1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:04,400 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class it's production of I Heart Radio. Hi, 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:08,440 Speaker 1: I'm Eves and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:11,399 Speaker 1: a show that uncovers a little bit more about history 4 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: every day. Today is September seven. The day was September seven, 5 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: ninety six. The last dial A scene, also known as 6 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,880 Speaker 1: the Tasmanian tiger, died at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania 7 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: in nineteen six. After no Dialocene had been spotted for 8 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: fifty years, the animal was declared extinct. The thala scene 9 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: scientific name Thalacenus sinocephalus, was a large carnivorous marsupial. Its 10 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: fur was short and yellowish brown or gray, and it 11 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: had dark stripes across its back from its shoulders to 12 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: its tail. Its head looked like a dog or wolves, 13 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: and its ears were small, and females had a pouch 14 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: for carrying their young. The thalacene was mainly nocturnal. It 15 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: once lived all over Australia, from New Guinea to Tasmania, 16 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: but in recent times it was found only in Tasmania. 17 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: The first recorded killing of a Dialocene by Europeans happened 18 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:26,480 Speaker 1: in eighteen o five, after it was killed the Lieutenant 19 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 1: Governor of Tasmania. William Patterson sent a description of the 20 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:34,319 Speaker 1: animal to the Sydney Gazette. He wrote, it is very 21 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: evident this species is destructive and lives entirely on animal food. 22 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: On dissection, his stomach was filled with a quantity of kangaroo. 23 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: This deprecating take of thalacenes was also evident in later 24 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 1: European communications. Tasmania's Assistant surveyor George Prudeaux Harris wrote that 25 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: the animal had a savage and malicious appearance, and that 26 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:02,120 Speaker 1: it appeared inactive and stupid. Thyla scenes were also considered 27 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: a threat to sheep, though they were still quote cowardly 28 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 1: and by no means formidable to man, as later assistant 29 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: surveyor George William Evans put it in an e book. 30 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: Since the thi la scene was viewed as destructive to 31 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:20,440 Speaker 1: flocks of sheep, it was hunted and people offered rewards 32 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: for killing the animal. But the rhetoric around the thalacenes 33 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: savagery was just myth. Minister John West of Lawn System 34 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 1: wrote in eighteen fifty the thylacene kills sheep, but confines 35 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 1: its attack to one at a time, and is therefore 36 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: by no means as destructive to a flock as the 37 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: domestic dog become wild, or as the dingo of Australia, 38 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:49,399 Speaker 1: which both commit havoc in a single night. Still reports 39 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,640 Speaker 1: exaggerated the abundance of thy la scenes, how many sheep 40 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: they killed, and how many bounties were paid to kill them. 41 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: Thyla scenes were being blamed for the attacks of wild dogs, 42 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:05,639 Speaker 1: horror management, rural depressions, and other things that affected agricultural production. 43 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 1: Though some people spoke up against thy lacene killings, the 44 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:12,920 Speaker 1: animal continued to get bad press and was the subject 45 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:17,239 Speaker 1: of propaganda. The government even offered a bounty of one 46 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:21,680 Speaker 1: pound for every adult thalacene killed and ended up sponsoring 47 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: the killing of two thousand, one d and eighty four 48 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: dialacenes by the beginning of the twentieth century, the number 49 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: of thalacenes killed and bounties offered decreased. Throughout the beginning 50 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: of the century, the animal became rarer as it faced 51 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: competition from wild dogs, the destruction of its habitat, and 52 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 1: disease in addition to hunting. The last known wild dialacene 53 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:50,440 Speaker 1: was shot in nineteen thirty. The last captive thalacene, named 54 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 1: Benjamin after its death was held at the Hobart Zoo. 55 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: It died on September seventh, nineteen thirty six, probably from neglect. 56 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:03,160 Speaker 1: The Thala scene was reportedly locked out of its shelter 57 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: and could have died from the cold that July. Before 58 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 1: Benjamin died, Tasmania had listed the Thila scene as a 59 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: protected species. The Thala scene was listed as an endangered 60 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:19,480 Speaker 1: species until it was declared extinct by the International Union 61 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 1: for Conservation of Nature in nineteen eighty two and the 62 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:29,919 Speaker 1: Tasmanian government in nineteen eighty six. In nine, Australia declared 63 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 1: September seven National Threatened Species Day. I'm each Jeff Code 64 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 1: and hopefully you know a little more about history today 65 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, 66 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: and Facebook at t d I h C podcast We'll 67 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:54,920 Speaker 1: see you tomorrow. For more podcasts from I Heeart Radio, 68 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:57,600 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or where ever 69 00:04:57,600 --> 00:04:58,839 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.