Devils and disease in the landscape: the impact of disease on devils in the wild and on the Tasmanian ecosystem

When populations of animals encounter a novel infectious disease, the effects can be devastating both for individuals and the population as a whole. Mortality is frequently high, outpacing breeding, leading to severe population decline. An extreme example is the devastation of native American populations from smallpox, a disease native to Europe, across vast regions of the Americas following the arrival of the Spanish in the 1600s (Mann 2005). A similar scenario has played out over the last 20 years since devil facial tumour disease emerged in Tasmania.