Zoo ups commitment to Tasmanian devil conservation

The (Toledo) Blade

TOLEDO

The Toledo Zoo increased its commitment to a conservation program for an endangered carnivorous marsupial with a signature spine-tingling scream.

The zoo is more than halfway through a five-year, $500,000 agreement to fund annual population-monitoring surveys of the Tasmanian devil through the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program. It has committed an additional $50,000 per year for three years to fund an effort for targeted surveys of wild devil populations for genetic mapping.

“We’ve done a lot of work with them over the last three-and-a-half years, and we’re seeing that benefit the devils in a big way,” said Jeff Sailer, president and chief executive of the zoo.

Tasmanian devils are found in the wild only on the Australian island state of Tasmania. The animals are threatened by a fatal form of contagious cancer, dubbed devil facial tumor disease that spreads via the animals’ frequent biting when mating or arguing over resources.