Species profile
Thylacinus cynocephalus
Thylacine
EX · Extinct — Extinct — no living individuals remain
About this species
Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) is part of the curated SpeciesWatch catalogue and is classified as Extinct. The last known thylacine, Benjamin, died in a Hobart zoo on 7 September 1936 — the same year the species finally received legal protection, tragically too late. The overall trend remains uncertain or is not applicable, so it should not be inferred from a small number of observations.
Habitat, behaviour and ecological role
This profile associates the species with terrestrial, forest. These labels summarise environments used during different stages of its life rather than drawing an exact range boundary. The thylacine could open its jaws an extraordinary 120 degrees — almost a right angle — a gape no dog can match. Its anatomy and behaviour are responses to those environments, while movement can connect distant places requiring different forms of management.
Why this species is at risk
Scientists are now attempting de-extinction: using gene editing to recreate thylacine traits in its closest living relative, the fat-tailed dunnart. The catalogue records 3 principal pressures for this profile: Hunting bounties, Habitat loss, Disease. They should not be treated as isolated causes. Habitat change, exploitation, pollution, disease and climate stress can reinforce one another, while the importance of each pressure varies between regions and through time.
Conservation outlook
Protecting and reconnecting habitat is a priority, together with infrastructure planning that keeps feeding, breeding or migration routes functional. Direct protection needs to combine enforcement with conflict prevention, demand reduction and local benefits that make coexistence viable. Biosecurity, health surveillance and careful management of small populations help contain risks that can spread rapidly. Actions need long-term monitoring and revision as evidence changes; a positive intervention in one place does not by itself represent recovery across the species.
Editorial review: 2026-08-21
Threat factors
Known occurrences
Dots are georeferenced occurrence records from OBIS (marine) and GBIF (global), not individual animals and not a complete range map. Up to 500 recent API results are cached; the profile renders at most 500 points.
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