FEATURESTORY The Tasmanian tiger was declared officially extinct when the last zoo animal died in Hobart in 1936. But over the years there have been several possible sightings on the outskirts of Cranbourne. CATHERINE WATSON reports.
Tiger tale: Michael Moss believes Tasmanian tigers may pass through the outskirts of Cranbourne. Picture: Rebecca Halls/Warrnambool Standard
Tiger identikit DISTINGUISHING features of the thylacine: ■ Stripes across the rump and lower tail (in most individuals). ■ The thickness of the tail at the rump. ■ The low hock (heel). ■ Size: ranges from the size of a fox to a large German shepherd, depending on age and sex. ■ Colour: sandy to dark brown with darker stripes. ■ Gait: unusual, slow and clumsy to very fast, sometimes bounding or sitting up. — Australian Rare Fauna Research Association
Tiger take: Michael Moss believes Tasmanian tigers may pass through the outskirts of Cranbourne.
Picture: Rebecca Halls/Warrnambool Standard
The ghost of a chance n image of a Tasmanian tiger sticks in many people’s minds. Pictured in the Hobart Zoo in 1936, the lone animal stares warily out of her cage, the last remnant of a doomed species. She died soon after the photo was taken. The Tasmanian tiger haunts the Australian imagination as no other animal does. Perhaps it’s because Australians watched it become extinct before their eyes and only realised when it was gone what they had lost. Less than 30 years earlier, the Tasmanian government had been paying out a bounty on tigers. It wasn’t until 1936 that it was gazetted as a protected species. Even in the 1950s, 15 or 20 years after the animal had been declared nationally extinct, reports of possible sightings prompted carloads of men with dogs and guns to set out on tiger hunts. The hunts were always unsuccessful, and a question mark remains on whether the tiger survives on the mainland. Independent researcher Michael Moss has no doubt it does. Moss, who grew up in Cranbourne South, says there have been possible sightings around Cranbourne going back at least a few decades. Reports have come from Cranbourne South near the Royal Botanic Gardens, Devon Meadows, Tooradin and Crib Point. In June 2009, the Cranbourne Journal (predecessor of the Casey Weekly) ran an article on a
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possible sighting of a Tasmanian tiger crossing Chevron Avenue, Cranbourne South, in 2001. Another Cranbourne resident claimed to have seen a tiger in Tooradin in 2000. Moss never saw a tiger while he was a boy. In fact, he didn’t become interested until about 1995. He agrees the animal is almost certainly extinct in Tasmania but believes it could still exist on the mainland. ‘‘It’s a theory I can’t prove. I think it will be found again. I filmed one in an open paddock near Foster in November 1998, the first and only time I have seen one.’’ The video footage, which is available on Youtube, shows an animal with an unusual gait heading up a hillside. Moss says the animal was videoed from a distance so there is some conjecture about it but as far as he is concerned it’s a Tasmanian tiger. He also has a theory about how it got there. Between 1910 and 1941, he says, the Commonwealth introduced 23 threatened native species to range in the Wilsons Promontory National Park. They included wombats, quolls, kangaroos, wallabies, fish and bandicoots. Tasmanian tigers aren’t included on the list but Moss says they would have been prime candidates. ‘‘They would have kept it quiet or farmers would have gone in and shot the animals.’’ But does it survive on the mainland? The Australian Rare Fauna Research Association has
[ 8 ] CASEY WEEKLY – CRANBOURNE – YOUR COMMUNITY VOICE
August 6, 2012
HAVE YOUR SAY Have you seen an animal that could be a Tasmanian tiger? Let us know on 9238 7649 or at caseyweeklycranbourne.com.au.
about 3800 mainland sightings of an animal answering the description of the tiger in its files. ARFRA secretary Dorothy Williams says a quick search brings up reports from Crib Point (1973), Warneet (1997) and Tooradin (2000). While this is no hot spot for sightings, there are clusters of sightings not far away in the Dandenongs to the north, part of the east coast of Western Port, and south from Wonthaggi, among many more scattered Gippsland sightings. ‘‘It’s always possible that some unexpected event can send an animal away from its usual territory.’’ She says the accounts differ from one eyewitness to another, but two details are constant: vertical stripes on the animal’s back and its peculiar gait. People often report that the animal they saw ran clumsily, and nothing like a dog or fox. What the association doesn’t have yet is a photograph, the remains of a tiger from the mainland or — best of all — a live animal. DNA tests of such an animal would solve the
final mystery: whether mainland tigers — if they exist — are related to Tasmanian tigers, whether they are remnants of a separated mainland population or whether they are a different but similar animal. The association is careful in its use of language when talking about possible sighting. It does not claim that the tiger exists, only that it has too many credible reports to ignore the possibility. In 1979, there was a much reported report of a Tasmanian tiger by fencing workers at Lang Lang early one morning. This is one of the few daytime reports, it was seen by several people and — very importantly — they hadn’t been drinking. Moss says it’s not surprising a tiger has not been captured or definitively photographed. ‘‘It is a transient animal — it would just be passing through.’’ He believes new technology is changing the equation. He has half a dozen infrared cameras that he rotates around various sites in Victoria and many more people will install dash cameras as the price comes down. ‘‘Over the coming years, someone will be driving along and press the shutter.’’ To report possible sightings, leave a report on the Australian Rare Fauna Research Association website at afra.org or call Michael Moss on 0434 904 944.