Newly released footage captures the last known moving images of Benjamin, the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) who died from exposure in an Australian zoo in 1937.
The footage was shot in 1935 and it has been released to the public after it was digitally restored by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. The 21 seconds never-before-seen footage come from a 1935 travelogue, Tasmania the Wonderland, believed to be shot by Sidney Cook. In the footage, 'Benjamin' can be seen at Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart.
We have released 21-second newsreel clip featuring the last known images of the extinct Thylacine, filmed in 1935, has been digitised in 4K and released.
Be sure to check out the footage of this beautiful marsupial. #NFSAOpenOnline #TasmanianTigerhttps://t.co/s3JSAnmFck pic.twitter.com/FSRYXCTTMy
— NFSA -National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (@NFSAonline) May 19, 2020
The latest footage also include audio and according to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) it is last known footage of the enigmatic Tasmanian tiger.
"While the NFSA holds preservation film copies of much of the known surviving footage of the thylacine, the search continues," a press release from the archive reads.
"Remaining to be uncovered are footage of a thylacine in colour, roaming in the wild or – most hopefully – film with location sound that reveals any sound made by the animal," it added.
Experts maintain that the new footage would give us significant insight into this now extinct animal.
In the background of the video, the narrator can be heard saying that the Tasmanian tiger "is now very rare, being forced out of its natural habitat by the march of civilisation."
