Raised from the dead: how scientists are trying to save the Tasmanian tiger from extinction
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De-extinction, already planning to bring woolly mammoths back to the Arctic tundra, is drawing attention to recently extinct species.
The Tasmanian tiger died out almost a century ago, but now scientists say they can revive the lost species and return it to the wild.
An organization that specializes in “breakthrough genetic engineering” and calls itself an “extinction campaign” said it has already begun work to bring back the species that is actually known as the thylacine.
If the process is successful, the return of the Tasmanian tiger “could lead to a rebalancing of the Tasmanian and Australian ecosystems” that have suffered from biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation since the predator’s extinction.
The species was largely extinct on the Australian mainland around 2,000 years ago, but survived in significant numbers in Tasmania. Here, this species was hunted until it became extinct by 1930 due to the fact that thylacines killed sheep.
These striped animals look more like dogs or foxes than tigers, but they are also marsupials, with kangaroo-like abdominal pouches.
Christina DENYSYUK
Photo screenshot from independent.co.uk
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