Published 15:16 IST, May 20th 2020
Rare footage released by NFSA shows last-known Tasmanian tiger in 1935
Native to continental Australia, footage shows Thylacines were large carnivorous marsupials that looked like a cross-breed of the wolf, a fox and a large cat.
A rare, never seen before footage of the last known Thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, has been released by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) that has stunned the internet. The 21-second clip shared on Twitter shows the ancient tiger named Benjamin prowling around his cage at Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart, Tasmania, according to media reports. The clip was filmed in 1935 for a travelogue called "Tasmania The Wonderland," and a few months later the tiger Benjamin passed away.
Native to continental Australia, Thylacines were large carnivorous marsupials that looked like a cross-breed of the wolf, a fox and a large cat. The carnivore preyed on the kangaroos as well as rodents, small birds, and other marsupials, according to the statement released by the Australian Museum. The animal is known to have become extinct around 2,000 years ago, due to the encroachment of habitat and hunting by human beings, as per the museum’s report. Mostly confined to the island of Tasmania, these ancient tigers decline due to the introduction of the dogs and have been unseen publicly for 85 years.
Only professionally produced sound film
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia wrote on its website, “In the clip above, we see Benjamin at the long-defunct Beaumaris Zoo, calmly pacing his enclosure. Zookeeper Arthur Reid and an associate rattle his cage at the far right of the frame.” Further, the site wrote, “this is the only professionally produced sound film screened to audiences while a specimen was still alive in captivity.” The narrator in the video says, “the thylacine is now very rare, being forced out of its natural habitat by the march of civilization." Benjamin died on Sept. 7, 1936, and was reported as the last species to mark Thylacine’s extinction. Another succumbed while it was in London Zoo in 1931, according to the museum. However, a document released in October that year by Tasmania's Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water, and Environment mentioned 8 rare sightings in past years.
Updated 15:16 IST, May 20th 2020