Tasmanian devils cast away to remote island to avoid extinction

The threat of extinction hanging over Australia's Tasmanian devil population is so serious that the government has sent 14 healthy devils to live in exile on Maria Island off Tasmania's east coast. Highly contagious facial tumors (which have decimated the once-thriving population of these feisty marsupials by 91 percent) have prompted authorities to make plans for a disease-free "insurance population" to prevent the species dying out. There have never been devils on Maria Island, which can only be reached by boat or plane, but it's believed introducing the critters won't impact on the island's resident native species. Australia's National Environment Minister called the drastic plan a "last resort," that sadly is now a reality. [Source] 

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