High-tech search for Tasmanian tiger
Posted on August 27, 2008, 5:05pm and updated on August 28, 2008 at 12:45 pm
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Australia’s most prominent Tasmanian tiger and puma photographic hunter will visit Mount Gambier to set up high-tech infrared camera equipment, following a spate of recent large cat sightings and unexplained attacks on sheep in the region.
Glenburnie resident Russell Smith told The Border Watch yesterday that sheep in the Glenburnie area had been “torn to pieces by animals more powerful than foxes”.
“There is something prowling around the area and I am worried about my dogs,” Mr Smith said.
He believed sheep were being attacked by large unexplained animals, not foxes or domestic dogs.
“Foxes just usually tear out the neck - these sheep are being mauled,” Mr Smith said.
Meanwhile, Victorian searcher Michael Moss - who has launched the most extensive hunt for pumas and Tasmania’s tigers in mainland Australia’s history - said yesterday there was growing evidence of thylacines and large cats living in the South East of South Australia.
“They are definitely out there,” said Mr Moss, who had spent more than 10 years searching bushland for the elusive animals, particularly the highly sought after Tasmanian tiger.
He believed the numbers of large cats - most likely pumas - were increasing in Victoria and spilling into the South East of South Australia, particularly around bushland near the Glenelg River.
His comments follow a string of big cat sightings from the Victorian border to Penola earlier this month, which made news headlines across Australia.
Despite some sceptics in the community, Mr Moss argued documents released under the Freedom of Information Act showed the South Australian Government had never undertaken an extensive survey of these animals in the South East.
“These pumas can be very large and are a threat to people walking in the bush. If people come across one they should never turn their back and run, but they should stand their ground and shout,” Mr Moss said.
He believed these pumas had been responsible for the disappearance of lone bush walkers in Victoria.
According to the Lower South East National Parks and Wildlife this week, there have been no sightings of thylacines recorded in the Mount Gambier district “for a couple of years”.
Witness reports
The Border Watch this week spoke to a number of residents in the region, who believe they have seen a Tasmanian tiger over the past 20 years.
Mumbanna farmer Yvonne Hines said her sighting 16 years ago was still vivid in her mind.
“I know what I saw - I am absolutely convinced it was a Tasmanian tiger,” Mrs Hines said.
“What really struck me was the animal’s hindquarters - they were so different.”
She recalled the night when she was driving along the Princes Highway between Mumbanna and Mount Gambier, about 7.30pm.
“I saw something up ahead. At first I thought it was a kangaroo, but when I got closer I thought it was a fox, then I thought that’s not a fox - there’s no bushy tail,” Mrs Hines said.
“I saw the back hindquarters - they really struck me, along with the striped markings on the animal.
“I have been travelling on country roads for a long time - I know what I saw.”
She said when she told her family of her unusual sighting “they just laughed” at her.
Meanwhile, Glenburnie resident Joan Smith said she saw a Tasmanian tiger near the Mount Gambier Racecourse about five years ago.
“It was crossing the road. It had a long tail, stripes and a puggy face - it was too big to be a fox,” Mrs Smith said.
Mumbanna resident - who did not wished to be named - also told of a similar tale.
He said he saw the side profile of the animal on the side of the road for about “10 to 15 seconds”.
“At first I thought it was a kangaroo, then I saw these bright blue eyes reflecting,” the eyewitness said.
“I then thought it was a fox, but when I got closer it was too big to be a fox. It was shaped a bit like a greyhound and it had a very large chest.”
He said he was fascinated by local sightings after his eye-witness account.
“I feel very fortunate to have made a sighting,” the resident said.
Meanwhile, he said he had also seen “big dog-like prints” in the soil around the Victorian Border several years ago.
SANDRA MORELLO
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18 Responses to “High-tech search for Tasmanian tiger”
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Michael Moss has put in many years of collecting evidence relating to the occurence of unknown animals which I, as a researcher of such phenomena, can fully appreciate. However I feel that reference to positive identification of the animals involved eg pumas , is some what premature till a specimen is obtained. Doubtless any predator capable of killing an adult sheep or kangaroo is worthy of our respect but to assume human life is in danger is presumptious till this occurs. Very few witnesses have reported agressive behaviours from purported bigcats, but those that have have noted the animals break off their approach when they are close to people.
The advent of digital photography has removed any chance of a photograph being definative evidence. Therefore the need for specimens of the unidentified predators in question, lodged in appropriate institutions, is paramount.
The patronising arrogance of Simon Townsend, who is not a naturalist, needs to be placed in context. His lack of judgement was highlighted a couple of years back when in the Echo newspaper, Surf Coast Victoria, he said a photograph of a stuffed toy panther photographed at a distance sitting on a rock was a real life panther.
His contribution to big cats in Australia is pretty well zero.
He has jumped on the big cat bandwagon and he is a strong supporter of the modern Australian overstaffed state government conservation monopolies where employment is based on a job for life due to the dominance of the public sector unions over the state governments who control the majority of conservation.
Conservation in Australia is stuck in the 20th century with these state government monopolies being largely unaccountable. Tasmanian tigers and big cats are symptoms of a much wider problem in rural Australia the smothering of innovation, world’s best practice, accountability and it should be mentioned I once worked for over eight years in a state government monopoly and have seen first hand how unaccountable they are.
Michael Moss, 32, was found guilty of using a telecommunications service to menace after he appeared at Sale Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
He pleaded guilty to making threatening phone calls to a Department of Natural Resources and Environment officer based at Loch Sport.
Moss is well known for researching Tasmanian Tigers in Loch Sport National Parks areas.
He was convicted and fined $2500.
(from) Times - Spectator, Tuesday 15 September 1998.
Just when you thought the hunt for ‘big cats’ couldn’t get any weirder.
Now I know it’s time to just move on…….
It should be noted the above freedom of information request was taken out by myself in july 2008 which showed no sightings recorded of thylacine/big cats 2002-2008 or attempts to locate meaning national parks and wildlife are not recording sightings reported to them in writing as their above comment reveals in the article.New webpage is http://www.thylacineheights.com.au
Have you considered Mr. Moss, that the Parks and wildlife had no recorded sightings because there weren’t any?
You have too much invested in this to be impartial. Unfortunately, this compromises your evidence.
Just want to say that I was walking alone between Western Creek and Dairy Plains, on Western Creek Road, at 7.30am in July 2007, I was on Western Creek Road; I heard a noise in the scrub on my left and dismissed it thinking it was a paddymelon, but had a double-take when I realised it was larger than a smallish marsupial. The grass was quite long and I saw the hindquarters of what I believe to be a Tasmanian Tiger.
I caught glimpses of an animal, dog-like in appearance but had to think that, when I saw a shorter than a dog tail and distinctive stripes I may have witnessed a Tasmanian Tiger. It bounded, rather than hopped, and disappeared into a clumping grass. I watched as it obviously went underground, the grass clump would have been about 2 mtrs high and about 1mtr wide. The whole event took perhaps 30 seconds from start to finish.
I have told my friends and family, all of whom laugh at the preposterous idea, I guess that is why it has taken me a year to report what I saw.
I had never actually thought that these magnificent creatures might be alive and living in an underground series of caves, but I would hope that one day I will return to this area and be able to photograph what I saw.
I was alone, it was early morning on a clearn but cool day. I had been to a funeral at Western Creek, on Western creek Road
Funerals can wreck your day…especially early morning when the grief can smack you in the face..even into the next week.
I hope that is not the case for you…that you have adjusted to your loss.
I find it interesting though, people who see things..or hear things that go bang in the night…are often alone.
That being said, I am not suggesting you have imagined all this stuff…it is just that the anatomy of your sighting…the evidence is not supported…true you know what you saw..I know you are not telling a whopper…it is convincing other people that we are not nutters…this is aways the biggest problem.
Just throwing in my 2 cents. It is very possible that pumas could be hiding out in Australia’s wild areas. The mountain lion, or puma, is very common in my state. However, they are seldom seen. they are very elusive and stay away. That being said, there have been attacks by pumas on people.
Pumas kill by biting the neck of their prey. They do kill for sport as well. I know several ranchers that have lost multiple sheep in one night, none of them eaten.
As far as the thylacine is concerned, I also believe that it is there. If it were just a couple of reports you could just discount them. But, out of thousands of reports there has to be some that are real. I believe that the photographic evidence is out there, and that person needs to come forward for the benefit of the species.
No way it was Pumas American Tourist. It was marsupial lions.They are there because touring Australian circuses released them in the 1940’s. There there, all right. No way that they are not. I know, you see. I am an expert. Loads of people have seen them. They have evidence. Foot print casts, chewed up sheep, hundreds of sightings, a few blurry pictures, droppings I know this because I am an expert on marsupial lions in America. No-one knows more about it than me, and if you question me on it, well, your just stupid and unscientific, because I know more than you. Nynaa, nyaa ,nyaaa!
If you think I might be wrong thats because you are.
LA, LA, LA I CAN”T HEAR YOU!
Ummm… ooook. Did I miss something.
Yes. Irony.
Barry, what the hell was that? My comments weren’t a shot at you, no need to get pissy. Either offer something constructive to the conversation, or just shut up!
Just out of curiosity from the last couple of sentences in your most recent post Barry.
May I ask how old you are ?
As everyone who has responded seems to have missed it, I will have to explain.
I was using irony.
I actually said as much on September 19th, 2008 10:11 pm.
American Tourist, please don’t be confused, I was not having a swipe at you. I was having a swipe at the BIG CAT fanciers. I was using the same arguments that they seem to be so fond of. They are the ones who know all about pissy.
Yes, it sounds ridiculous, juvenile and arrogant. Thats the point.
I hope that clears it up for those that missed what I thought was very obvious.
I will have to be less ironic in future.
Did anyone actually get it?
Alright Barry, sorry for swiping at you too. Agreed, some people are impossible to have discussions with.
I hope that the thylacine is still alive, but the probability is very high that these sightings are of more common animals: domestic dogs and cats. It’s hard for most people to believe that the thylacine has survived for 70 years without detection, but it is the crytid animal with the best sightings to date.
Similar to what your saying Barry, a huge “UFO” flew over Phoenix about 10 years ago. UFO fanciers were adamant that it was a UFO and the government was covering it up. However, it was proved to be flares from a military plan. But, another set of lights flew over Phoenix hours before the huge “UFO” sighting. Those were much more mysterious because they flew at a higher rates of speed and changed directions several times. UFO enthusiasts blew that off. Ironic.
No Barry, sorry I didn’t get it…am feeling a bit brain dead but I am so glad to learn it was only irony…you were being ironic.
Okay…maybe my confusion is now compounded by the UFOs flying about…now I am losing it.
After consulting my dictionary & thesaurus, I have arrived at the conclusion that this is all too alien to deal with.
Charles Darwin would find this so stimulating.
Did you hear that the Church of England had recently apologized to Darwin?
I haven’t heard any thing similar from the former Cardinal Ratzinger.