New research has revealed humans could be impacting the Tasmanian devil’s chance of survival.
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Already fighting extinction from the devil facial tumour disease, the species now faces a new threat – human parasites.
Researchers found devils harbour strains of Giardia, a parasite which causes infection of the bowel in humans.
Macquarie University researcher Dr Michelle Power said the parasites are spread through faceal matter and can be transmitted via contaminated water.
“Human encroachment into the devils’ habitat, through actions such as the dispersal of wastewater from humans or swimming when suffering diarrhoea, could potentially be introducing new parasites to Tasmanian devils, as these parasites are not normally part of their wild habitat,” Dr Power said.
“Much of the research on devils has investigated devil facial tumour disease, however, other disease threats that have the potential to thwart Tasmanian devil health and population recovery also need to be considered.”
As well as the human strain of Giardia, new types of Giardia and Cryptosporidium, which affects the intestines, were also detected in devils.
The parasites were found to be more common in wild devils, compared to those in captivity.
Dr Samantha Fox from the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program said the new evidence suggested people were interacting with devils more than researchers previously believed.
“Some of these interactions we may be totally unaware of so I guess it highlights some other ways we might be impacting on wildlife in areas where we are carrying out our daily activities,” Dr Fox said.
“It’s hard to say at this stage whether it’s affecting their chances of survival – we hope to gain more insight into how to help take these animals off the endangered species list.”
The discovery comes ahead of another wild devil release, which will take place later this month. More than 30 devils from Maria Island will be relocated to the North-East.