Upon Albert Le Souëf's death in 1902, his son Dudley succeeded as director and carried on his pioneering work.  In December 1906, a letter was received from Launceston City Park Zoo stating that the "Tasmanian wolves and devils were almost extinct".  Dudley Le Souëf proposed visiting Tasmania with his magic lantern slide show to give lectures on the zoo and natural history at places where the thylacine may still be found, and to encourage the locals to donate any animals that were snared to the zoo.  Upon his return, Le Souëf (1907) notes: "Thylacines are now getting scarce as every man's hand is against them - these animals will probably become extinct before many years".

Dr. Bob Paddle (2012, p. 79) notes that by early 1902, Melbourne had lost 18 out of the 19 thylacines it had on display in the preceding two years to an illness described as being mange or distemper-like.     In an article entitled "At the Zoo - Australian Animals - An Interesting Study" published The Daily Telegraph of the 15th February 1919 (p. 12) it states with reference to the thylacines on display at Melbourne Zoo:     "The Tasmanian wolf, also a marsupial, is in such strong demand in England and America that a pair would fetch today about £100.  Alive or dead they are greatly valued as being an extraordinary departure from the usual type of animal, and a class of wolf entirely by itself, yet undoubtedly of the vulpine family.  It has a number of distinct black stripes across its hind quarters, and these are very pretty, marking the dark tawny coat.  Probably they are the nearest approach to blind of any nocturnal animal - that is, in the day time.

. Animals on display at the Royal Park Zoological Gardens (Melbourne). lllustrated Australian News, 16th February 1880 (p. 29). .

Adelaide Zoo:

    Adelaide Zoo is Australia's second oldest zoo, opening its doors to the public on the 23rd May 1883 (Adelaide Observer, 26th May 1883 [p. 31]).  Of the mainland Australian zoos, it is now known to have had the second largest number of thylacines on display after Melbourne.  The zoo is believed to have obtained its first two thylacines from the City Park Zoo in Launceston, in June 1885.  However, in an article published in the Express & Telegraph newspaper of the 27th May 1885 (p. 3) (shown below), mention is made of a marsupial wolf on display that predates the arrival of the two thylacines from Launceston in June of the same year.

This is possibly a journalistic error relating to Tasmanian devils on display, as no records can be located to confirm the arrival of a thylacine at the zoo prior to June 1885.     The first thylacines to be exhibited at the zoo were housed in the carnivore enclosure before being moved to the hyena dens.  Subsequent thylacines acquired by the zoo were all displayed in the hyena dens.

. Express and Telegraph newspaper, 27th May 1885 (p. 3).