The Tasmanian Wolf: Dead or Living?

Hey guys! Sorry i haven’t written anything in a while; the life of a bio major is very overwhelming. But, just to get an article to you guys, i’m procrastinating on studying for my midterms and giving you another animals article! On a side note, by the way, I’d like to thank everyone who have sent our site counter rocketing upwards, even while we were inactive! Somehow, we have over 1,300 hits! So thank you! 😀
So I’m sure everyone remembers the Tasmanian Devil character on Looney Tunes from out childhood. What i bet you didn’t know was that this guy was based on the real life Tasmanian Devil and that is relative is the Tasmanian Wolf, that unfortunately became extinct in 1936. You would think that the term “wolf” implies that this not-so-little guy is a mammal right? This guy is actually a marsupial (yes, like kangaroos), and the largest carnivorous marsupial in its time. Also known as the Tasmanian Tiger, this animal was the last surviving member of its genus, Thylacinus. You might be wondering, “Australia is such a removed place, why would it even be extinct?” Well let me tell you, everything wrong in this world can be blamed on humans, and this issue is no exception. However, unlike most extinction cases, this extinction was not caused in major part by modern humans. That’s right, our ancestors from 2,000 years ago, when they first traveled to Australia spiraled the Tasmanian Wolf into near extinction. However, these creatures survived until the early 1900s, when handsome bounties were placed on these creatures heads. The last record of a native Tasmanian tiger was killed in 1930 by a farmer. The Australian government (in it’s infinite wisdom) placed an official protection on the species, 59 days before the last of the species died in 1936. What the point is in declaring a protection on a species when there is only ONE left, can never make sense to me, but none-the-less, the species no longer exists.

Interestingly enough, random sightings have been recorded in Tasmania over the last few decades of the Tasmanian Tiger. However, no definitive proof has been brought forward, though several handsome rewards going up to a million dollars have been brought forward for proof of its existence. Although officially declared extinct by every major conservation group, we can only hope that in some remote area of Tasmania, this creature lives in secrecy, protecting the last of its species.

For your viewing pleasure, i have put up the last surviving footage of the Tasmanian Wolf as well as some images of this creature.

LINK TO VIDEO:All known Australian footage of live thylacines, shot in Hobart Zoo, Tasmania, in 1911, 1928, and 1933. Two other films are known, shot in London Zoo