The Tasmanian Tiger

[SteveNT]

Natural predators = us mob.

natural competitors = canis familiaris (4k years at best.)

Tiger ate the meat, Devil ate the skin and bones. Both solitary except for breeding.

Then canis familiaris arrives= social, numerous and cunning (and they leave nothing). Their group hunting skills ejected the tigers and the Devils from the mainland and only Bass Strait saved the mob on Tassie.

Such is life.

 

[AllThingsReptile]

with this Painting thing, theres actually a confirmed Tasmanian Tiger painting on Mt Pilot Vic., and no this is no tourist bull, i have been up there many many times (herping ) and we have got multiple elders saying that it is infact a real painting

 

[SteveNT]

with this Painting thing, theres actually a confirmed Tasmanian Tiger painting on Mt Pilot Vic., and no this is no tourist bull, i have been up there many many times (herping ) and we have got multiple elders saying that it is infact a real painting

No doubt here, as spaken, dogs have arrived comparitively recently Tigers & Devils were common on the mainland until then.

Life is tough when you're up against a gang,

 

[Tassie97]

[video=youtube;lpV95NYRTqA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lpV95NYRTqA[/video]

Tasmanian adventuring pair, The Tassie Boys, believe they have stumbled upon a Thylacine skull on the bank of creek in a remote area of Northern Tasmania.''We believe we have a story here that people want to hear,'' Levi Triffitt said.''We went trail riding last week were going to take some footage for our next film and we stumbled accross a skull in the form of a Thylacine.''We don't know exactly what is is yet but it is very similar to real skulls.The pair said they hahdn't had it professionally checked yet but wanted to go to the media first.''Everybody wants to believe they are still alive so even a chance makes a great story and there is a good chance it could be.'​

 

[Dark_Morelia]

Sorry to burst any bubbles, but it's a large dog skull.

 

[Tassie97]

Sorry to burst any bubbles, but it's a large dog skull.

hmm yer i just googled dog skull
oh well we can hope

 

[Sdaji]

...two in the bush is worth 1000,000 in the hand.

Arguably, perhaps, but any number in the hand is worth far more than zero in the bush.

As for thylacines, it's pretty obvious they are extinct, and I hope the myth that it was due to hunting has been dropped. It was quite clearly due to disease.

 

[jack]

just like it was disease that killed the first folks down there...

 

[waruikazi]

just like it was disease that killed the first folks down there...

Now that is an even bigger myth than that of the thylacines dieing from over hunting! But should probably be left for an anthropology rather than herpetology forum.

 

[Surroundx]

Last year (7th of September, 2011) was the 75th anniversary of the death of the last known Thylacine at Hobart Zoo, erroneously known as "Benjamin". A perfect example of convergent evolution now lost forever (unless cloning can revive it, which is seeming more unlikely as time passes). Figures for the "second" official bounty (simply a higher price paid per individual) are as follows:

1888-81
1889-113
1890-128
1891-90
1892-112
1893-107
1894-105
1895-109
1896-121
1897-120
1898-108
1899-143
1900-153
1901-151
1902-119
1903-96
1904-98
1905-111
1906-58
1907-42
1908-17
1909-2


Total: 2184 animals (2040 adults and 144 juveniles)


The bounty actually ran until 1912, but no animals were handed in to collect on their pelts. This is almost certainly due to the fact that live animals commanded much higher prices. So whether the dramatic decrease in the number of pelts being handed in starting in 1906, was due to increasing scarcity of the species, or a much greater demand for live specimens, remains somewhat unsolved.