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oldrover Great Old One Joined: 18 Oct 2009 Total posts: 2146 Location: Wales Gender: Male |
 Posted: 23-01-2013 23:27 Post subject: Thylacine documentary with stellar cast |
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(To be fair I should point out that I found the link to this documentary on the 'quest for thylocoleo.com site)
This film has got a few mistakes in the narration but there's plenty of expert opinion delivered by most of the major figures in thylacine research, most notably Guiler and Mooney. It's also got interviews with some of the names from the past such as Wilf Batty who recounts, in a thick northern English accent, his thoughts and actions leading up to and including this;
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Bv1n0yWwEj8/TANwJOngKCI/AAAAAAAAG0o/1EBy04qPuqE/s1600/IMGP1520.JPG
As well as Alison Reid who relates how the last captive specimen was received by the public in her father's zoo, and Pat Wessing's affecting if not especially convincing sighting.
It's a balanced view of the state of affairs back in the late 90's.
To be found here;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krf9f6iBrqU |
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| amyasleigh Great Old One Joined: 03 Nov 2009 Total posts: 381 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 26-01-2013 19:07 Post subject: |
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I found this documentary fascinating, but not what you would call heartening: it confirmed my already strong feeling (echoing your sentiments on this matter, oldrover) that it appears 99.75% certain that, as purely-flesh-and-blood anyway, the thylacine is at the present time, extinct. If by some miracle a very few specimens still survive, their numbers would seem so low that the species is doomed.
A telling moment for me in the documentary, was Nick Mooney's remark that thylacine-sighting reports over the past three-quarter-century are overall as numerous / good in quality, from the Australian mainland, as from Tasmania (plus, almost all data is in the form of anecdotal accounts -- next-to-no hard evidence). And Mooney is convinced that the species does not exist on the mainland; and I would concur -- with the data for-and-against that I see, I find the notion of a flesh-and-blood population of thylacines on the mainland today, impossible to buy. (Others' mileages will, expectably, vary.)
My "take" -- others will no doubt disagree -- on the continuing sighting reports (Tasmania, and mainland), is that the least unlikely conclusion is: where it is not a matter of things being "all within people's heads", one way and another; then the paranormal is somehow in play. Regarding everything said in this post, I'd greatly wish to be able to think things were otherwise -- would love the thylacine still to be with us, and with a chance of continuing survival. |
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| oldrover Great Old One Joined: 18 Oct 2009 Total posts: 2146 Location: Wales Gender: Male |
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| PaulTaylor Yeti Joined: 27 Jan 2013 Total posts: 79 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 17-02-2013 14:48 Post subject: |
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Excellent documentary, oldrover!  I'd so love to see new footage of this animal, with David Attenborough describing its habits and history. It seems fairly clearly extinct in Australia and Tasmania. I suppose I wouldn't rule out its continued existance in New Guinea. After all, if we rule out the possible survival of an animal known to have once existed in a little explored location, we may as well dimiss from consideration every man-beast, lake monster and prehistoric reptile described by natives and modern explorers, and this message board's moderators will suddenly get bored. |
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| oldrover Great Old One Joined: 18 Oct 2009 Total posts: 2146 Location: Wales Gender: Male |
| Posted: 17-02-2013 18:36 Post subject: |
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Hi Paul and welcome to the forum.
I agree that it's extinct in Australia and Tasmania. Australia I think was always a bit of nonsense, despite what Paddle says about a South Australian bounty scheme in the 1800's. Tasmania while you can't be 100% sure they're gone you can be about 99.9% certain. As for New Guinea it's certainly possible that they still survive. People often point out that they weren't rain forest creatures so the majority of the habitat there wouldn't be suitable, this tends to ignore that fact that nobody seems to have told the thylacines this as we know for certain that they were living there. Also the last few captures during the 30's were made in the heavily forested areas of S.W Tasmania.
All of this said though, as has been pointed out wild dogs have been in New Guinea longer than Australia. So as someone who believes that competition with dogs was the main mechanism of their extinction, I wouldn't put their chances of surviving there as being any higher than anywhere else.
| Quote: | | we may as well dimiss from consideration every man-beast, lake monster and prehistoric reptile described by natives and modern explorers |
As you may guess from the pessimistic tone of this post, I already do. |
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| PaulTaylor Yeti Joined: 27 Jan 2013 Total posts: 79 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 18-02-2013 18:17 Post subject: |
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| oldrover wrote: | | Hi Paul and welcome to the forum. |
Thanks for the welcome! Should have responded earlier, but there is so much to read on this message board.
| oldrover wrote: | | Quote: | | we may as well dimiss from consideration every man-beast, lake monster and prehistoric reptile described by natives and modern explorers |
As you may guess from the pessimistic tone of this post, I already do. |
I've got to keep faith that there are still some extraordinary animals out there for us to find, just looking at history, and the sheer quantity of mystery beasts described with relative consistency. I always think that the possibility of any one given mystery beast existing is probably quite low, but taken over all of those described the possibility of at least one or two existing must be quite high. Thylacines were beautiful creatures, and we're lucky to have some good footage and photos of them in zoos. But what a thing it would be for one to be filmed in the wild, as unlikely as that is! |
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| Happydaysuall Grey Joined: 18 Jan 2013 Total posts: 6 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 18-02-2013 20:37 Post subject: |
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Mmmm really enjoyed the documentary although I have to admit I dosed off twice
Thanks again old rover but would like to disagree that these mysterious creatures are
Completely lost and would love dream that there is a possibility they are still out there some where. |
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| oldrover Great Old One Joined: 18 Oct 2009 Total posts: 2146 Location: Wales Gender: Male |
| Posted: 18-02-2013 23:02 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | would like to disagree that these mysterious creatures are
Completely lost and would love dream that there is a possibility they are still out there some where. |
I understand the desire to want them to still be there, believe me I have it more than most and have done for the last 25 years or so. And if belief, faith or sheer wanting could make any difference I'm sure that between all of us, we thylacine fanciers we'd have wished the species back into existence a hundred times over. Sadly it can't, nothing can change the fact the animal barely made it into the twentieth century. Even then all it had ahead of it was more habitat loss, disease, hunting and over collecting, and on a small island it had nowhere to go.
There's been no confirmed evidence of the animal since 1937, plenty of rumour and eye witnesses but nothing else. The eye witness accounts are almost entirely unconvincing and even the better ones, i.e those which don't give descriptions that directly contradict a thylacine, seem to describe the modern misconceived idea of what they looked like, rather than the actual animal. Of them all I know of only two that I think could reasonably be taken as possibly being a thylacine, and neither are recent. These are the Naarding sighting, and another by a hiker sometime in the 90's.
Saying that, as sure I am they're extinct I still find myself hoping.
| Quote: | | I always think that the possibility of any one given mystery beast existing is probably quite low, but taken over all of those described the possibility of at least one or two existing must be quite high |
That reminds me of what Nick Mooney says about thylacine sightings, that you get as good a quality sighting from the mainland as you do from Tasmania. Like him I believe that means there's less reason for hope in Tasmania, rather than it suggesting there's any cause for hope on the mainland.
Excuse my unusual amount of pessimism but my friend returned from Australia today without my dearly hoped for novelty thylacine oven glove. |
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| Happydaysuall Grey Joined: 18 Jan 2013 Total posts: 6 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 19-02-2013 11:27 Post subject: Old rover |
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Well thanks very much for that old rover feel a little depressed now
Perhaps you should consider why you didn't
Get a oven glove  |
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| Happydaysuall Grey Joined: 18 Jan 2013 Total posts: 6 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 19-02-2013 13:22 Post subject: |
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| On a lighter note if you or anyone you know would like to own the much coveted Tasmanian tiger oven glove then I may be able to help as I might have a job opportunity in that neck of the woods apparently they are looking for pilots to spray some chemicals over the bush land let me know |
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