Benjamin-- The Last Thylacine

Benjamin was the last known thylacine. He died on September 1936 at Hobart Zoo in Tasmania. Have you ever heard of a thylacine?

Thylacines were carnivorous marsupials, also know as Tasmanian tigers-- but they were not real tigers. They were not wolves either. They were most likely related to kangaroos and other marsupials, and found mostly in Australia and Tasmania.

The same year Benjamin died, thylacines became protected species, but it was too late. They are believed to have gone extinct.

This part is sad. Benjamin died of neglect. It was too hot during the day, and he had no shelter during cold nights. (Hobart's Bengal tiger died the same way, the same year). When Hobart Zoo closed in 1937, no buyers wanted their lions. It was the Great Depression, and there wasn't money for animals. And so, the lions were shot. Very sad, isn't it? That is what I read in a book about Hobart Zoo. That's why I really appreciate the good zoos I've seen-- zoos that do a really good job of caring for their animals.

The thylacine was a beautiful and mysterious animal. And now it's gone forever because of hunting and ignorance. I hope we can do better for today's endangered animals.

Here is a video of Benjamin, the last thylacine.

Thylacine really extinct?

Someone from Colorado wrote to me and asked me about thylacine sightings. Many have been recorded, but sadly, none are confirmed. But that doesn't mean they couldn't be alive.

This video was taken in 1973. It's one of the three videos I have seen of a thylacine sighting. My opinion is it gives me some hope they could be alive.

What do you think? If you'd like to let me know, please post a comment.

The Sad Story of the Thylacine

Have you ever heard of the Tasmanian Devil? How about its long lost relative, the Tasmanian Tiger, or Thylacine? If you think tasmanian tiger is related to a tiger, you're wrong. It's not a tiger.

The thylacine lived in Tasmania and Austrailia long ago. When dingoes appeared, most thylacines in Australia disapperaed. But in Tasmania, where there weren't dingoes, they survived until settlers arrived.

Settlers and farmers killed the thylacines because they looked even scarier than wolves, and they thought they would kill their livestock. Unfortuatley, they were nearly wiped out. They lived for a while in zoos in London, Bronx Zoo New York, Washington D.C., and Hobart in Tasmania. Hobart Zoo was where the last thylacine died in 1936.

We're pretty sure they're extinct, but there have been unconfirmed sightings. If there was a confirmed sighting I would feel really, really happy. I saw a mounted thylacine at the Natural History Museum in Washington, DC, but I would love to see a real one. For more information, check out the Thylacine Museum. Below is the last known video of a thylacine.

Have we learned anything from the thylacine? Can we stop the extinctions?