Vic: Thylacine factbox

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Vic: Thylacine factbox

Thylacine - the facts:

* A carnivorous marsupial, coloured sandy-brown to grey, with a dog-like head and upto 20 dark vertical stripes on its back.

* Nocturnal or semi-nocturnal animal that hunts alone or in pairs.

* Female rears young in a backwards-opening pouch.

* It is believed competition with the dingo led to its extinction on mainland Australiamore than 2,000 years ago.

* Decline in Tasmania was linked to hunting and the introduction of dogs.

* The last known thylacine at the Hobart zoo was left in its hut overnight and diedof exposure in 1936.

* Scientists hope a cloned thylacine, created from DNA in a preserved pup, may be born by 2010.

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KEYWORD: THYLACINE (FACTBOX)