When I saw them in the wild their faces were covered in tumours. Sure would have been cute without those though. I think our tour guide might have said it was due to intra floral/fauna contamination between species like these who were historically isolated.
A lot of “tumors” seen on wild animals are fungal infections from invasive fungal species brought by humans. It really sucks because fungal infections are very hard for mammalian immune systems to fight without help from antifungal medications.
When I saw them in the wild their faces were covered in tumours. Sure would have been cute without those though. I think our tour guide might have said it was due to intra floral/fauna contamination between species like these who were historically isolated.
A lot of “tumors” seen on wild animals are fungal infections from invasive fungal species brought by humans. It really sucks because fungal infections are very hard for mammalian immune systems to fight without help from antifungal medications.
Tasmanian devils are unique in that they have a cancer that can be transmitted from host to host.
In this case it is a form of Transmissible Cancer.