Tasmanian devils face extinction from a transmissible cancer. Quolls face a different threat from introduced cane toads. Both cases represent unusual wildlife welfare emergencies.
Devils dying from DFTD experience tumour growth around the face and jaw that prevents eating, causing prolonged starvation over weeks. The disease is invariably fatal without treatment. Tumour surgery has been trialled but is not scalable to wild populations. Insurance population management involves capture, health assessment, and confinement in facilities that restrict natural ranging behaviour — a welfare cost that is justified by conservation necessity. Northern quolls killed by cane toad ingestion die from cardiac arrest within minutes — a relatively rapid death, but preventable through taste aversion programmes. The unprecedented nature of transmissible cancer and toxic prey learning represents frontier territory for wildlife welfare management.