Changes

For reasons not fully known thylacines died out New Guinea and the Australian mainland, with the latest fossil finds from the Northern Territory date to 3000 BC.  At about 4,000 BC Sulawesi hunters arrived, and with them they brought the [[dingo]]<ref>http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/04/how-did-dingo-get-australia</ref><ref>http://www.livescience.com/26246-dingoes-indian-migrants-australia.html</ref>, a canine subspecies of [[wolf]].  The theory states that in addition to human hunting, the dingo displaced the thylacine as the top predator through competitive pressure.  This thesis is supported by the fact that the thylacine survived on Tasmania into the 20th century, where dingos never appeared<ref>https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070905095352.htm</ref>.

For reasons not fully known thylacines died out New Guinea and the Australian mainland, with the latest fossil finds from the Northern Territory date to 3000 BC.  At about 4,000 BC Sulawesi hunters arrived, and with them they brought the [[dingo]]<ref>http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/04/how-did-dingo-get-australia</ref><ref>http://www.livescience.com/26246-dingoes-indian-migrants-australia.html</ref>, a canine subspecies of [[wolf]].  The theory states that in addition to human hunting, the dingo displaced the thylacine as the top predator through competitive pressure.  This thesis is supported by the fact that the thylacine survived on Tasmania into the 20th century, where dingos never appeared<ref>https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070905095352.htm</ref>.

In Tasmania the species was still widespread and frequent at the beginning of the 19th century when European settlers arrived. After the introduction of sheep on the island a bounty was placed Van Diemens Land Company (1830) on the thylacine.  In the 1860s the species was confined to the more inaccessible mountainous regions in the south-west of the island, but hunting with traps and dogs continued unabated.  Between 1888-1909 the Tasmanian Parliament placed its own bounty of £1, roughly $100 in today's money; it is unknown how many bounties were paid by Van Diemens, but 2,184 hides were collected by the government before its bounty program was halted in 1909.  Around the year 1910 the species was regarded as rare. Zoos around the world were looking for these animals.

In Tasmania the species was still widespread and frequent at the beginning of the 19th century when European settlers arrived. After the introduction of sheep on the island a bounty was placed by The Van Diemen's Land Company (1830) on the thylacine.  In the 1860s the species was confined to the more inaccessible mountainous regions in the south-west of the island, but hunting with traps and dogs continued unabated.  Between 1888-1909 the Tasmanian Parliament placed its own bounty of £1, roughly $100 in today's money; it is unknown how many bounties were paid by Van Diemens, but 2,184 hides were collected by the government before its bounty program was halted in 1909.  Around the year 1910 the species was regarded as rare. Zoos around the world were looking for these animals.

Although the species were kept in different zoos, just a single litter was made in captivity, at the Melbourne Zoo in 1899<ref>Paddle, pg. 231</ref>. The last known killing of a thylacine in the wild was in 1930.  The last known captive specimen - a female named Benjamin - died on the night of 6th to 7th September, 1936 in Hobart's now closed Beaumaris Zoo in Tasmania, apparently from neglect after the keeper shut her out of shelter during harsh weather conditions.  Just a few months before, measures were finally taken to protect the species.  Several expeditions in the decades that followed did not find any evidence to suggest a survival of the species.  In 1966, the Tasmanian government built a protected area of 647,000 hectares in the southwest of the island in the event that some animals were still alive.

Although the species were kept in different zoos, just a single litter was made in captivity, at the Melbourne Zoo in 1899<ref>Paddle, pg. 231</ref>. The last known killing of a thylacine in the wild was in 1930.  The last known captive specimen - a female named Benjamin - died on the night of 6th to 7th September, 1936 in Hobart's now closed Beaumaris Zoo in Tasmania, apparently from neglect after the keeper shut her out of shelter during harsh weather conditions.  Just a few months before, measures were finally taken to protect the species.  Several expeditions in the decades that followed did not find any evidence to suggest a survival of the species.  In 1966, the Tasmanian government built a protected area of 647,000 hectares in the southwest of the island in the event that some animals were still alive.

==External links==

==External links==

*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odswge5onwY Youtube Thylacine footage]

*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odswge5onwY Youtube Thylacine footage]

[[Category:Mammals]][[Category:Marsupials]][[Category:Dasyuromorphia]][[Category:Extinct Animals]]

[[Category:Mammals]][[Category:Marsupials]][[Category:Dasyuromorphia]][[Category:Extinct Animals]]