Finding cause of devil tumour should be priority

Finding cause of devil tumour should be priority - Greens

Further Commonwealth funding for research into the devil facial tumour needs to focus on finding the cause of the problem, Australian Greens Senator for Tasmania Christine Milne said in Canberra today.

"The announcement today by federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell that the Commonwealth will top up its funding for research into the facial tumour that is killing Tasmanian devils is welcome," Senator
Milne said.

"But 10 years after the problem was detected we are still no closer to establishing the cause.

"Field research is important and has been ongoing for the past decade. Research efforts now need to concentrate on finding out what is causing the tumours if we are to ensure that Tasmania's devil population survives."

The Tasmanian Greens last year nominated the Tasmanian devil for listing as vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. The nomination is still being assessed.

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