PHOTOS: Tasmanian Devil Population Moves Into Australian Zoo To Help Prevent Extinction

PHOTOS: Saving Tasmanian Devils

Australia's Taronga Zoo's newest exhibit is a Tasmanian devil breeding center. The center, located in Sydney, opened to aid the effort to prevent the animals' extinction due to the Devil Facial Tumor Disease. The cancer causes tumors to form on the endangered marsupials' faces, which hinders the animals' eating ability and can cause starvation. The disease has already depleted sixty percent of the wild devil population in Tasmania. The Taronga Zoo started a breeding initiative in 2008, which resulted in the birth of 24 Tasmanian devils. NSW Environment Minister Frank Sartor said that the $1 million center plans to breed 1500 devils in the future, "as an insurance population."

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