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What is Devil Rock?
Australia’s rock stars and bands are getting behind the campaign to make sure we don’t lose the Tasmanian Devil in the wild. Devil Rock will be a series of fundraising concerts arranged by Jon English, the first at Sydney University in the second half of 2010 (keep watching here for the new date) followed by a concert on the NSW Central Coast.
Devil Rock was launched by Peter Garrett, the Federal Minister for the Environment Heritage and the Arts, and veteran rocker Jon English, at the University of Sydney on 2nd July.
What are the Rock Stars Supporting?
Saving the original rock ‘n roll animal through the establishment of a sustainable captive breeding of the Insurance Population on the mainland, and research into the captive breeding and finding a cure for the Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), which is causing the decimation of the species.
Devil Rock and the fundraising campaign will be supporting a joint research program involving Dr Kathy Belov and other researchers from the University of Sydney Faculty of Veterinary Science and the Australian Reptile Park at Gosford, which has been involved with the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program’s captive Insurance Population for the past three years and has successfully bred over 30 devils.
The joint research program is working in partnership with the Tasmanian and Australian Governments’ Save the Tasmanian Devil Program, which is coordinating a range of measures and research programs to secure the ongoing survival of the Tasmanian devil in the wild.
Who is supporting Devil Rock?
Veteran Rocker Jon English is the driving force.
While the final line up of artists for the Devil Rock Concerts is yet to be decided, English says everyone he’s approached so far has been enthusiastic about taking part. The music industry is just great when it comes to getting behind things like this, says Jon, there will be something for every rock generation to enjoy.
In the lead up to Devil Rock, two performances of the sell-out theatrical rock experience The Rock Show currently touring Australia will be held at the Seymour Centre on 16 and 17 October to raise funds for the cause.
What is Battle of the Bands?
Young rockers can also get onboard with Battle of the Bands, a Devil Rock competition being developed in partnership with the NSW Department of Education. Young bands across Australia are being encouraged to post a song online with the winning band playing live at Devil Rock in 2010.
Devil Rock's Battle of the Bands was launched as part of National Science Week on Wednesday 12 August at Sarah Redfern High School, Minto.
Students from six Sydney high schools joined musician Jon English and Dr Kathy Belov, a top researcher from the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney, to launch the competition to select student bands to play at a concert to save the Tasmanian Devil.
Young bands across Australia are being encouraged to write and perform a song about saving the Devil, with the winning band playing live at the Devil Rock concert in the second half of 2010, says Dr Kathy Belov, a University of Sydney geneticist who is leading a research team trying to save the devil.
The launch of the Battle of the Bands was part of National Science week, which is an initiative of the Tall Poppy Campaign and the Department of Education.
Devil Rock's Battle of the Bands Competition
Devil Rock's Battle of the Bands Competition is now open!
Enter Competition.
For teaching resources access the Devil's Lair website.
Why Support Saving the Tasmanian Devil?
Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) was first discovered in 1996 in the far north east of Tasmania. Since then it has spread to over 60 percent of the state with no sign of it abating.
The Tasmanian devil has gone from being regarded as common, a little over a decade ago, to listed as Endangered at both a State and Commonwealth level. The wild population has declined by around 70 per cent since the emergence of the disease.
DFTD is a unique disease. It is not a virus or a bacteria. It is a contagious cancer. The tumour is believed to have first occurred in a single individual and is now passed between devils, most likely when they bite each other. Normally, cells transplanted between individuals are rapidly rejected by the immune system due to differences in cell surface markers (MHC markers). These MHC markers are matched between donors and recipients for organ donation. If they are different the recipient’s immune system rejects the new organ.
In Tasmanian devils, research has shown that DFTD cells are not rejected because MHC markers on tumour cells are identical to those in affected devils. Therefore the devil’s immune system does not recognize the cancer cells as foreign and does not try to get rid of them.
This lack of MHC diversity in Tasmanian devils is believed to have occurred due to previous population crashes weakening the genetic diversity of the species making them susceptible to diseases like DFTD.
At present there is no evidence that any devils are able to mount an immune response against the disease. Development of a vaccine is still a long way off. Therefore we need to be able to maintain a good genetic representation of devils in captivity through a structured insurance population within zoos on both the mainland and in Tasmania. The insurance population could be used for future release into the wild. It is a safety net in case of possible extinction of wild populations.
The disease is always fatal and kills the devil within 6 months. The loss of an ecologically functioning wild population of Tasmanian devils has major implications for the survival of many other native species. Tasmanian devils are being replaced in the food chain by feral cats and foxes, who hunt a wider range of prey.
The Tasmanian devil faces the very real threat of extinction in the wild.
Captive breeding is our best chance to prevent this extinction event.
With an effective, scientifically based strategy for breeding large numbers of a genetically representative population of devils we will strive to minimise adaptation to captivity to improve prospects for successful release of future generations into the wild.