NZ to help save Tasmania devil

AAP

AUSTRALIA'S most endangered native, the Tasmanian Devil, is to get a much-needed boost from across The Ditch to help stop the iconic marsupial sliding into extinction.

New Zealand's two biggest zoos, in Auckland and Wellington, are seeking biosecurity approval to import the marsupials for captive breeding.

The Kiwi-bred devils will provide back-up for Australian zoos, which have started breeding 500 of the animals to support the dwindling wild population.

The Tasmanian Devil is under threat from a highly contagious facial tumour cancer which has wiped out 70 per cent of the population in the past decade.

Experts predict the disease will kill off the wild population within 25 years.

But University of Tasmania researchers have offered some hope of survival with an experimental test which could identify which animals have the disease before they develop ugly facial marks, and help stop spread to others.

In May, the Tasmanian natives, known for their fierce screech and cantankerous temperament, were added to the endangered species list to reflect their fast declining numbers.