If the Tasmanian Tiger Were Found, What Should
We Do? An Interdisciplinary Guide to Endangered Species Recovery
Tim W. Clark
Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, 301 Prospect
Street, New Haven, CT 06511 and Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative,
Box 2705, Jackson, WY 83001
timothy.w.clark@yale.edu
Richard P. Reading
Denver Zoological Foundation, 2900 East 23rd Avenue, Denver, CO 80205
zooresearch@denverzoo.org
Richard L. Wallace
Environmental Studies Program, Ursinus College, P.O. Box 1000, Collegeville,
PA 19426
rwallace@ursinus.edu
Barbara A. Wilson
Deakin University, Geelong, Australia, V1C 3217
barbw@deakin.edu.au
Abstract
The Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus), is a wolf-like
carnivorous marsupial
last reported in the 1930s in Tasmania, an island state of Australia. Although
the species is likely
extinct, sightings are reported annually. A fictional scenario is described
in which a female thylacine
with four pouched young is captured. This scenario is explored and an interdisciplinary
approach
to endangered species recovery is introduced. This approach is applicable
to all endangered
species recovery efforts and focuses on the principal dimensions of recovery:
(1) orienting to
the problem at hand and meeting it successfully; (2) understanding the recovery
effort itself, its full
context, and the required management (decision) process; (3) using a broad
range of methods; and
(4) integrating research results into a comprehensive recovery process (picture
of the whole). By
using this interdisciplinary approach, recovery can be systematically understood,
best managed,
and restoration prospects enhanced.