Tasmanian tiger-wolf : the extinct animal

The tasmanian tiger-wolf (thylacinus cynocephalus) was neither a tiger or wolf. This animal looked like wolf with tiger stripes on its back and tail but it was more closely related to kangaroos than to either tigers or wolf. The Tasmanian tiger-wolf was a marsupial.

Marsupials are found almost in Australia and certain surrounding islands such as tasmania. They died out in most of the rest of the world. It is believed that this animal became extinct on the mainland of Australia long ago because it could not compete for food with an introduced species, the dingo, a kind of wild dog.

An unknown disease decimated the remaining population in 1910. By 1933 it was believed that the species had become extinct in the wild. In 1936, the last known tasmanian tiger-wolf died in captivity. It is was called as Benjamin.

Although the species was believed extinct, reports of tiger-wolves in the wild continued. The species received protection from the Australian government, and the search to find any remaining tiger-wolves began. Expeditions in the 1930s, 40s and 60s found no tasmanian tiger-wolf.

However, possible evidence that the species was not extinct surfaced when it was claimed that a young male tasmanian tiger-wolf had been accidentally killed on the west coast of Tasmania in 1961. Had the tasmanian tiger-wolf survived in the wild all those years? Was this young male the last of his kind, or were there more survivors?

marsupial : the group of mammals whose young are born very undeveloped and must attach themselves after birth to the mother's milk glands, where they are usually protected by a pouch. Australia is known for its wide variety of marsupials, such as kangaroos, wombats, and bandicoots. The opossum, found in North and South America, is also a marsupial. Marsupials are known in Europe, Asia, and Africa only through ancient fossils.

source : bagheera