00:00The Tasmanian tiger, or thilocene, was a paradox.
00:04Wolf-like head, tiger stripes, kangaroo pouch.
00:08Not a feline or canine, but a marsupial, perfectly adapted to ancient Australia.
00:14Its striped coat camouflaged it as it hunted at night, silently stalking prey.
00:19For millennia, it was the apex predator, maintaining balance in its ecosystem.
00:24Shy and secretive, it lived in small groups, raising young in pouches.
00:29The thilocene thrived for thousands of years, a living link to a prehistoric world.
00:35But the world changed.
00:37New threats arrived, and the thilocene's reign neared its end.
00:41Its story is one of ancient success, followed by profound loss.
00:47The ghost of the Australian bush was about to face its greatest challenge.
00:51The thilocene's first great challenge came with humans and dingoes on the mainland.
00:55Dingoes, efficient pack hunters, out-competed the solitary thilocene for prey.
01:01Pressures from hunting, climate and competition drove the thilocene to extinction on the mainland 2,000 years ago.
01:08Only Tasmania, separated by sea, remained as a refuge.
01:12Dingoes never crossed the strait.
01:14Here, the thilocene survived, becoming the island's top predator.
01:17It shaped Tasmania's wilderness, hunting in forests and grasslands.
01:22For a time, it seemed safe, a living fossil in a land apart.
01:26But a new wave of settlers would soon threaten its last sanctuary.
01:31European settlers arrived in Tasmania, bringing sheep and fear.
01:36Thilocenes were blamed for livestock losses, though feral dogs were likely the real culprits.
01:41Branded as pests, thilocenes faced relentless persecution.
01:45Bounties were offered.
01:47One pound per adult, ten shillings per pup.
01:50Hunters and trappers decimated the population for profit.
01:54The government, meant to protect wildlife, paid for its destruction.
01:58Thilocenes retreated to remote forests.
02:01But the slaughter continued.
02:03Thousands were killed.
02:04Extinction loomed.
02:05The war against the thilocene was nearly won, by humans.
02:10By the early 1900s, thilocenes were nearly gone.
02:14The bounty ended, but too late.
02:16Only a few survived in the wild.
02:18The last wild thilocene was shot in 1930.
02:21The final captive, known as Benjamin, lived alone in Hobart Zoo.
02:26Grainy footage shows his haunting, solitary existence.
02:29In 1936, Benjamin died from neglect, locked out in the cold.
02:34Just weeks earlier, the government had granted protection, far too late.
02:39With Benjamin's death, the thilocene vanished forever.
02:42The thilocene's extinction brought regret and a new awareness.
02:46Once demonized, it became a symbol of lost heritage and human error.
02:50Its story sparked Australia's conservation movement, inspiring protection for other species.
02:55Today, the thilocene is an icon.
02:59On coats of arms, in art and in memory.
03:02Scientists dream of de-extinction, but its loss is a warning.
03:06The thilocene reminds us extinction is real and irreversible.
03:10Its legacy urges us to protect what remains, before it's too late.
03:14The ghost of the Tasmanian tiger haunts us still, demanding we do better.
03:18A home.
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