Thanks to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) we have been able to see new video images of the last known member of this species, which we see in a small and dirty cage located at the Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart, Tasmania.
The Tasmanian tiger is believed to have gone extinct in 1936, when "Benjamin", the last confirmed member of the species, died in captivity at the zoo. Not many images of this animal are preserved and, in fact, fewer than a dozen films are believed to exist, all taken from captive animals at the Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart, Tasmania and the London Zoo.
The current video, just 21 seconds long, was recorded in March 1935. Only 18 months later Benjamin died, and on September 7, 1936, the species became extinct (although not all scientists agree).
