Devils to the Max
As simple as Black and White
Top marks to 'Tokyo'
You can change the world
Jaws, Claws and Carnivores
Devil Will Run
Little Devils Day
Black and White Day
"Aussie" devils
More stories...
North-western Europe is about as far away from Tasmania as you can get on this planet, but the efforts of 11-year old Belgian schoolboy, Max Albos, have happily reminded us that we’re all global neighbours.
Max is a student at BEPS International School in Brussels, Belgium. In June 2009, he completed a project on the Devil Facial Tumour Disease, which he shared as a powerpoint presentation with his school community. A donation box that Max arranged for the evening raised $100 for the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program.
Max’s father also took him to Copenhagen Zoo, Denmark – the only location outside of Australia where you can see Tasmanian devils. The devil keeper at Copenhagen Zoo gave Max a special meeting with the two devils that were a present from the Tasmanian Government to celebrate the marriage of local girl, Mary Donaldson, to Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik.
Well done Max. We appreciate your support and you can be very proud of what you’ve achieved.
More than 300 Australian schools and businesses, as well as three from the United States, took part in the third annual Black and White Day on May 15, 2009.
It was Hobart schoolboy Nature Nic, as 11-year-old Nic Bonnitcha likes to be known, who came up with the idea that everyone could wear black and white clothes on a specific day, and make a gold coin donation to support research into the Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD).
In 2009, Nature Nic was invited to spend the day at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, which is one of the mainland zoos and wildlife parks that have been chosen to house the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program’s insurance population.
“We must not stop fighting for the Tasmanian devil,” said Nic, who spoke to around 1000 school students at Taronga Zoo. “If we stand together, we can achieve anything – especially if we believe in our dreams. And my dream is that we won’t lose the devil, like we did the Tasmanian tiger.”
Sydney Swans AFL player Jared Crouch teamed up with Nature Nic as Taronga Zoo’s Tassie devil ambassadors. Jared said that footballers are often held up as role models, but that he’s inspired by young people, like Nature Nic, who are fighting for our planet.
“Black and White Day is an outstanding initiative by Nature Nic,” Jared said. “Without our help, the Tasmanian devil is in danger of becoming extinct.”
The total raised by Black and White Day 2009 has yet to be finalised. But Nature Nic has previously generated more than $60,000 in donations.
Nic now hopes to encourage a major zoo from every Australian state to hold an awareness-raising, annual Black and White Day.
In 2008, Nature Nic spent Black and White Day at Australia Zoo in Queensland.
Children of "Tokyo", a composite class of Kindergarten/Year 1 children from Concord West Public School in Sydney, have been learning how to write an information report. Their topic was the Tasmanian devil.
The class found out more about its appearance, habitat and behaviours, and also produced labelled diagrams of the Tasmanian devil. Their excellent work earned them the Principal's Award!
They also put up information about the devil in the class window so other children of the school could see it.
The children were upset to find out that the Tasmanian devil is an endangered species because of Devil Facial Tumour Disease, and decided to raise money to help save the devil by holding a cake stall at the school. Parents contributed cakes, slices, biscuits and cupcakes and the children ran the stall. They raised $210.25. What a great effort by this group of young children. Well done Tokyo!
Patrick Taylor, a Year 5 student from Balmain Public School in NSW, is working to support the Tasmanian devil as part of a school project.
Under a unit of work called Futures Education, Patrick and his class mates were challenged to find a way to change the world (or at least the school).
Patrick had heard about the Devil Facial Tumour Disease from the Taronga Zoo magazine Zoonooz and he decided he wanted to help.
This is what Patrick told us he’s planning to do:
- Donate books that he owns to the school library
- Put stickers on his donated books so that people realise they’re helping Tasmanian devils
- Donate $2 to the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program every time one of his books are borrowed.
Good for you Patrick! The Save the Tasmanian Devil Program is always delighted with the support we receive, especially from children around the world.
Waimea Heights Primary School premiered ‘Jaws, Claws and Carnivores: Tassie Devils Under Threat’ in August, 2008 – a five-minute film that showcases our iconic Tasmanian devil while educating students (around the world) about the Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD).
The film was an entry in the Kids Witness News (KWN) competition, which is organised annually for Australian schools by Panasonic.
"We brainstormed different topics, but the students chose Tassie devils," said Maria Leaver, AST and Year 5/6 teacher at Hobart’s Waimea Heights.
"They then researched information about Tassie devils, as well the contagious Devil Disease. They conducted interviews with a scientist from the University of Tasmania, Rodrigo Hamede, as well as the devil keeper at Bonorong Wildlife Park, Greg Irons. A group of students even interviewed the Tasmanian Premier, David Bartlett. They accessed all different perspectives and facts on this issue."
As well as entering Panasonic’s KWN competition, Waimea Heights Primary combined their short film with a presentation on Tassie devils for the Tasmanian ‘Fire Starter’ Youth Environment Conference, which was also held in August, 2008.
"This has been an opportunity for our students to participate in global issues," Maria said, "as well as working together as a team on a project.
"The most worthwhile aspect is that students are engaged in authentic learning and working towards a common goal of helping save Tassie devils. They’re connecting to something real – an issue that’s truly important and happening right now."
Read the quiz (PDF, 37 KB) that was compiled by the Waimea Heights students and handed out at the Youth Environment Conference.
Summerdale Primary School raised more than $1,000 for the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program in July 2008 through a week-long series of ‘black and white’ fund-raising.
Veterinary Pathologist Stephen Pyecroft received the donation on behalf of the Devil Program from Summerdale students Mikaela Adams, Rachelle Taylor, Jayde Rigby, Kelcy Tudor, and Ashley Nankervis. (Photo, left, courtesy of the Launceston Examiner)
The fund-raising week was launched by Collete Harmsen and Karen McNab, who are both scientists with the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program. They told students about the Devil Facial Tumour Disease, and the devastating impact it’s having on wild populations.
"Our students were fascinated,” said Marcus Cramp, the assistant principal at the Launceston school. “It really sparked their interest, and they wanted to know more and more as the week progressed."
A black and white art competition, featuring paintings, drawings and photography, was a further highlight of the week. And it was standing room only when parents and friends made a gold coin donation to hear all three of the school’s choirs perform – an event that culminated with the choirs combining to sing Paul Jarman’s song ‘Devil Run Wild’.
"The whole school has been excited about this week," Marcus added. "Everyone has become involved."
The fundraising activities concluded with a "black and white" clothes day. For a gold coin donation, students were allowed to exchange their school uniform for black and white clothes.
Brisbane schoolgirl Ceilidh Bishop has made it her mission to help save the Tasmanian devil after visiting one of our insurance populations at Queensland’s Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, in January 2008.
One of Ceilidh’s fundraising ideas was to hold a ‘Little Devils Day’ at her school. The day was held on 30 May 2008. Read the full story on our Supporters page.
Children from more than 370 Australian schools have created educational projects that highlight the plight of the Tasmanian devil.
“These marvelous projects are a clear reminder that the Tasmanian devil belongs to all Australians,” said Dr Steve Smith, Manager of the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program.
The project boards were entries in the Westfield ‘Shop for your school – Save the Tasmanian Devil’ competition. The winning entry, from St Mary and St Mina’s Coptic Orthodox College in Bexley, NSW, impressed the judges with outstanding attention to detail, pop-up features, creative artwork and interactive information cards. The talented students responsible for the masterpiece - Merna, Nic, Andro, Mark and Mina - accompanied by teacher Lillian Wassef, came face to face with a devil when they were flown to Tasmania in November, 2007. Tourism Tasmania also provided the winners with a trip to Port Arthur, as well as a visit to Cadbury’s Chocolate Factory.
“When we started this project, we didn’t realise how great the threat was to the Tasmanian devil, and the impact of the disease,” Lillian said during their visit. “But we’ve all learnt so much.
“Coming from a southern-Sydney suburb, some of the students hadn’t even seen a wallaby in the wild. So meeting a devil first hand was an incredible experience for them – especially when we heard its cry for the first time. We’d heard it before on the website, but not even that prepared us for the screech it made.”
More than 124,927 students studied the Tasmanian devil through this competition. Students researched and prepared project boards on the Devil Facial Tumour Disease using educational reference material co-produced by Tourism Tasmania and the Department of Primary Industries and Water. The schools that produced the winning entry at each Westfield Shopping Centre were awarded prize packages that included Tasmanian reading material and DVDs. A selection of entries was also displayed at 13 Westfield Shopping Centres across Australia.
Interested in volunteering?
As well as donating money you might be able to volunteer to help save the Tasmanian devil.
Information sites and databases
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Educational resources for students
The Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries and Water contains a great deal of information on the Tasmanian devil and the Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease. -
Tasmanian devil website for kids
The Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries and Water website also hosts a Tassie devil website designed especially for school children. Special features include devil facts, videos, sound recordings, interactive games and activities. -
Species profile and threat database: Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii)
Listing of the Tasmanian Devil as vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 on the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage. -
Tasmanian devil information database
Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries and Water's searchable database of scholarly papers and general media resources relating to the Tasmanian devil. -
Research grants and scholarships
The University of Tasmania, through the Tasmanian Wildlife Research Advisory Committee (TWRAC), allocates scholarships and grants for research into all aspects of the Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease. These awards are funded from public donations received through the Tasmanian Devil Appeal by the UTAS Foundation and the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program. They support key research areas approved by the Devil Facial Tumour Disease Steering Committee (formed after the October 2003 workshop of scientists and animal health experts from institutions and organisations throughout Australia).
Research grants valued at up to $25 000 each are available to assist with projects endorsed by the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program. Scholarships are available to honours and postgraduate students at UTAS undertaking research related to TDFTD. International students are eligible to apply.
Researchers looking into a possible diagnostic test for the Devil disease are among this year’s grant recipients from the Tasmanian Wildlife Research Advisory Committee (TWRAC), at the University of Tasmania. Drs Breadmore, Hilder and Shellie were allocated a $4,000 Eric Guiler Research Grant for their exciting new work into a pre-clinical diagnosis of DFTD. This could be the precursor to a much larger post-doctoral study, if its results are promising. Dr Rodrigo Hamede was also an Eric Guiler Research Grant recipient. He was allocated $5,000 to assist with his PhD study into epidemiology and the transmission dynamics of DFTD.
Two PhD students, Nick Beeton and Alex Kreiss, have been allocated Qantas Tasmanian Devil Research Scholarships. Alex is studying the immune responses of the Tasmanian devil, while Nick is looking at Tasmanian devil population and disease modelling.
