Thylacine  (Thylacinus cynocephalus)

There is still no conclusive evidence as to what caused the disappearance of the thylacine from mainland Australia, although competition with introduced Asian dogs (dingos) is widely believed to have played a part (3). On the island of Tasmania (where there are no dingos) the thylacine was persecuted to extinction by a long-running eradication campaign (3). The species was widely blamed for many sheep attacks and by the mid 1800s was extensively hunted (3). Between 1888 and 1909, the Tasmanian Government paid bounty for 2,184 thylacine skins (6), although it is likely that the actual number killed during this time was many more. By the early 1900s, thylacines were noticeably rare and the last reported killing occurred in 1930 (1). Other factors such as habitat loss, disease and competition with feral dogs all helped to send this remarkable animal to extinction (4).

In 1938, the thylacine became protected by Tasmanian law and in 1966 a game reserve was proposed (but not enforced) on Maria Island off the east coast of Tasmania, which would have protected any thylacines should they have been captured (7). Unconfirmed sightings of this fascinating marsupial continue to this day, but numerous searches have provided no concrete evidence that the species still exists (5). The UK's International Thylacine Specimen Database (ITSD), which was released on CD-ROM in April 2005, is a project that has endeavoured to catalogue and digitally photograph (where possible) all known surviving specimen material held within museum, university and private collections around the world. It comprises skins, skeletons, skulls, taxidermy mounts and wet specimens. Wet specimens include four adults preserved in alcohol and ten thylacine pups. The ITSD has been designed as a free access academic tool to promote and facilitate undergraduate and postgraduate research into the species, and helps to forever preserve what little is left (8). Such resources not only facilitate research into this extinct animal, but also serve as an important reminder of the fate that awaits many of our endangered species in the future, should we not do more to protect them now. The thylacine is still an important part of the Tasmanian national conscience and recent talks of the possibility of cloning an animal from DNA preserved in a specimen held at the Australian Museum has sparked massive debate (5). The practicalities of cloning however, and the ethical decisions involved, mean that this possibility is a very long way from becoming a reality (5).