Tasmanian devils on tiny Australian island wipe out thousands of penguins

A project to protect the endangered Tasmanian devil population on a tiny Australian island has come at a deadly cost to birdlife.

According to BirdLife Tasmania, a local conservation organisation, shipping a number of devils to Maria Island, east of Tasmania, in 2012 has caused "a catastrophic impact on one or more bird species".

The devils were placed on the island in the hope they would breed under a plan to protect the mammals from extinction as a deadly facial cancer sweeps the population.

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The project had helped the population breed, with the 28 devils released over 2012 and 2013 growing to an estimated 100 by 2016.

But BirdLife Tasmania said since the devils arrived, the island had lost 6000 penguins.

"Losing 3,000 pairs of penguins from an island that is a national park that should be a refuge for this species basically is a major blow," group researcher Dr Eric Woehler said.

A paper published in the Biological Conservation journal last year said the devils had also "eliminated" a colony of the shearwater sea bird species.

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"It's very clear that the devils have had a catastrophic ecological impact on the bird fauna on Maria Island," Dr Woehler said.

A report by the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment in 2011 predicted the devils would have "a negative impact on little penguin and shearwater colonies on Maria Island".

"Every time humans have deliberately or accidentally introduced mammals to oceanic islands, there's always been the same outcome … a catastrophic impact on one or more bird species," Dr Woehler said.