This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
And now the world's cutest Tasmanian devil, who nonetheless is obviously bloody from battle. Because it's been that kind of week.
Some more details about Tassies...
Species name: Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii)
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Where found: Tasmania, an island state of Australia
IUCN Red List status:Endangered (although that was the 2008 assessment; things have gotten worse since then)
Major threat: A communicable cancer called Devil Facial Tumor Disease which has wiped out tens of thousands of animals
Previous Extinction Countdown articles about this species: Many. I've been covering DFTD for years. Tragically, I don't see things getting much better for this species any time soon.
Photo by Scott MacLeod Liddle via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons license
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