A mutant cancer which causes facial tumors on Australia's Tasmanian
devil has brought the carnivorous marsupial to the brink of extinction,
a leading researcher has said.

Local populations of the animal . . . have already been savaged by the
mysterious disease, which results in malignant facial tumors.

Hamish McCallum, professor of wildlife research at the University of
Tasmania's school of zoology, said the disease, which usually results
in death six months after the appearance of the first lesions, could
lead to the extinction of the species within a decade.