Nature & Environment

Study shows humans killed off the thylacine

By T.K. Randall
February 2, 2013 ·  28 comments

Image Credit: Hobart Zoo The thylacine is often considered to be a symbol of a species' extinction at the hands of humans, but up until now it was thought that disease also played a significant role in their ultimate demise. New research has put paid to this idea however, suggesting that the extinction of the Tasmanian Tiger was the result of human activities alone.

Thylacines were plentiful across Tasmania before Europeans arrived in 1803. By 1886 however the government was offering bounties to people in exchange for thylacine carcasses and before long their numbers had dwindled. The last known living thylacine was captured in 1933 and died in 1936.

Source: The Australian | Comments (28)

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