Tasmanian, << taz MAY nee uhn, >> tiger, also called Tasmanian wolf, was a large mammal of Australia. Most scientists believe it is extinct. Fossils indicate that this animal was once common throughout Australia. But it lived only on the island of Tasmania when Europeans began settling the region in the late 1700’s. The Europeans hunted the animal because they thought it preyed on sheep and poultry. The last known Tasmanian tiger died in captivity in 1936. Australians often call Tasmanian tigers thylacines.
The Tasmanian tiger measured about 5 feet (1.5 meters) long, including a tail of about 20 inches (51 centimeters). It had short gray or yellowish-brown fur and dark stripes across the rear of its back.
The Tasmanian tiger was a marsupial. Like other marsupials, the female Tasmanian tiger carried its young in a pouch on its belly until they developed more fully. The pouch of the Tasmanian tiger was unusual because it opened to the rear of the body. In most other marsupials, the pouch opens to the front.
