I was sent a link to an article in The Australian that says the Save the Tasmanian Devil program is looking at fencing off parts of Tasmania’s west coast where the disease doesn’t seem to have spread trying to save what disease-free devils are left in the wild.
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New Blood Test Hope
Hi everyone!
During the Easter school holidays I travelled to Sydney and visited Taronga Zoo and spoke to their devil keeper there about their Devil breeding program for the insurance population. I saw their four female devils (just one year old) and they have another six devils for their breeding program. A problem with captive breeding is the same lack of genetic diversity can occur if the devils in the zoo keep mating, so zoos like Taronga have programs where they send devils out to other captive breeding sites to mix up the genes!
The keeper there was also excited about a new blood test that scientists at the University of Tasmania have developed which can detect whether a devil has DFTD before it shows the signs. This means that insurance populations in captive breeding programs can be protected from the disease if an introduced devil has it.
You can read more about the story here.
Bye!
Ceilidh
Dash for the Devil
Here’s a great idea! I was told about two friends – Daniel Eddington and Simon D’Arcy – who have decided to have a competition to see who is the better swimmer. But with a difference. The loser is going to donate $250 to UTAS Save the Tassie Devil fund. They’re also having a champagne breakfast before the race and people can make donations via the site with every person donating over $10 having the chance to win some great prizes.
Event Details:
Date: Saturday 28th February 2009
Time: 8.30am Sharp
Where: Boheme, 368 Bridge Road, Richmond, Victoria
Price: $35 (price includes breakfast, champagne, guest speakers and good times)
The race will be taking place at 10.00am at the Richmond Recreatoin Centre, 5 minutes walk from Boheme.
For more information visit the Dash for the Devil site!
Good luck Daniel and Simon and thanks for helping!
Ceilidh
Quick Review
After my blog was hacked I’ve been trying to remember all the information that was on it before to put together a summary. Here goes:
1. Why?
In January 2008 school holidays I saw a terrible picture of Devil Facial Tumour disease at the Devil Enclosure at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. It was just terrible and I decided to do something about it. So, with mum’s help, I did some research on the disease, what’s happening and how I could help. I then put that information into posters. I then used those posters to base my website pages on and sent this to Janice Kalyniuk at PerthWebs.com who put together the awareness site for me: Tassie Devil Cancer Awareness.
The site got loads of press coverage – which you can see at my press pages.
2. Next Steps
Currumbin invited me back to meet the devils in February and to meet Sarah Mulhall, the Tassie Devil Keeper. That was so cool! But a little scary as you can see from the pics on my press page – Mandu was a lot noisier than I thought he’d be!
3. Tasmania Trip
In April, mum, dad and I went to Tasmania for a week. We had a really busy time meeting with the University of Tasmania and Department of Primary Industries & Water staff as well as a really interesting meeting with research scientist Rodrigo who spent ages explaining tracking devices and all the wonderful work he and his team are involved with! I also meet with local sanctuary owners (Bonorong Wildlife Conservation Centre and Something Wild) – and met up with Nature Nic and his family which was heaps of fun!
4. Little Devils Day
Part of my fundraising ideas included holding a free dress day at school to raise awareness and funds. This happened on 30 May and Steve Smith was kind enough to come to the school and give presentations to all the kids about devils! We raised just over $200 for the Save the Tassie Devil Project! You can hold your own Little Devils Day at your school – download the form at my website.
5. Community Service Announcement
My next job was to put together a community service announcement for radio. This went out to a lot of community radio stations in Qld and Tasmania with quite a number of them picking it up. You can hear it here. tassie-ad
6. Cafe Press Store
Another fundraising idea was to open a Cafe Press Store. I designed the merchandise at the store. If you’re looking for gifts that give twice, head to the Tassie Devil Diner and choose from the large range there! 100% of the proceeds goes to saving the devils.
7. Totally Wild
In July Totally Wild did a segment on what I was doing to try and help raise awareness. I really thank them for taking the time to do that!
Total funds raised to date exceed $2,000! I’m hoping to get my new school – and the rest of the schools in our district – involved in Little Devils Day. I’m also working with my Guide Unit to try and raise awareness!