Syndey: Bounty hunting and not disease drove the Tasmanian tiger, a predator native to Australia, to extinction, says a new study.
Thylacine, the predator`s scientific name, was a unique marsupial carnivore found throughout Tasmania before European settlement in 1803.
Between 1886 and 1909, the Tasmanian government encouraged people to hunt thylacines, paying bounties on over 2,000 thylacine carcasses.
Only a handful of animals were located after the bounty was lifted; the last known thylacine was captured from the wild in 1933, the Journal of Animal Ecology reports.
"Many people, however, believe that bounty hunting alone could not have driven the thylacine extinct, and claim that unknown epidemic may have been responsible," says the leader of the research project, Thomas Prowse, of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Environment Institute, University of Adelaide.
"We tested this claim by developing a `metamodel` - a network of linked species models - that evaluated whether the combined impact of Europeans could have exterminated the thylacine, without any disease," adds Prowse, according to an Adelaide statement.
The math models used by conservation biologists to simulate the fate of threatened species under different management strategies traditionally neglect important interactions between species, which has now been incorporated by the researchers.
"The new model simulated the direct effects of bounty hunting and habitat loss and, importantly, also considered the indirect effects of a reduction in the thylacine`s prey (kangaroos and wallabies) due to human harvesting and competition from millions of introduced sheep," Prowse says.
"We found we could simulate the thylacine extinction, including the observed rapid population crash after 1905, without the need to invoke a mystery disease.
"We showed that the negative impacts of European settlement were powerful enough, and that, even without any disease epidemic, the species couldn`t escape extinction," Prowse said.
IANS
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.