The reasons for the beachings are unclear. Reasons could include disorientation caused by loud noises, illness, old age, injury, fleeing predators and severe weather.

The skeleton and skin of what is believed to be the last Tasmanian tiger have been stashed away in a cupboard at a museum in Tasmania, where experts lost track of the bizarre looking creature.

A young bar-tailed godwit appears to have set a non-stop distance record for migratory birds by flying at least 8,435 miles from Alaska to the Australian state of Tasmania, a bird expert said Friday.

The whales were found stranded on the remote west coast of Australia's island state of Tasmania. A marine biologist said the dead animals would be tested for toxins that might explain the disaster.

A stranded whale pod on Tasmania's west coast appears to be pilot whales and at least half are presumed to still be alive, local government officials said Wednesday.

Australian wildlife authorities are investigating the deaths of the whales, which were discovered Monday on Tasmania's King Island, off the southeastern coast.

The thylacine had trademark stripes and, rare in the animal world, abdominal pouches in both females and males. The last known specimen died in a zoo in 1936.

Four children remain hospitalized, with three in critical condition and one in serious condition, at an end-of-year celebration at Hillcrest Primary School in the Australian state, authorities say.