( CNN ) -- Australia 's iconic Tasmanian devil -- widely known as trouble in Looney Tunes cartoons -- has been put on the country 's endangered list , environmental officials announced Friday . The Tasmanian devil 's future is threatened by a contagious facial cancer that has killed large numbers . `` My decision to uplist the Tasmanian devil is based on advice from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee , which lists the devil facial tumor disease as the major threat to the devil , '' Environment Minister Peter Garrett said in a statement . `` This disease has led to the decline of about 70 percent of the Tasmanian devil population since the disease was first reported in 1996 . '' The disease has devastated the animals , native to the Australian state of Tasmania , an island off the southeastern coast . Devil facial tumor disease is one of only three cancers known to spread like a contagious disease , according to the Tasmanian government 's Web site . As the name implies , it causes tumors on the face and neck , and sometimes other parts of the body , and it 's passed by biting . The Australian government has committed $ 7.8 million over five years to the Save the Tasmanian Devil program , according to Garrett . `` This is to help with research into disease transmission and treatment , and will support captive and wild populations , '' he said . In 2005 , the program established a captive breeding insurance population . Disease-free animals were gathered from the wild population and are being bred on the mainland . `` As of February 2009 , the insurance population had grown to 145 disease-free Tasmanian devils '' at 10 zoos and wildlife parks , the Tasmanian government said . `` The animals in this breeding program could play an important role , if ever needed , in helping re-establish healthy wild populations in Tasmania . '' Although the image of the Tasmanian devil has been popularized around the world by the Looney Tunes cartoon character Taz , the real thing is a much different animal . The devil , the world 's only surviving marsupial carnivore , is about 25 pounds ( 12 kg ) of bad attitude , with a haunting cry that 's a combination of snorting and growling .
Tasmania 's iconic Tasmanian devil has been put on the endangered list . Devil facial tumor disease has led to 70 percent decline in population . It is one of only two species known to spread like a contagious disease .