Federal government cuts to a program to save the endangered Tasmanian devil from a deadly facial tumour disease have come under fire.
The Save The Tasmanian Devil program has missed out after applying for $4 million of funding.
The scheme has helped relocate devils to areas free of the disease, which has wiped out up to 80 per cent of the species, such as Maria Island off the state's east coast.
It was jointly funded by the Tasmanian and federal governments but has been overlooked by the latest round of 30 Caring for Country grants.
Greens leader Christine Milne has blasted the decision.
"The devil is on track towards extinction," she told reporters in Hobart.
"These are really last minute rescue efforts and to slash that is condemning the devil to extinction."
The Tasmanian government will continue funding of $2.6 million and Premier Lara Giddings said the state would fight for future federal money.
"We will certainly not let up on that, whoever is the new Australian government," Ms Giddings said.
An environment department spokesperson said the federal government had spent $10 million over the past five years on the program.
They said Save The Tasmanian Devil's application had been assessed and reviewed by independent panels.
"The recovery of Tasmanian devils continues to be supported through the Australian Government's National Environmental Research Program (NERP), where researchers are working with the Save The Tasmanian Devil Team on a range of studies into the species," the spokesperson said in a statement.
Senator Milne said the competitive application process wasn't working.
"If a species is determined to be critically endangered then we need to be funding its recovery," she said.
