By Sky News

The Tasmanian devil has been added to a list of endangered species after a contagious cancer cut its population by 60%.



The disease is continuing to ravage numbers of the animal in Tasmania - the only place in the world where the carnivorous marsupials exist in the wild.

But the government in the Australian state says it is determined to save the animal from extinction.

"We are committed to finding an answer and saving the Tasmanian devil for Tasmanians and the world," state Primary Industries Minister David Llewellyn said.

Grotesque facial tumours were first spotted in the island's devil population around a decade ago.

The fast-growing cancer, passed through biting, spreads over the marsupial's face and mouth and prevents it from eating, often killing it within months.

Scientists have estimated that the wild devil population has fallen from around 140,000 in the 1990s to 80,000 in 2006 due to the tumours.

The disease has spread so quickly that scientists estimate that within five years there will be no disease-free population in Tasmania.

The state's reclassification of the devil from vulnerable to endangered status qualifies it for greater government conservation assistance.

The federal government will now be under pressure to upgrade the devil on its national threatened species listing.

A number of isolated disease-free communities of devils have been established in Tasmania and in mainland Australia to breed populations as "insurance" against extinction.

Early European settlers named the feisty marsupial the devil for its spine-chilling screeches and reputed bad temper which, along with its steel-trap jaw, made it appear incredibly fierce.