The Tasmanian tiger’s scientific name, Thylacinus cynophalus, means “pouched dog with a wolf head.” It is not a tiger, a dog or a wolf. But it is a bit like all of them put together. Like a tiger, it has stripes. It runs on tiptoes as dogs do. It looks rather like a wolf. At one time these animals were heavily hunted. Most of them were killed. Nobody is sure if any are still alive. It is thought that a few may be safely living in a place where no human can harm them.
Text: Geraldine Sherman, Animals With Pouches – The Marsupials, New York, Holiday House, 1978.
Top Photo: Petryoglyph image of Tasmanian tiger, ca. 1000 B.C., Ubirr, Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia.
Bottom
Photo: The last known Tasmanian Tiger, "Benjamin," photographed at Beaumaris Zoo, Hobart, Tasmania, in 1933.
