What lead to the demise of Thylacine populations in Australia and Tasmania?

There are several factors that could cause the possible extinction of the Thylacine population in Australia, some of these include; The bounties governments put on the species between 1888 and 1909, however, there were several other bounties out for the Tasmanian Tigers head, one of these was the Van Diemen’s Land Company (VDLC) which ran for 84 years between 1830 and 1914. During the government scheme, whilst they were attempting to eradicate the animals, some 2,184 Thylacines were killed, with 84 slaughtered on the land of the VDLC, significantly reducing populations. The reason for wanting to kill off the predator was because they were viewed as pests, killing farmers sheep and cattle, as well as stealing the chickens from local farms. Following the bounties, there were several other reasons why numbers dropped so significantly, and causing the official extinction in 1936.

Several other causes would have severely effected the mammals numbers, habitat loss for example, with new settlers arriving from Europe, land was being cleared in order to build villages and farmland. This destroyed the native vegetation as well as the grassy plains and woodlands which was an ideal living environment for the Tiger. The demolition of these areas was in fact diminishing numbers, however would not have been the main cause of possible extinction as Tasmania, to this day, provides areas such as these, suitable for the Thylacine to inhabit.

The rivalry between dingoes, other dogs and the Tiger would have certainly dropped numbers due to the competition for food and habitat as the dingo is one of the main causes for the extinction of the Thylacine in mainland Australia. The Epizootic Disease has also been suggested to have been spread throughout the population of Tigers in Tasmania through incoming dogs and dingoes, leading to a severe decline in numbers. The Thylacine population, as a whole have a phenomenally low genetic diversity which makes the species more susceptible to infection, this is because, generally, species with a more genetically diverse population can survive or reframe from falling ill.

Fur trade, fur trade was a major issue for the Thylacine during the colonisation of Tasmasnia. The Thylacine was hunted and killed in order to produce products such as floor and carriage rugs as the beautiful stripes which covered their hind was highly admirable for Domestic Tasmanian Markets. The poaching of the Tiger would, on top of previous reasons that have been stated, would have significantly dimished the species.

Several factors caused the possible extinction of the Thylacine, European intereference played a tremendous role in the eradictaion of the animal, however was not the only cause. Natural factors are also to blame for the demise of the ancient marsupial and can account for hundreds of deaths as the Epizootic Disease spread from Eastern Tasmania to the West through various means, eventually killing off a beautiful species.