American researchers are involved in a renewed effort to bring the Tasmanian tiger back to life through cloning.
Professor Mike Archer, dean of science at the University of New South Wales, confirmed he was developing a new team to revive the project, which was dumped in February by the Australian Museum in Sydney.
Prof Archer said public interest in the concept was still strong and researchers from several Australian institutions had expressed interest in teaming up on the project.
"In addition, US researchers with genetic sequencing capabilities will be involved for the first time and their expertise is expected to open up new possibilities for bringing the project closer to its ultimate goal," he said.
The Australian Museum blamed poor DNA samples and a lack of facilities and skills for its failure to clone the extinct tiger, or thylacine.
But Prof Archer, who instigated the project in 1999, said earlier this year the project would not die simply because the museum would not proceed.
The thylacine was a large, carnivorous marsupial once found all over Australia and Papua New Guinea.
It was officially declared extinct in 1986.
But the tiger remains the subject of urban myth with more than 4,000 unconfirmed sightings since the last one died in captivity in Hobart in 1936.
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