Wildlife

Dead or Alive
The Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, is an enduring symbol of Tasmania and a testament to the damage that mankind can do to other living creatures.

The last known Tasmanian Tiger died in Beaumaris Zoo, Hobart, in 1936 and the animal is officially classified as extinct. Technically, this means that it has not been officially sighted in the wild or captivity for 50 years. However, there are still unsubstantiated sightings.

Thylacines were widespread in Australia 7000 years ago, but have probably been extinct on the continent for 2,000 years. This is believed to be because of the introduction of dingoes around 8,000 years ago.
Because of disease, thylacine numbers may have been declining in Tasmania at the time of European settlement 200 years ago, but the decline was certainly accelerated by the new arrivals.

A Tiger Bounty
Seen as a direct threat to the sheep grazing districts of the midlands and north-west, bounties were offered for a thylacine scalp by the Van Diemen’s Land Company from the 1830. The Tasmanian Government also offered a bounty from 1888, which saw more than 2000 scalps paid between 1888
and 1909.

As big as a medium-sized dog, thylacines had sandy brown fur, with 12-15 centimetre dark brown bars or stripes across the back and rump. They were Australia’s largest surviving carnivorous marsupials, a title now held by the Tasmanian devil.

Before European arrival, thylacines most probably hunted kangaroos and wallabies, pursued relentlessly until they fell exhausted. Sheep, introduced by the Europeans, were much easier targets.

There have been many reported sightings since 1936, most commonly until the 1960s, and some people still believe that the tiger survives in Tasmania. Scientists, however, say that the gene pool would be too small today to maintain a viable population.

Read more on the Tasmanian Tiger