the disease has an especially high rate of transmission.

"Their natural behavior is to fight each other," said Shannon Barber-Meyer, a conservation program officer with the World Wildlife Fund.

But usually less than six months after an infected devil bites another, large, grotesque-looking tumors form on the devil's face and neck.

Unable to eat and drink because of the swollen tumors, the devils ultimately die of starvation and dehydration, she said.

Although Cedric's condition may slow research in some areas, scientists say other kinds of conservation efforts could help the Tasmanian devils.

For example, healthy animals could be removed from the wild or relocated to other areas, or they could be protected by fences.

"I actually do remain optimistic," said McCallum. "We've got this range of management leaders. While everyone has risks, my hope is that one of them will come through."