The discovery in the UK last month of a Tasmanian Tiger’s mounted head bought at auction has sent tails waging here.
A natural history collector from Essex spent more than £62,000 pounds, that’s almost $120,000 Australian dollars, buying the taxidermy in Bristol.
It’s been 90 years since the last known Tasmanian Tiger died in captivity in 1936 and despite their extinction, the animal remains of interest to researchers with the University of Melbourne partnering with US bioscience company Colossal to de-extinct the animal.
For 25 years, Professor Andrew Pask from the University of Melbourne has dreamt of bringing back the thylacine.
“For a long time, nobody would give me any funding for thylacine extinction because I sounded like a lunatic,” he said.
“And then it was really when I met Colossal that this whole trajectory changed.”
“This new specimen will help us even further – we will collect samples from it and develop a genome. We have genomes from about 20 different specimens.”
Derwent Valley Mayor Michelle Dracoulis says we will soon see Tasmania Tigers roaming the state once again.
She is on Colossal Biosciences’ Tasmanian thylacine advisory committee and the company has dedicated itself to the “de-extinction” of species such as the thylacine and the woolly mammoth.
“A big part of the work is about making sure the project connects respectfully with Tasmanian people, particularly in terms of conservation and cultural values,” she said.
“The thylacine is part of our identity, so a large part of this role is about ensuring that Colossal’s science is grounded in local context, knowledge, and benefit.”
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