Thylacine

There are no more thylacines left.

The last ones lived in forests inTasmania.

They had brown fur with dark stripes on their backs.

The females had pouches that faced backwards.

The thylacine, also called theTasmanian tiger, is probably extinct. They were marsupial dogs.

The last known thylacine was captured in 1933 and died in 1936 at Hobart Zoo. Since then there have been people who have from time to time reported seeing one in remote parts of the Tasmanian wilderness.

Thylacines hunted at night. They could not run fast, so they 'jogged' after their prey until it grew tired; then the thylacine moved in on the tired prey and killed it with wide, powerful jaws. Thylacine could open its mouth in a huge gape. The thylacine's main prey were slow-moving kangaroos and young wallabies.

During the day the thylacines sheltered in their lairs.

The females had two to three young at a time and kept them in their rear-opening pouches.

Thylacines were once widespread on the Australian mainland and on the island of New Guinea, living in forests and woodlands.

On the mainland they were probably driven to extinction by the dingo, with which they competed for food. Tasmania was separated from the mainland before the dingo arrived there, which is why the thylacine survived in Tasmania. They were also hunted by white settlers in Tasmania because they killed sheep.

Find out more about thylacine here:
http://www.amonline.net.au/thylacine/
http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/factsheets/threatened_species/Thylacine.pdf

'Benjamin', the last known thylacine, pictured in Hobart Zoo