The Thylacine

Thylacinus cynocephalus

The Thylacine is - was - a very strange creature from Australia. It is also known called the Tasmanian Tiger or Tasmanian Wolf. It is believed to have died out in the 1930s and was officially declared extinct in 1986, 50 years after the last captive specimen died in Hobart Zoo.

Despite that, sightings of the Tasmanian Tiger continue. If they are ever proven then the creature will be a remarkable example of the so-called "Lazarus effect".

What Was The Thylacine?

The Thylacine was a carnivorous mammal that resembled a weird cross between a tiger and a wolf - hence the different informal names. Just to add to the confusion it was also a marsupial with a pouch. It was a four legged creature a little like a large wolf, with a doglike head and stripes on its hind part. Its tail resembled that of a kangaroo. A very unusual combination of attributes.

The Thylacine was mainly nocturnal although would sometimes be seen during the day. They would usually hunt in pairs at night. In turn the Thylacine was hunted by the Aboriginal people for food.

Originally the Thylacine was widespread across the whole of Australia, however dingos are believed to have pushed them back to their final enclave on Tasmania.

Humanity finished the job. To protect sheep stocks, the Tasmanian Parliament offered a bounty of £1 per head on Thylacines in 1888. By the time this was repealed in 1909, 2184 bounties had been paid out. Destruction of the natural habitat and introduction by settlers of wild dogs left the Thylacine little chance of survival.

Sightings

Despite being officially extinct, the Thylacine just won't go away. There have been a variety of sightings over the years.

Perhaps the most interesting was the 1982 report from Hans Narding of a three minute sighting of what appeared to be a Thylacine near Arthur River. Since Narding was a researcher with the Tasmanian National Parks and Wildlife Service he counts as a credible witness. Parks and Wildlife Officer Nick Mooney responded to the sighting with an extensive search but found no further evidence.

There have been other reports of the "Tasmanian Tiger", but numerous searches have revealed nothing. Even a $1.25 million reward offered in 2005 for a live specimen failed to produce results.

Given the relatively small size of Tasmania, it's looking increasingly unlikely that the Thylacine has survived.

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