Woolton Hill boy's 'Tassie' painting wins over Aussies

The painting of a Tasmanian devil, by Myles Carter aged 10, is to become the official postcard of the ‘Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal’ – a fundraiser established to help save the world’s largest surviving carnivorous marsupial from extinction.
Myles painted the ‘Tassie’ on returning home after a holiday in the Australian island state of Tasmania with his eight-year-old brother Harvey and parents Helen and Paul, in February this year.
They had been staying with relatives who had emigrated to Blackmans Bay, near Hobart, some years ago.
On their return to the UK, Myles painted his favourite memory, a visit to the Tasmanian Devil Park near the Port Arthur Historic Site, and sent it to his aunt as a thank you.
A spokeswoman for the appeal, Susie de Carteret, said: “She was so impressed that she entered it into the competition to design the postcard. Much to Myles’ delight, his painting won.”
Myles’ mother, Helen Carter, said that it had been a dream holiday, and Tasmania a true paradise.
“The children fell in love with the Tasmanian devils and were very saddened to hear of their terrible suffering from a rare cancer, with no known cure, which has wiped out almost 80 per cent of wild devils. Myles is a keen artist, and is simply thrilled that his painting will play such a vital role in raising worldwide awareness of the devils’ plight, and in doing so hopefully help save them from extinction.”
The Tasmanian devils are suffering from the highly contagious devil facial tumour disease which is fatal. A recent television series shown on UK television, Aussie Animal Island narrated by Jason Donovan, followed the transport and release of 10 captive devils on Tasmania’s east coast Maria Island to breed a wild quarantine population free from the disease.
Ray Mears also raised awareness of the “tassies” plight recently with a BBC2 documentary about them.