A start to my studies!
As the new year approaches, many people will be thinking about their new years resolutions. I am just too excited to wait a few days to get started on mine.
I have signed up to United for Wildlife as an online study source. The website is fantastic and the courses are informative, what's more is they are
completely free. So it is perfect for people like myself to start to engage the passion for conservation.
In the first module it looks at what conservation actually means, how biodiversity works and the different categories of Eco System Services. To complete the module you are asked to research a recently extinct species.
As a lover of tigers I found the Tasmanian Tiger particularly interesting.
Here is what I found.
Known as tigers due to their stripes, the Tasmanian tiger once existed across the Australian continent. Their habitat had reduced to the area of Tasmanian before the Europeans had arrived.
The Tasmanian tiger was believed to be killing local livestock, so were often shot or trapped. They made a convenient scapegoat at the time of the great depression. They were used as an reason for poor financial returns and high stock loses.
in 1936 they became a protected species, unfortunately, the last known Tasmanian tiger died that same year.
Unconfirmed sightings of the Tasmanian tiger continue to this day.
I find this species particularly interesting as a team at Pennsylvania State University have successfully sequenced the animal's mitochondrial DNA. Whilst this may give a better understanding into why the animal became extinct, it is unlikely that scientists will be able to clone the Tasmanian Tiger back into existence.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/22/11-extinct-animals_n_4078988.html
These animals looked amazing and I wish I could of met one. I am looking forward to following the scientist in their studies to see what they can find out about this stunning species.
