The whole idea behind the bounty was to get rid of them. They were considered a menace by farmers and that was enough. Conservation has only gained widespread recognition in recent decades. Before that only a minority cared about saving animals from extinction. One thing was that many had a fundamental Christian view where animals were made for us by God but even more important are level of education and daily surplus to think about other things than getting enough food for ourself and our family. It is difficult to judge people of a different era by current standards.
From Guiler. 1961. reproduced in 'The Tragedy of the Tasmanian Tiger'
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 (2040 adults. 144 juveniles)
The scheme ran for three more years until 1912, but no more animals were presented in those years.
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 (2040 adults. 144 juveniles)
The scheme ran for three more years until 1912, but no more animals were presented in those years.
A real sad story and poignant too (to the point how careless us humans have been over biodiversity).
It would seem that at the time of the extermination process the Tassie wolf was never common given those low numbers of kills ...
It would seem that at the time of the extermination process the Tassie wolf was never common given those low numbers of kills ...
Sid the gos
Member
There is a terrific book by Robert Paddle (History and Extinction of the Tasmainian Tiger). It's a must read, I loved it!!
It would seem that at the time of the extermination process the Tassie wolf was never common given those low numbers of kills ...
I think that's a pretty big number of kills for an Apex predator which is obviously going to be less numerous than the prey species that support it.
All the literature suggests there was a population crash around the time the Bounty scheme ended, but whether it was caused by the effect of the Bounty scheme, or other causes, will never be known now.
If you read Guiler and Paddle, both of them note that there are strong indications that a disease with similar symptoms as canine distemper was raging through the thylacine population during the bounty scheme (there are similar indications that the tasmanian devil and spotted quoll populations populations crashed end of the 19th century/early 20th).
sorry if this was not clear.