New research has revealed that the Tasmanian Tiger could have been alive as recently as the early 2000s.
A team of international researchers has mapped the decline of the Thylacine, using a database of 1,237 observational records.
University of Tasmania Professor of Environmental Sustainability Barry Brook says the last surviving subpopulation was likely in the south west of the state.
“We used a novel approach to map the geographical pattern of its decline across Tasmania, and to estimate its extinction date after taking account of the many uncertainties.
“Our findings not only shed new light on the fate of this iconic species, but also demonstrate a useful method for conservation prioritisation and search efforts for other rare species of uncertain status.
“The results showed that extinction likely occurred within four decades after the last capture, so around the 1940s to 1970s, but we found, through further analysis, that extinction might have been as recent as the late 1980s to early 2000s, with a very small chance that it still persists in the remote south-western wilderness areas.”
Image: UTAS supplied.
