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| TASMANIAN TIGER IN HOBART ZOO, 1920'S |
The Thylacine
or the Tasmanian Tiger is considered
to be one of the famous icons of Tasmania. Being the largest carnivorous
marsupial in the world and could only be found in the island, the said animal
is considered extinct by 1936. The
last known Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, died in captivity in 1936 but
specimens of Australia's carnivorous marsupial are preserved in museums around
the world.
Just few days earlier, the spotlight is
again on Tasmania’s most famous animal. From agencies and News Limited
publications (NewsCore , April 20, 2012):
“THE famous but tragic Tasmanian tiger had such a limited gene pool that
it was predisposed to life-threatening mutations and diseases, a new study has
found - sparking speculation it may have been doomed even before being hunted
to extinction.”
Indeed, I have high appreciation of the
Tasmanian fauna and value the efforts of the Tasmanian government in preserving
it. Having watch the movie “The Hunter”, starring Wilhelm Dafoe, I kind of felt
mystified by the Tiger’s existence and intrigued by its history.
One day, during a short walk at Queen’s Domain,
I come across a familiar site. The “Beaumaris Zoo”, it was the place where the
last Tasmania tiger was held captive before it died in 1936. It was like memory
lane and I can feel flashbacks of the black and white footage of the tiger. It
was very unfortunate.
Now, scientists are speculating that even
though the tiger was not hunted down to extinction it might have died out due
to genetic mutations due to its shallow gene pool. Nonetheless, the actions of
man were still responsible for its death and even so we still might have a
chance of seeing the tiger alive and appreciate its uniqueness and beauty, like
the island Tasmania.
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