The Thylacine, or Tasmanian Tiger.

The Thylacine has been called either or both The Tasmanian Tiger, and The Tasmanian Wolf; but The Thylacine was neither a species of cat or dog, but rather, a carnivorous marsupial. Despite the tremendous beauty of The Thylacine, and the fact that they were not animals that posed any danger to humans, the last known living Thylacine died at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania, Australia on the seventh day of September, in the year of our Lord, 1936. Despite the fact that that particular Thylacine was the last known specimen of the species in existence, the cause of death was determined to have been neglect.

Truly, humanity not only neglected The Thylacine, but indeed, humanity neglected itself; as every generation since has suffered the loss of these magnificent animals.

The Thylacine was an example of what is known as an Apex Predator, and what this means is simply that it was the top predator in it's domain, or ecosystem, and that only mankind was above it, and truly, mankind's predatory nature was the downfall of The Thylacine.  In similar regards to our treatment of the Wolves of the world, mankind, by and large, has a tendency to shepherd it's animals, and regard any animal that is a threat to his flocks as not worthy of life on Earth. Man then seeks the path of least resistance, the foolish path, and creates law, and even rewards that desecrate the lives of beings or life forms that it deems unworthy, as they threaten the profitable flocks.

Though The Thylacine closely resembles a short haired dog with strips like a tiger on it's hind quarters, The Thylacine, Apex Predator Carnivorous Marsupial that it was; was in no way related to dogs at all, but had evolved into the creature that it was due to convergent evolution. It was one of only two species of animals ever known, concerning marsupials, that featured a Marsupial's Pouch in both sexes of the animal, the other marsupial being the Water Opossum. Now, because The Thylacine has been thought to be extinct since the mid 1930's, the Tasmanian Devil had been thought to be both the closest relative of The Thylacine in existence, and the largest carnivorous marsupial; however, more recent studies suggest that The Numbat is actually the closest surviving relative to The Thylacine.

Cryptozoology is the study of extinct life forms, such as that of The Thylacine. Though The Thylacine is thought to have been largely extinct from continental Australia for some two thousand years; this can't be proven, but it is known that the aboriginal Australians had left cave drawings that could not be mistaken for any other creature that date back to a thousand years, give or take a few, b.c. One theory is that the encroaching dingo had out competed The Thylacine on the mainland, but dingos hunt for food during the daytime, whereas The Thylacine was a nocturnal hunter, and so, wasn't in direct competition with dingos. Though The Thylacine had more powerful jaws, dingos could withstand greater pressure to their skulls, and so, could pull down larger animals as prey than could The Thylacine. The omnivorous dingo, however, surely increased it's evolutionary pressure upon The Thylacine by becoming a companion to humans.

The heartbreaking facts concerning the extinction of The Thylacine become more poignant when you realize that protection for the animal only passed it's failed legislative efforts a mere 59 days before the last known specimen died of neglect in captivity. It's the great hope of all of us who appreciate the beauties offered by the animal kingdom that never again will we humans neglect it so horrifically.  Perhaps then, the more intelligent among us will compensate for the rest, and whether or not they are successful is yet to be determined; regardless, efforts to use DNA specimens from Thylacine remains began in 1999.  By the year 2005, however, it was determined that the best DNA samples were too badly damaged with the passing of time for a clone to be created.  In 2008, exciting new success were established, and the efforts to clone and reintroduce The Thylacine have yet to become extinct.

But despite the fact that there hasn't been a Thylacine in captivity since the last known living one was neglected to death in 1936, The Thylacine might still be with us. What isn't disputed is that thousands of Thylacine sightings have been reported on mainland Australia and Tasmania as well. I truly and very seriously enjoy the idea, and with great hope embrace the possibility that The Thylacine is still with us today. While the records of human interactions with these creatures is an abomination, the capture of a pair of healthy, young, and breeding Thylacines would enable us to reintroduce a more stable population of these beautiful creatures to their native homes. It was done with the Gray Wolf, and that particular animal has and had a much more maligned reputation among human idiots, bordering on, but not limited to outright hatred based upon irrational fears, and greed. The following has been culled from Wikipedia in order to demonstrate the depth of sightings of The Thylacine.

The Australian Rare Fauna Research Association reports having 3,800 sightings on file from mainland Australia since the 1936 extinction date, while the Mystery Animal Research Centre of Australia recorded 138 up to 1998, and the Department of Conservation and Land Management recorded 65 in Western Australia over the same period.Independent thylacine researchers Buck and Joan Emburg of Tasmania report 360 Tasmanian and 269 mainland post-extinction 20th century sightings, figures compiled from a number of sources.On the mainland, sightings are most frequently reported in Southern Victoria.

Some sightings have generated a large amount of publicity. In 1973, Gary and Liz Doyle shot ten seconds of 8mm film showing an unidentified animal running across a South Australian road. However, attempts to positively identify the creature as a thylacine have been impossible due to the poor quality of the film. In 1982 a researcher with the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service, Hans Naarding, observed what he believed to be a Thylacine for three minutes during the night at a site near Arthur River in northwestern Tasmania. The sighting led to an extensive year-long government-funded search. In January 1995, a Parks and Wildlife officer reported observing a thylacine in the Pyengana region of northeastern Tasmania in the early hours of the morning. Later searches revealed no trace of the animal. In 1997, it was reported that locals and missionaries near Mount Carstensz in Western New Guinea had sighted thylacines. The locals had apparently known about them for many years but had not made an official report. In February 2005 Klaus Emmerichs, a German tourist, claimed to have taken digital photographs of a Thylacine he saw near the Lake Saint Claire National Park, but the authenticity of the photographs has not been established. The photos were not published until April 2006, fourteen months after the sighting. The photographs, which showed only the back of the animal, were said by those who studied them to be inconclusive as evidence of the Thylacine's continued existence.

Rewards

As much as I'm basically allergic to anything associated with Ted Turner, I have to admire his pittance offering for proof of a living Thylacine; sadly, he withdrew the offer. Nevermind, Ted Turner is just a waste of a human being.

In 1983, Ted Turner offered a $100,000 reward for proof of the continued existence of the Thylacine. However, a letter sent in response to an inquiry by a thylacine-searcher, Murray McAllister, in 2000 indicated that the reward had been withdrawn. In March 2005, Australian news magazine The Bulletin, as part of its 125th anniversary celebrations, offered a $1.25 million reward for the safe capture of a live thylacine. When the offer closed at the end of June 2005 no one had produced any evidence of the animal's existence. An offer of $1.75 million has subsequently been offered by a Tasmanian tour operator, Stewart Malcolm. Trapping is illegal under the terms of the thylacine's protection, so any reward made for its capture is invalid, since a trapping licence would not be issued.

So there you have it, perhaps The Thylacine is still with us, and only the specimens best adapted to survival survived, and those would be the ones with the highest level of intelligence, and instinct adapted to outwitting it's greatest rival, and only predator, mankind.  I hope that this article has introduced The Thylacine to someone out there who'd not heard of it.  It's my greatest hope that somebody become dedicated to the preservation of our wildlife because of the history of man and this, and many other beautiful creatures that we've so foolishly destroyed.  On another note, if you buy into the media's American Corporate Fascist Environmentalism lies, please don't bother to talk to me about those things.  Other than that, Best Wishes!

~WTS~