SYDNEY, July 24 (Xinhua) -- A new type of drug has been discovered to effectively fight against a disease that has nearly caused wombats to go extinct in southern Australia, researchers said on Wednesday.
Mange, a disease in animals, causes wombats to die in a few months. This epidemic has killed more than 90 percent of the around 300 bare-nosed wombats in Tasmania's Narawntapu National Park.
Scott Carver, a scientist at the University of Tasmania, was quoted by the AFP as saying that mange was introduced to Australia by European settlers in the 1800s, and caused "the worst animal suffering" he had ever seen.
But scientists believe that the new drug, a treatment commonly used to treat mange in domestic cats and dogs, would be effective in wombats, Carver added.
It is said that there are only three bare-nosed wombats left in the national park.
Wombats are the marsupial cousins of the Koala which have been featured on Australian postage stamps and currency.
