Questions for discussion
Flu quarantine
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Briefly summarise the BtN story.
Why is Alex staying home from school?
Explain in your own words what quarantine is.
Why is it important to quarantine people as soon as possible?
How does the virus spread?
A pandemic is…
Why are some scientists saying that quarantining is an over-reaction?
Swine flu is most dangerous for…
What are the concerns with Swine flu mixing with normal flu?
Do you think quarantining people is an over-reaction? Explain your answer.
Test your knowledge in the online Swine flu quiz.
`Should schools shut down if a student catches swine flu? ’ Vote in the online poll.
Intensive farming
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
What is intensive farming?
Describe the conditions in which the pigs are kept.
Why do farmers use intensive farming methods?
How are pigs and other farm animals protected?
What are the consequences for not complying with the regulations?
What concerns do animal activists have about intensive farming?
Describe free range farming.
Why do you think farmers might not choose this method of farming?
Predict what the impact would be if intensive farming was banned.
How did this story make you feel?
Create a plus, minus and interesting chart about intensive farming.
Country driving
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
© ABC 2009
Why are young people most at risk of having car accidents?
Why are young country drivers at an even greater risk?
What do you think defensive driving is?
What skills do you think a driving course can teach young people?
Why do country kids find themselves on the road more than city kids?
What strategies does the driving instructor discuss with the students?
How is the drink driving message given during the course?
Do you think it is an effective strategy? Why?
What other strategies do you think could be used to promote safer driving?
What do you understand more clearly since watching the BtN story?
EPISODE 14
2ND JUNE 2009
Send a message or tell us what you think on the BtN Guestbook.
TV recycling
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Write a brief outline of the TV recycling story.
What is electronic waste?
Why is it a growing problem?
Where does a lot of e-waste end up?
Why do you think this might be a problem?
Describe what happens at the TV and computer monitor recycling plant.
Why is TV glass valuable?
Which parts of a TV get reused?
Why is the content of the tube an environmental hazard?
What else do you think could be done to encourage responsible recycling of
electronic goods?
Investigate how your school disposes of electronic waste. What improvements could be
made?
Tassie Devils
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Illustrate what you think the main point of the story was.
Why has the Tasmanian Devil been placed on the endangered list?
Describe the reputation of the Tassie Devil?
Why are the described as `vacuums of the forest’?
What is a baby Tassie Devil called?
What were the threats to Tassie Devils during early European settlement?
What is threatening their survival now?
What is being done to help protect the species?
Do you think it is important to protect the Tasmanian Devil? Why?
What else do you think could be done to protect the Tassie Devil from
becoming extinct?
Create a cartoon strip that helps raise awareness of the threats to the Tassie Devil
population.
Intensive farming
© ABC 2009
Intensive farming has been criticised by animal
activists but farmers say there are lots of advantages,
including cheaper goods for consumers.
EPISODE 14
2ND JUNE 2009
Focus Questions
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
What is intensive farming?
Describe the conditions in which the pigs are kept.
Why do farmers use intensive farming methods?
How are pigs and other farm animals protected?
What are the consequences for not complying with the regulations?
What concerns do animal activists have about intensive farming?
Describe free range farming.
Why do you think farmers might not choose this method of farming?
Predict what the impact would be if intensive farming was banned.
How did this story make you feel?
Debating the issue
Learning Area
Society and
Environment
Key learning
Students will
research, plan,
write and present
a debate on the
topic of intensive
farming.
Students will research and debate the following statement:
`Intensive farming should be allowed’
Divide the class into teams of 6, 3 speaking for the affirmative and 3 against. Other
roles that can be assigned are chairperson, time keeper and the remaining class
members can adjudicate using the rubric at the end of this activity. Discuss with
students the length of time each speaker talks for. Students will need sufficient time
to research the topic. There are some web links at the end of this activity to support
students.
The debate can be structured in the following way:
Speaker 1 Introduce the topic and team’s argument. The 1st speaker for the
negative can also rebut (argue against).
Speaker 2 Rebuttal and continue team’s argument
Speaker 3 Rebuttal and summarise/conclude debate
.
Some key issues/questions students can explore for the debate include:

Conditions animals are kept in intensive and free range farming

Impact on consumers if intensive farming was banned

Environmental considerations

Control and regulations of livestock farming
Peer adjudication rubric
Levels of performance
Criteria
© ABC 2009
Needs
Satisfactory
Good
Excellent
improvement
Information
Information
was inaccurate
and unclear
Some
information was
accurate and
clear
Most
information was
accurate and
clear
All information
was accurate
and clear
Organisation
Arguments
were illogical
Most arguments
were illogical
Some
arguments were
illogical
All arguments
were logical
Rebuttal
Counter
arguments were
not accurate or
relevant
Some counter
arguments were
accurate and
relevant
Most counter
arguments were
accurate and
relevant
All counter
arguments were
accurate and
relevant
Examples and
facts
Few or no
relevant
examples or
facts
Some relevant
examples or
facts
Many examples
and facts given
– most relevant
Many examples
and facts given
– all relevant
Presentation
(tone of voice,
body language,
enthusiastic,
convincing)
Poor
presentation
style
Satisfactory
presentation
style
Good
presentation
style
Excellent
presentation
style
Reflection
Ask students to think about how difficult it was to think of arguments to support
their case. Do they think they could have created a stronger argument if they were
speaking for the opposing view?
 Related Research Links
ABC Stateline – Pig cruelty
http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/tas/content/2006/s2564758.htm
ABC Local – Calls for a new animal inspection system
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/10/2565657.htm?site=local
RSPCA - Pig farming
http://www.rspca.org.au/how-you-can-help/campaigns/pigfarming.html?searched=intensive+farming&advsearch=oneword&highlight=ajaxSe
arch_highlight+ajaxSearch_highlight1+ajaxSearch_highlight2
Australian Pork Limited – Pig care
http://www.australianpork.com.au/pages/page61.asp
Tassie Devils
© ABC 2009
One of Australia’s icons, the Tasmanian Devil has
been placed on the endangered list because of a
disease that’s wiping out the population in the wild.
EPISODE 14
Focus Questions
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Illustrate what you think the main point of the story was.
Why has the Tasmanian Devil been placed on the endangered list?
Describe the reputation of the Tassie Devil.
Why are they described as `vacuums of the forest’?
What is a baby Tassie Devil called?
What were the threats to Tassie Devils during early European settlement?
What is threatening their survival now?
What is being done to help protect the species?
Do you think it is important to protect the Tasmanian Devil? Why?
What else do you think could be done to protect the Tassie Devil from
becoming extinct?
2ND JUNE 2009
Learning Area
Society and
Environment
Key learning
Students will
design a public
education campaign
to help raise
awareness of an
endangered
Australian animal.
Endangered Australian animals
Students will investigate an endangered Australian animal and design a public
education campaign to help raise awareness of the importance of preserving the
species. Begin by clarifying students’ understanding of what threatened,
endangered and extinct means. Discuss with students why we need to protect
species - to ensure biodiversity (biological diversity).
Brainstorm Australian animals that are endangered and record student responses.
Explain to students that they will be designing a public education campaign that
outlines the threats to a particular endangered Australian animal, what is being done
to protect it and what else that could be done to ensure its survival. Discuss how
their research findings can be presented to help raise public awareness. Some
possibilities include:

Short film or animation

Web page

Community service announcement (for television or radio)

Press release
As part of the research process, students will need to `ask an expert’ to help them
gather information. Museums and environmental organisations will be useful
places to contact.
Structure to help guide student research
Name – Common
and scientific
Type of animal
© ABC 2009
.
(mammal, fish,
bird, etc)
Where the animal
is found (include a
map)
Population size
Importance of
species to
biodiversity
Main threat to the
survival of the
species
Strategies to
protect species
Further investigations
Create a cartoon strip that helps raise awareness of the threats to the Tassie Devil
population.
Make up a `What am I’ game based on Australian endangered animals.
Create picture book about an Australian endangered animal for younger students. Put a
copy of the book in your schools resource centre.
 Related Research Links
ABC Stateline – Devil knowledge
http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/tas/content/2006/s2557397.htm
Department of Primary Industries and water – Tasmanian Devil information for
kids
http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/EKOE-6EXURG?open
Save the Tasmanian Devil
http://www.tassiedevil.com.au/
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
http://www.environment.gov.au/cgibin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=299
BtN: Episode 14 Transcripts
02/06/09
© ABC 2009
On this week's Behind the News:
 Schools in shut-down because of swine flu
 Is farming cruel for pigs?
 And why devils are in danger.
Hi I'm Nathan Bazley welcome to Behind the News.
Also on the show today, how your old TV is a serious problem for the
environment.
Those items later, but first to our stop story.
Flu Quarantine
Reporter: Sarah Larsen
INTRO: In the last week or so swine flu has become a much bigger
issue in Australia.
The number of people diagnosed with the virus has skyrocketed and
a lot of the cases have been kids.
That's led to schools being shut down and students being told to stay
at home - even though they weren't sick!
Why is that? Here's Sarah to explain why they are taking such
drastic measures.
SARAH LARSEN, REPORTER: This is Alex. She's in year 12 and she's
very friendly but she's not letting me in! Ok, this is weird.
ALEX: A girl at our school has swine flu so our principal has
recommended that we don't go out or see anyone.
© ABC 2009
Alex isn't alone. Other schools have been closed, footy matches have
been cancelled. Families of people with swine flu have also been asked
to stay in their homes. All of these people have been quarantined.
That's a really old trick used to stop diseases spreading. It happens all
the time in hospitals. If someone's got an infectious disease, you keep
them away from other people so the germs don't spread.
REPORTER: Say I was sick. I've just passed my germs to these two.
Now they could pass it on to other people, who could pass it on to
even more. So you can see how one sick person could very quickly
turn into hundreds or even thousands.
To try to stop the virus you have to try to predict what people it might
spread to and get them quarantined as soon as possible. But wait,
Alex isn't sick.
ALEX: No, I feel fine.
The danger is people could spread the virus before they know they're
sick. There's a period after you catch the virus before you start
coughing and sneezing when you can pass it on. So that's why kids
like Alex have been asked to stay at home for a week just in case they
get sick. And this is why:
When we first told you about Swine Flu people were really worried.
The Virus's real name is H1N1 influenza. It was a strain that scientists
hadn't seen before and it made lots of people in Mexico very sick.
Over there more than 100 people died. Health organisations warned
that the world could be facing a pandemic, which is when a disease
spreads quickly throughout the world. We've had pandemics before
and they've killed millions of people so you can see why authorities
are being careful. But now it doesn't look like Swine Flu will be
anywhere near that bad. It hasn't killed anyone in Australia and for
most people it's just like getting the normal flu. Because of that, some
scientists are saying quarantining people who aren't sick is an overreaction.
PETER COLLIGNON, MICROBIOLOGIST: We usually save those
measures for a really serious aggressive disease. This appears to be
quite a mild.
© ABC 2009
The biggest danger is to people who are old, very young, or have an
existing medical condition but the same goes for the normal flu. We
don't quarantine people with the normal flu. But there are still
reasons to be careful. One worry is once winter hits the Swine Flu
could mix with normal flu to create a new virus. The good news for
Alex is she didn't get the flu but authorities say until we know more
it’s better to play it safe.
Presenter: And there’s more info about how the flu works in a
feature on our website.
Poll Results
Last week we asked you if schools should shut down if a student
catches the flu - and a whopping 91 percent of you said yes! Hope you
didn't say that just because you wanted a holiday!
But with so many schools still shutting down, we thought we'd leave
that as our poll for another week. If you want to vote go to our
website.
Quiz
Now we’re going to look at farming, but first let’s do a quiz.
What is Australia’s largest earning farm export?
1. Wheat
2. Beef
3. Lamb
Answer: Beef
© ABC 2009
It goes beef, wheat, wine, wool, milk then lamb.
Intensive Farming
Reporter: Catherine Ellis
INTRO: Now another important rural industry is pig farming, but
that's been caught up in a bit of controversy.
In Tasmania, a pig farmer is in trouble with police because of the
way he's been treating his animals.
An animal rights activist says she found some of his pigs living in
terrible conditions and he's been charged by police with breaking
animal protection laws.
Catherine checks out what the rules are for looking after pigs.
CATHERINE ELLIS, REPORTER: According to some, pigs are
smarter than most dogs. They're curious, love to explore and are quite
social animals.
There are different ways of farming them and the most common is
known as 'intensive farming' that's when pigs are kept in pens like
these.
It's been around since the 1960s.
NEWS REEL: The 50 breeding sows and their offspring never leave
the air-conditioned environment of the totally enclosed piggery. The
pens might look overcrowded, but the experts say pigs appreciate
company and they grow faster when there's not much space in which
to run around.
© ABC 2009
Farmers say they use these methods because they're under more and
more pressure to produce enough pork to feed the growing population
- they have to work out ways of doing things more efficiently.
But this doesn't mean they can treat the pigs badly.
CATHERINE: Pigs and lots of other animals on farms have special
protection. There are laws and there's an Australian Code of Practice
which outlines how farmers must look after their animals.
Animal activists don't think the rules go far enough.
They're particularly worried about these sort of pens where pregnant
sows are kept.
The pens are allowed to be the same size as the animals and activists
say the pigs can't turn around or exercise.
Farmers say they're only in the stalls for a short time to protect them
during the early stages of pregnancy.
Some people would like to see pigs farmed this way - it's called free
range - that means they can move around. Some farmers already do
that and you can buy free range pork in shops.
Producers, at the very least, must make sure pigs are fed, have shelter
and are kept free from disease, but a farmer in Tassie has recently
been charged with breaking that law.
What happened was an animal activist took her camera and filmed
inside the piggery and took the vision to police.
She was horrified by what she saw; the pigs were infested with
maggots, they couldn't move, there was no water for them to drink.
EMMA: I have never imagined I'd find an animal in this condition.
© ABC 2009
When Police inspected the site, they charged the operator with animal
cruelty offences.
The piggery is one of the biggest in Tasmania and supplies lots of
Woolworths supermarkets there.
Woolies weren't happy about what they saw and have told the
operators to improve their act.
Of course situations like these are rare.
The industry says the majority of farmers take good care of their
animals and do their best to meet everyone's needs.
Animal activists want more farm inspections and better protection for
pigs.
But no one wants to see another situation like this one again.
PRESENTER: And that's a very complicated issue, so if you want to
know more check our website.
Country Drivers
Reporter: Nathan Bazley
INTRO: Let's stay in the country for our next story.
Learning to drive rite of passage in Australia, and while you guys
are probably a little way off that time just yet, you'd already be well
aware of just how important it is.
The frightening fact is young drivers make up a high proportion of
crash victims and that is especially true for kids in country areas.
© ABC 2009
But one program is looking to help break the cycle.
NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: We see the same story on the news
every night.
Another car crash; another injury; or worse still, a fatality.
But the scariest part of that, is out of all those crashes on the news
each night, young people are often the ones behind the wheel.
REPORTER: The problem is, kids often don't have the experience to
get out of bad situations. But out here in the country, bad situations
are everywhere! Gravel; narrow roads and wildlife can all cause
problems. It's no wonder country kids are especially vulnerable to
crashes.
So that's why kids from a country town called Dalby, in Queensland,
have found themselves in class today.
This is a defensive driving course made specially for country kids!
JOEL NIELSEN, DRIVING INSTRUCTOR: Because of a lack of
danger on a road like that, that road's more dangerous. We let our
guard down, we're not ready for it.
Kids out here generally find themselves on the roads more than city
kids because there isn't any public transport and they often have to
travel a long way to get to town.
That's why the course is vital. 400 have already been through it.
Because they know that the consequences of making a mistake all too
well.
Car crashes are one of the biggest killers of young people in country
areas and in a small community like Dalby that can be devastating.
© ABC 2009
Most country kids would know someone touched by this kind of
tragedy, whether through family or close friends.
And it's this horrible impact they're trying to avoid through the
course.
One of the big problems young people encounter behind the wheel is
their confidence, or overconfidence, isn't always matched by their
abilities; something these kids agree with.
NICHOLAS KELLY, STUDENT: Some of them are real idiots. They
just try and go fast and that's their thing, but some are good, they're
just sensible, you know, go by the speed limit.
Another one of the big things they're practising here is how to handle
the Aussie landscape, including driving on slippery gravel roads, and
how to avoid wildlife, like roos.
JOEL NIELSEN: The principle is that you should steer a car with your
eyes so you look to where you want to go. And if you look at it you're
gonna hit it. So, target fixation is where a driver inadvertently fixates
on the front of them, freaks out, locks their arms, locks their legs,
locks their brain, locks their vision.
Another hazard which causes carnage on our roads is drink driving.
Here the kids get a chance to experience exactly what effect
drunkeness has on your co-ordination, by wearing these special
goggles.
JOEL: Do a 360 first.
This is the lowest strength goggle.
STUDENT: You can't walk with that.
JOEL: So would you drive a car wearing the goggles?
© ABC 2009
STUDENT: No, not really.
It's a lesson that will hopefully save these guys, and lots of other
young people in their communities, a whole lot of pain and suffering
further down the road.
PRESENTER: And I grew up there in Dalby so I know just how big an
issue it is for country kids.
The Wire
Now let's catch up with some of the week's other headlines - here's
Sarah.
It’s not very often you see a car being eaten by the road!
That's what happened in Sydney last week when a water main burst,
causing a big hole to open up in the bitumen.
It will probably take months to repair the damage done to the road
and the car probably needs a bit of fixing too.
******
And Susan Boyle fans around the world are disappointed after the
unlikely singing star was defeated by a dance troupe in the final of
Britain's Got Talent.
The 48-year-old church volunteer from Scotland became an
international star after her audition on the British tv show.
© ABC 2009
Her performance floored the judges and the audience and became the
fifth most viewed you tube clip ever.
And while she didn't win the final it’s unlikely to be the end of Boyle's
showbiz dream. She's hoping to release an album but intends to play
it by ear in her new musical career
PRESENTER: Reports say that even though she didn't win, Susan's
looking at a 16 million dollar record, book and movie deal. Not a bad
payday.
TV Recycling
Reporter: Nathan Bazley
INTRO: A few weeks ago we told you about a new type of TV called
digital TV that is being phased in right now.
The problem is, if you want to see the digital signal you either have
to buy a set top box or a new TV and it seems that's an option heaps
of people are taking, so they can trade up to a new plasma or LCD.
But have you ever wondered what will happen to the millions of old
TV's left over?
TVs have come a long, long way!
These days we have bigger, better and sleeker.
So in many homes, it's a case of 'out with the old; in with the new.'
NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: The introduction of Digital TV, and
the release of newer model flat screens, has made many of these old
things pretty much unwanted. It's estimated around 1.5 million old
sets are ending up in dumps each year.
© ABC 2009
About the same number of computer monitors are chucked in to
landfill as well.
Not if these guys have anything to do with it though!
This is a TV and computer monitor recycling plant, where they turn
our old sets into materials we can use again.
They are really busy right now getting through all these TVs that need
to be recycled, so I decided to test them out!
NATHAN: Well Michelle I've brought my old TV, what's going to
happen to it now?
MICHELLE: Well what we will do now is we'll pull it all apart and
separate all the materials and components so it can be recycled.
TVs come here from all over Australia because it's the only place in
the country that has the equipment needed to recycle the glass in your
old set.
It's really valuable because it contains all the right chemicals and
minerals needed to produce a great picture.
Their first job is to rip them apart, and separate out all the plastic
from the wiring, computer chips and metals.
From there they are left with the tube, which is cut apart, cleaned and
separated.
That's then shipped to Malaysia, ready to go straight back into new
TVs!
But the glass isn't the only part of the TVs and computer monitors
that can be used again.
© ABC 2009
WORKER: There's plastic, circuit board, the copper yoke, pvc and
some copper cord.
The circuit boards also contain gold and silver!
But before you get any ideas about trashing your TV for gold, you'd
only get the tiniest amount from each set!
So that's what happens to recycled TVs, but let's rewind a bit. What
would happen if those same TVs ended up at the dump?
The short answer is - nothing good!
NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: Each one of these tubes can contain
up to 4kgs of lead, plus other nasty materials like mercury, cadmium
and arsenic. Needless to say, it's not a good result for the environment
if they end up in landfill.
The sheer size of most electrical waste is causing headaches too.
Because electrical equipment needs to be updated and replaced often,
most of it ends up here, taking up heaps of space and stopping the
materials they're made from being used again.
To stop that, a national recycling program will be set up for all TV and
computer waste.
Because the only place we should see heaps of TVs is here.
Quiz 2
© ABC 2009
Now a lot of the new TVs people are getting are called LCDs - so we
might make that our quiz.
What does LCD stand for?
1. Luminescence crystal display
2. Liquid crystal display
3. Lens clarity display
Answer: Liquid crystal display
And of course the other sort of TVs really popular at the moment are
called plasmas.
The Score
Time for some sports news - here's Sarah.
In rugby union, the bulls have thrashed the Waikatoh Chiefs to take
out the Super 14 Champions.
Fans were expecting a close game, but it was far from it, the South
Africans ran in eight tries to two for a record winning margin of 61 to
17 over the New Zealanders.
******
Former Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink has guided Chelsea to a twoone victory over Tim Cahill's team, Everton, in the final of the F-A
cup.
It was Hiddink's final game in charge before he returns to his role as
coach of Russia.
******
© ABC 2009
And in the AFL Ben Cousins is in trouble again he gave a dressing
room television camera the finger .
AFL chief Andrew Demetriou says it's unacceptable.
DEMETRIOU: “It was totally unwarranted, unnecessary and it didn't
make any sense. People watching it particularly children would ask
themselves what was that all that about.”
Cousins has apologised but is facing a big fine.
PRESENTER: Not a smart idea.
Tassie Devil
Reporter: Catherine Ellis
INTRO: Meanwhile, one of Australia's famous animal icons is now in
big trouble.
The Tasmanian Devil has just been placed on the Federal
Government's endangered list because of a disease that is wiping out
the population in the wild.
It's a deadly facial tumour and scientists are desperately trying to
stop it.
Catherine decided to find out about the mysterious disease and
what's being done to save the devils!
CATHERINE ELLIS, REPORTER: They star in one of the world's
most popular cartoons.
© ABC 2009
Taz is angry, feisty, snarly and scary, a reputation shared by all Tassie
Devils.
So why the fiery name and bad reputation?
Well it was given to them by the early European Settlers in the 1800s
because of the bloodcurdling screams and growls they make.
They make the noises when they're feeding together to establish
dominance.
And what do they eat?
CATHERINE: So what do we have here for breakfast?
ZOO KEEPER: It's a big piece of meat.
CATHERINE: Looks delicious.
They're described as vacuums of the forest because they eat all the
dead animals - bones, fur and all! And they have super strong jaws
and teeth to help them munch through it!
Looks gross and they seem pretty feisty, but according to some, the
devil's reputation isn't a fair one - they're apparently quite timid,
sensitive creatures.
Female devils give birth to about 20 babies at once, but there's only
room for four in the pouch so it's survival of the toughest!
The babies are called joeys and when they're too big for the pouch
they ride on their mum's back like koalas.
CATHERINE: Now you'll find Tassie Devils in zoos right across
mainland Australia, but they died out in the wild about 4-thousand
© ABC 2009
years ago. Now they only exist in the wild in Tasmania, but even
there, their numbers are dwindling.
Let's go back in time again.
Early European settlers used to hunt and kill the devils because they
ate their chickens.
This also happened to the Tasmanian Tiger, which eventually became
extinct about 70 years ago.
In 1941 special laws were brought in to protect the Tassie Devil and
things began to improve, but now they face a new challenge.
They're dying from a contagious facial cancer.
It was discovered about 13-years-ago and since then the devil
population has dropped by a massive 70 percent.
The disease is spread mainly when they bite each other. The tumours
build up until eventually the animal can't eat and they starve to death.
It's been a race against the clock for scientists trying to find a
solution; wildlife officers are monitoring them in the wild and lots of
special breeding programs have been set up across the country.
One group has come up with a way of detecting the disease in the
devils before they can spread it to other devils.
HAMISH McCALLUM: If we can get them out while they're still
infected but not infectious then we can get them out of the population
before they have the chance to spread the disease.
Research is expensive and lots of people, including the company that
owns Taz the Tassie Devil have been contributing money to help with
the fight.
© ABC 2009
It's hoped a solution can be found in time to stop the devil heading
the same way as the Tasmanian Tiger.
Closer
Let's hope for a break-though soon.
That's it for another show, don't forget you can watch any of those
stories again on our website and leave a comment about them as well.
You can also tune in every Monday to Friday at 5 to 6 for an update of
kids' news in BTN Daily. Catch you later.
© ABC 2009