Tasmanian Tiger Restored
Colorized Tasmanina tiger, Hobart Zoo 1936 (credit: YouTube)
The last known Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, died in a Tasmanian zoo in 1936. The only film of this unique marsupial carnivore has been restored by film archivists in Paris. Their new footage of 'Benjamin' was produced to commemorate National Threatened Species Day. Thylacines were the target of boundy hunters in the 19th Century from miss-guided ideas they would attack sheep. The animal's jaws were not strong enough to grip a large animal like a sheep or cow where were introduced to Australia by British herders.
Australia has some of the most unique, endemic, and endangered plants and animals on Earth. Threats are many but include introduced, non-native feral species including cats, foxes, and rabbits, rampant deforestation, and massive fires that destroy wildlife habitat.
World Wildlife Fund-Australia has established a program to help restore some of these threatened and endangered species and local 'landcare' groups are active in these efforts.
Trying to restore the thylacine using DNA from museum specimens and de-extinction technology could be an idea. De-extinction is now in progress with the Woolly Mammoth by the Dallas-based company Colossal Biosciences. They are well on their way to accomplish this goal. The 'poster child' for extinction is the Dodo that once lived on Mauritius and this flightless bird is next for Colossal to try. The Company thinks the Tasmanian Tiger should be as well if the proper surrogate mother species could be identified.
Technology marches onward and future de-extinctions could happen if these initial "proff of concept" attempts are successfully. Extinct species could potentially be restored to the environments where they roamed. WHB