Tasmanian tiger was
the largest
carnivorous marsupial.
It was already rare when the first Europeans arrived in Australia, but
the early Europeans are to blame for its extinction.
Rare sightings are still reported, but
even if they were true, it would be unlikely that there would be enough
of them for the species to recover.
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It is sometimes also called Tasmanian wolf, and that name is actually
more suitable since it was a dog-animal, not a big cat.
What made people call it tiger was the stripes it had across the back.
It once covered the whole Australia, but had become rare on the
mainland by the time the first Europeans arrived. In Tasmania, it was
still abundant.
The early Europeans feared it and disliked when it took a few sheep,
and so they shot them until their numbers went really low in the late
1800s.
Despite being a carnivore, it was a very timid animal and avoided any
human contact.
It basically went extinct in the early 1900s, but reports of sightings
have continued.
None has really been proven true, but even if some where, the chances
that there would be enough animals left to re-establish a proper
population are very unlikely.
Dingo may also have played a role in its disappearance on the mainland.
Note:
This site uses
British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will
find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all
correct in the language used in Australia.
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