The last known Tasmanian Tiger, 1936.
The last known Tasmanian Tiger died at the Hobart Zoo in 1936. Before this year, these natives of Tasmania were becoming rare due to "disease and competition with domesticated dogs," according to The Sixth Extinction Website. Even with the species' population drop, the animals would not have become completely extinct at such a fast rate if it were not for the migration of the English settlers into Australia and Tasmania. In the early 1800's, the settlers claimed that the Tasmanian Tigers were killing their sheep, but this may have only been an excuse that allowed the Englishmen to kill the animals for bounty. The Sixth Extinction Website also adds that "in 1880, the Tasmanian Parliament placed a price of one pound per Tasmanian tiger scalp," and "2184 bounties were paid" from 1888 until 1909. Not only may the fascinating Tasmanian Tiger never be seen again, but many other amazing animals like the Dodo bird, the Quagga, and the Great Auk cease to exist all because of human intervention. If humans didn't have to hunt everything (whether for sport, food, or clothing), or place animals in zoos to make a profit (see Free Willy), these species would more than likely be thriving today in the depths of the jungles, rain forests, deserts and all other habitats. Recently, scientists have been attempting to clone some of the extinct with extracted DNA, but this is, once again, humans trying to take control of nature. Can we please just let nature be? Sometimes, we suck.
The Sixth Extinction Website
http://www.petermaas.nl/extinct
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