CANBERRA, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Australian researchers have made a major breakthrough in protecting iconic native wombats from lethal mange, according to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary.
Sarcoptic mange is a disease in animals, caused by parasites that burrow into the skin of wombats, causing hair loss and bringing about a slow and painful death.
Researchers from the University of Tasmania have been tested a new drug that can protect the marsupials from the disease for the past three weeks.
Scott Carver, a wildlife ecologist from the University of Tasmania, said that while existing treatments prevented wombats from contracting the disease for one week, the new drug worked for up to three months.
"We are giving it to healthy wombats at the moment; ones that do not suffer mange," Carver told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Sunday.
"We are collecting blood from these individuals every week for about three months to look at how fast they metabolize this drug and also assess some other measures of their health.
"The wombats have been behaving completely normally, their health by all sorts of measures is completely normal it could not be going better."
He said that wombats lose hair, they become irritated, they are not able to sleep properly and, ultimately, they are fighting a losing battle.
The drug, the name of which has been withheld while trials are ongoing, will be ready for use on wild wombats in roughly 12 months.
All species of wombats are protected in every Australian state except for Victoria where the common wombat is considered a pest in the state's east.
The marsupials have been featured on Australian postage stamps and currency.
