Cedric the Tasmanian devil, who was hailed in Australia for being immune to a facial cancer that threatens to kill off his entire species, was euthanized after being injected with diseased cells and growing tumors. He was five years old.

Seventy percent of Australia's Tasmanian devil population has died since 1996, after researches discovered the Devil Facial Tumor Disease, which, after tumors grow so large makes it impossible for the animals to eat. Many believe that the entire species will be extinct within the next 25 years.

Cedric was part of a series of tests started in 2007, when he was injected with live and dead cancer cells. He was thought to be immune after showing no signs of cancer during the first two years of testing, but in late 2008 developed two facial tumors after a new strain was tested on him. Scientist Alex Kreiss of the Menzies Research Institute in Hobart, Tasmania, who worked with Cedric for years, told the AP, "We had to decide to euthanize him before he deteriorated [...] It was a really hard decision."

Rest in peace, big guy.

[Cedric in happier times; image via AP]