The Tasmanian Taiger

Australia is home to some of the world's most unusual and mysterious wildlife. Our native animals, such as the platypus, the koala and the kangaroo, have been a source of wonder and surprise to people the world over. But perhaps our most mysterious animal is the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, which is considered to have become extinct in 1936.

There are many reasons why people are fascinated by this animal. Perhaps it is its name and the romantic notion of Australia having its own 'tiger'. Perhaps it is its sad history since European settlement, or the fact that there are many people who claim they have seen a Tasmanian tiger and believe it may not be extinct after all.

What was a Tasmanian Tiger?

The now-extinct Tasmanian tiger. Image courtesy of Department of Primary Industry, Water and the Environment, Tasmania.

The full scientific name for the Tasmanian Tiger is Thylacinus cynocephalis. Roughly translated, this means pouched dog with a wolf's head.

Modern history records the thylacine as being native to Tasmania. However scientists believe it was once widespread throughout mainland Australia, Tasmania and even Papua New Guinea.

The main evidence for this belief is the presence of thylacine-like animals in Aboriginal rock-paintings from northern Australia, including the Kimberley region of Western Australia, the Upper East Alligator region of Deaf Adder Creek and Cadell River crossing in the Northern Territory.

Numerous thylacine bones have been found in mainland Australia. Some of these bones have been dated at about 2,200 years old. Although we can't be sure what happened to the thylacines of mainland Australia and Papua New Guinea, scientists suspect that competition for food and predators such as the dingo had a lot to do with their disappearance.

By the time Europeans settled in Australia, the thylacine was only found in the coastal and plains regions of Tasmania. Thylacines were quite common and widespread when Tasmania was first settled in 1803, and the Aboriginal people of Tasmania used the thylacine as a food item.