Why did the Thylacine become extinct?
Thylacine at Taronga Zoo Sydney 1922.
Photographer: G.P. Whitley
(G.P. Whitley Papers Australian Museum Archives)
Although the precise reasons for extinction of the Thylacine from mainland Australia are not known it appears to have declined as a result of competition with the Dingo and perhaps hunting pressure from humans. The Thylacine became extinct on the Australian mainland not less than 2000 years ago. Its decline and extinction in Tasmania was probably hastened by the introduction of dogs, but appears mainly due to direct human persecution as an alleged pest.
Copyright © Australian Museum, 1999, 2002
