| Tasmanian wolf - Thylacinus cynocephalus |
| ( Harris, 1808 ) |
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| Subspecies:
| Unknown |
| Est. World Population: |
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| CITES Status: |
NOT LISTED |
| IUCN Status: |
Extinct |
| U.S. ESA Status: |
NOT LISTED |
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| Body Length: |
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| Tail Length: |
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| Top Speed: |
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| Jumping Ability: |
(Horizontal) |
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| Life Span: |
in the Wild |
| Life Span: |
in Captivity |
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| Sexual Maturity: |
(Females) |
| Sexual Maturity: |
(Males) |
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Habitat:
Thylacines occurred in most habitats in Tasmania, but apparently not the dense temperate rainforests of the south-west (Paddle 2000). The skull of the Thylacine is highly convergent with the wolf suggesting similar dietary ecology (Newton 2021), although it probably had a less powerful bite than a wolf (Mooney and Rounsevell 2023). It was likely an endurance runner ('coursing predator') that hunted and scavenged mainly at night, singly or in pairs. Before it was widely persecuted, diurnal observations were also reported (Mooney and Rounsevell 2023). Its main food items were reported to be kangaroos and wallabies. Dens were often located among rocks and in caves, Paddle (1993) describes a 1903 photograph of a den in a shallow cave containing nesting material of ferns. Litters (of up to four young, usually two or three) were also discovered amongst dense vegetation.
Range:
The Thylacine was once found on the island of New Guinea and was widespread on the Australian mainland, but disappeared from everywhere except Tasmania by at least 2000 years ago, probably because of predation by and competition from the Dingo Canis lupus (Johnson 2006). In modern times it was known only in Tasmania, which was isolated from the Australian mainland c. 8,000 – 10,000 years ago, before the arrival of the Dingo on the mainland. It was widespread in Tasmania, but most abundant in open forest and woodland (Guiler 1985, Paddle 2000). It occurred in most habitat types from low (east) to high (north-west) rainfall but at low densities in the south-west where rainfall is very high, soil fertility is very low, and vegetation is hummock grassland (button grass), wet scrub, or wet forest.
Conservation:
In 1936, the Thylacine received legal protection under Tasmanian law (Mooney and Rounsevell 2023). In 1966, a 647,000 ha game reserve was set up in south-western Tasmania, partly to protect any animals possibly remaining in the area. Currently there are no conservation measures pertaining to this species as it is presumed extinct. It is listed on CITES Appendix I. The species is listed as Extinct under Australian environmental law.
