'Precious' footage from 1935 of last-known Tasmanian tiger released

Authored by edition.cnn.com and submitted by hildebrand_rarity

(CNN) Video footage of the last known thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, has been released by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA).

In the 21-second clip the animal, named Benjamin, is prowling around his cage at Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart, Tasmania, according to a press release.

The footage, released Tuesday, was filmed in 1935 for a travelogue called "Tasmania The Wonderland," just a few months before Benjamin passed away.

We have released 21-second newsreel clip featuring the last known images of the extinct Thylacine, filmed in 1935, has been digitised in 4K and released.

Be sure to check out the footage of this beautiful marsupial. #NFSAOpenOnline #TasmanianTigerhttps://t.co/s3JSAnmFck pic.twitter.com/FSRYXCTTMy — NFSA -National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (@NFSAonline) May 19, 2020

Thylacines were large carnivorous marsupials that looked like a cross between a wolf, a fox, and a large cat. They hunted kangaroos and other marsupials as well as rodents and small birds, according to the Australian Museum.

They once lived throughout continental Australia but became extinct on the mainland around 2,000 years ago, perhaps due to competition with dingos and hunting pressure from humans, said the museum.

bumapples on May 19th, 2020 at 14:20 UTC »

An Endling. One of the saddest words in any language

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endling

avgreco99 on May 19th, 2020 at 13:14 UTC »

I’m not trying to be rude, but hasn’t this footage been out for a long time? I’ve seen in it multiple times on the history channel.

Komikaze06 on May 19th, 2020 at 12:27 UTC »

Man, zoos back then were brutal. Just a concrete slab and chaining with people smacking it.