Thanks Loudmouth for the information. I grew up on the Darling Downs side of the Bunya Mountains. This region also had a lot of Aboriginal history. I attended the Yamsion school, so named because of the wild yams growing in that region. My parents built a new home on Black Camps Hill, where apparently the Aborigines camped at night. Although they harvested the Bunya nuts during daylight hours they came down from the mountains at night for fear of spirits. This region was opened up by the timber cutters and later some of it became part of Jimbour Station. The Myall Creek flowed through my father's land and went on to join the Condamine River near Dalby.

Sorry the minute you use "academic" as a slur you know only rubbish will follow. up there with I'm not racist but....

G'day Little,
I'm well aware of that. But claiming "Tasmanian devils are diseased because they're starving" is completely ridiculous. It's like claiming humans are dying of AIDS because they're starving.

Not at all ridiculous Aidan,
Malnutrition lowers the defences against disease as does AIDS. AIDS victims die of everyday diseases such as pneumonia. Once disease is established, it doesn't matter how much you feed the victim, it can't save them. Your earlier statement about devil disease "None of them survive the facial tumour disease (spread by contact) no matter how well fed they are." reveals a certain naivety. For example, starving koalas are susceptible to chlamydia etc. and can't be saved by feeding. I suggest you reassess your attempts to ridicule people and try to formulate some rational arguments.

Little,
Disbelieving the claim that "None of them survive the facial tumour disease (spread by contact) no matter how well fed they are" is far more naïve than the statemant itself. DFTD is not like chlamydia. It affects tassie devils no matter how healthy they are. It kills in a few months, and none have developed immunity to it yet — probably because there's so little genetic variation between them.

Thanks Aidan,
Your naivety is evident in your assumption that 100% mortality rate of infected individuals, irrespective of food availability, negates the link between general malnutrition and epidemic disease. You should try to think clearly rather than trying to ridicule arguments off the top of your head. Have a look at the book - Firestick Ecology - and improve your mind.