May. June 79A
LTHOUGH THE LAST
captive thylacine was
recorded as being named
Benjamin, it seems this wasn’t
the case.
A man named Frank Darby
claimed in 1968 that he had been
a keeper at the zoo, cared for
Benjamin and had given him the
name. However, two former zoo
employees said Darby had not
worked there and the thylacine had
never been called Benjamin. Even so,
the name stuck.
The animal died on 7 September
1936 in Hobart Zoo, reportedlysuccumbing to cold on the bare floor
of his open-air cage after being
carelessly locked out of his sleeping
den for several freezing nights.
The last captive thylacine to die
overseas did so in 1931 in London
Zoo. It was a female and one of 17Tasmanian tigers that had been
displayed there. In all, 28 thylacines
were exported from Tasmania to
foreign zoos between 1856 and
1926, according to Dr Eric Guiler,
a former University of Tasmania
zoologist, who died in 2008.Another thylacine myth is laid to rest.
Last of his kind
Images of captive
thylacines show these
usually active hunters
lying idly or pacing in
distress. ‘Benjamin’
(right) was the last to
die in captivity.