Thylacine

The thylacine was a striped, dog-like marsupial that once roamed Australia and Tasmania. Often called the Tasmanian tiger, it vanished from the mainland thousands of years ago but clung on in Tasmania until the 1930s. This elusive carnivore is now a symbol of extinction and a reminder of how fragile wildlife can be.

• Its nickname 'Tasmanian tiger' came from the dark stripes along its back.
• The last known thylacine died in captivity at Hobart Zoo in 1936.
• Dingoes may have pushed thylacines to extinction on mainland Australia over 3,000 years ago.