From The “Not What You Thought It Was About” Department

First SpongeBob, now this.

Violent sex 'is killing the Tasmanian devil'

A disease that has devastated the Tasmanian devil population is probably being spread by the animal's boisterous sex life, Australian scientists believe.

The devil has been wiped out in many parts of the island over the past three years.

The number of "nature's janitor", as the animal is nicknamed, has fallen from about 150,000 to less than half that, with four out of every five dying in some areas.

Researchers believe that the animals' habit of fighting over decaying carrion and engaging in violent sexual foreplay accounts for the speed at which the disease has spread.

The illness, noticed about five years ago, causes hideous facial tumours that leave the devils unable to see or eat.