were partially starved into extinction. 6. The Tasmanian Tiger Perhaps the saddest extinction of all, this depressing episode tells the story of how one gunshot in Wilfrid Batty's gun not only ended the life of one of the last Tasmanian tigers but sounded the death knell for the entire species. The program covers basic anatomy of the marsupial and shows it hunting in the wild. It also shows actual footage of the animal in zoos. It is explained that the tiger's disappearance was due to the bounty system, in which the government paid everyone who killed a Tasmanian tiger 1 pound. When it was realized that the animal was becoming extinct, there was a rush to catch every last one and put them in zoos. Most zoo specimens died by the 1930s. The last tiger ever seen was "Ben", in Hobart Zoo. There were two final twists to this tale: "Ben" wasn't a male thylacine and, when she died in September 1936, "Ben" had endured her last 59 days as a protected species. External links Channel 4 - Extinct 2001 British television series debuts 2001 British television series endings 2000s British documentary television series Channel 4 documentary series 2000s British television miniseries Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios English-language television shows