Researchers at the University of Melbourne are working on the “de-extinction” of the thylacine, the carnivorous marsupial also known as the Tasmanian Tiger.

The last known Tasmanian tiger died in 1936, and now researchers are turning to stem cell technology in an attempt to integrate the species back into the wild.

Professor Barry Brook, wildlife ecologist and species conservation expert from the University of Tasmania, told Neil Mitchell the reintroduction would have a beneficial affect on Tasmania’s ecology.

“It would probably integrate very well into the environment,” he said on 3AW Mornings.

“Tasmania’s already got a large marsupial predator, the (Tasmanian) devil, but it also has a major role as a scavenger.

“The thylacine was in that environment for tens of thousands of millions of years before hand.

“It’s only been absent for 50 years, maybe a little bit more.”

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Image: TMAG Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery