De-Extincting Tassie

As Colossal Biosciences continues to make breakthroughs toward the revival of the thylacine and more extinct species including the woolly mammoth, and dodo bird, our newly launched nonprofit organization, the Colossal Foundation, has unveiled its first educational series, “De-Extincting Tassie.” The digital series aims to dispel common myths about the thylacine — like it enjoyed hunting sheep, a prevailing thought that led to poachers hunting it to extinction in the early 1900s — while informing all ages about the thylacine’s important role in restoring Tasmania’s ecosystem, as told by Tassie the Tiger, a charismatic cartoon mascot with a loveable Australian accent. 

We developed the series under the guidance of our Tasmanian Thylacine Advisory Committee — a group of Tasmanian cultural, commercial, government, and community leaders working to facilitate the successful rewilding of the species — this four-part series details the science behind the thylacine’s rewilding and the beneficial impacts this return will have. 

A Tasmanian Treasure

As an apex predator, the thylacine was crucial to keeping the Tasmanian ecosystem in check, controlling large populations of herbivorous and invasive species. Since 1936, when the last thylacine died in captivity at Tasmania’s Beaumaris Zoo after decades of being hunted in the wild, the Tasmanian ecosystem has been experiencing what’s known as trophic downgrading, where the removal of an apex predator drastically alters biodiversity and leads to the proliferation of disease, invasive species, and wildfires. 

Mayor Michelle Dracoulis

Bringing the thylacine back to Tasmania could not only reverse some of these damaging consequences, but also restore a symbol of cultural importance to the island.

“We created these videos to help dispel some of the myths and skepticism and answer questions that many people have about the thylacine and the de-extinction project,” said Tasmanian Thylacine Advisory Committee chairperson and Derwent Valley Mayor Michelle Dracoulis. 

Our Mission To Rewild the Thylacine

Since unveiling our thylacine de-extinction program in 2022, Colossal has made innovative advancements toward the species’ rewilding. Recently we announced that our genetic sequence of the thylacine is more than 99.9% complete — with just 45 gaps soon to be closed — thanks to RNA samples taken from a 110-year-old thylacine skull preserved in ethanol.

“This exceptional sample provides a fantastic opportunity for us to understand gene expression in thylacines,” said Dr. Andrew Pask, a member of Colossal’s Scientific Advisory Board and the head of the Thylacine Integrated Genomic Restoration Research Laboratory at the University of Melbourne. “With this new resource in hand we will be able to determine what a thylacine could taste, what it could smell, what kind of vision it had and even how its brain functioned!”

The Colossal Importance of Education

While “De-Extincting Tassie” represents the beginning of our educational series, we have already developed educational programs like the Adopt a Mammoth program in collaboration with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, offering schools throughout Alaska hands-on experience with mammoth fossils, while providing students with lessons on the mammoth’s history in the state and the opportunity to drill samples for radiocarbon dating. 

“This initiative could not be more core to Colossal’s mission: combining cutting-edge de-extinction research with children’s education,” said Colossal Biosciences co-founder and CEO Ben Lamm. 

With the U.N. declaring that over 1 million species are threatened with extinction worldwide, the key to our future likely lies in fostering a widespread interest in conservation. In places expecting to see the impacts of these projects, like Tasmania, the interest is already palpable.

“Tasmanians have so much love and curiosity for our wilderness and wildlife and that is especially the case when it comes to the Tassie tiger,” said Greg Irons, Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary owner and Thylacine Advisory member.

“It’s important to be able to ask questions, to get answers and have all the facts as the scientists explore the possibility of bringing the thylacine back.”

Watch “De-Extincting Tassie” now on Colossal’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@itiscolossal