Tasmanian Devils are threatened with extinction due to a contagious cancer that has spread among the endemic population in Tasmania, Australia. Research projects have been hard at work trying to come up with a cure – a vaccine or medication – to combat the cancer, which causes horribly disfigurement of the face of the animals and is always fatal once contracted. The cancer is spread when the devils rub each others faces as part of a mating ritual. This Tasmanian Devil and the images you'll see in the other postings were photographed at a research institute where healthy animals from outside the affected regions they are being bred with those from affected areas to replenish the gene pool with, hopefully, individuals who are immune to the cancer.