THE TASSIE TIGER’S EPIC RETURN
Local heroes and the Hemsworth brothers are helping to bring back the extinct animal
Australia’s Hemsworth brothers say they are “thrilled” to help fund the multimillion-dollar mission to bring the Tasmanian tiger back to life, almost a century after its extinction.
“Our family remains dedicated to supporting conservationist efforts around the world and protecting Australia’s biodiversity is a high priority,’’ Chris said in a statement.
The University of Melbourne has partnered with Us-based genetic engineering company Colossal Biosciences to pursue this amazing scientific feat.
Research leader Dr Andrew Pask tells Woman’s Day he’s ready to give the Hemsworths – Chris, 39, Liam, 32, and Luke, 41 – a tour around his laboratory to say thank you.
“If Thor wants to come along and help save the Tassie tiger, then I’m super grateful,” smiles Andrew, who has been working on this project for his entire 20-year career.
“The [brothers] are really passionate about marsupial conservation and have been involved with the Tasmanian devil rewilding project and introducing other endangered animals back into the wild.”
REVIVING THE PAST
The research lab plans to revive the marsupial within the next decade using reproductive and gene-editing technologies from the Tasmanian tiger’s closest living relative – the fat-tailed dunnart. “We grow living cells from the mousesized marsupial, sequence the DNA of both animals, compare and find everywhere they are different and edit the cell to turn the DNA code into that of the tiger,” Andrew explains.
He believes “the whole system’s become destabilised” since the Tasmanian tiger became extinct in 1936, after disappearing from everywhere except the Australian island 2000 years ago.
Also known as the thylacine, the tiger is not a feline but a dog-like marsupial, with stripes across its back.
Andrew says his revival plan is not just a scientific stunt or an idea to “play God”.
“It’s about all the conservation tools we’ll develop along the way that have immediate benefits for marsupials that are on the brink of extinction,” he says. “We’re changing the globe so rapidly – we’re sending species extinct, we’re losing habitats, we’re introducing species – and unless we start to think creatively, we’re going to lose even more animals.”
The Hemsworths have been interested in conservation for some time. Chris even helped release the Tasmanian devil onto mainland Australia in 2020, the first time the animal had been back in the wild in 3000 years.
“I think that if we can experience nature and the environment and fall in love with it, then we’ll want to protect it,” Chris said in 2020.