The De-extinction of the Tasmanian Tiger
The power of gene-editing technology is about to get even more revolutionary as Scientists attempt de-extinction for the nearly century-gone Thylacines, commonly known as Tasmanian Tiger. The experts’ ambitious plan includes ancient DNA retrieval and artificial reproduction.
About just as big as a large-breed dog, these creatures used to roam in various places around the world. As they virtually disappeared around parts of the world except in the Australian island of Tasmania, their population dwindled as time went by.
These marsupials were believed to have killed livestock on various farms in and around Australia. Because of this, the Tasmanian government was urged to put a bounty on every Tasmanian Tiger killed. Thylacines murking livestock was, unfortunately, an exaggerated rumor since their jaws are particularly small and too weak to take down a sheep.
They were hunted down to the brink of extinction. And officially went extinct when the last living Thylacine named Benjamin died in captivity in 1936.
The goal to reborn Tasmanian Tigers once more would do them justice. After man’s doings erased them from the face of the earth. The goal is to restore the creatures to the wild. Introducing them to the current ecosystem would be fairly simple, since they have only been gone for over a century,
Andrew Pask from the University of Melbourne leads this project. “This technology offers a chance to correct this and could be applied in exceptional circumstances where cornerstone species have been lost.” Saying that if this project pulls through, we might have a chance to de-extinct other creatures as well. These include hopefully ancient animals from the far past.
Let’s just say that, what the future has in store are creatures of the past.
What extinct animal would you like to see soon? Nothing from the Jurassic era we hope!
