Thylacine bounty; by location?

[oldrover]

Hello, and I hope I'm posting this in the right section. I did a search for 'thylacines' picked out the result that seemed most appropriate, the discussion regarding the paper about how much of a part disease played in their extinction, and posted it in the same forum.

What I'd like to ask is whether anyone has got or could direct me to a record of thylacine bounty payments by date and location. I realise of course that no bounty record will ever be comprehensive. But I would be interested in whether the bounties were mostly paid from certain highly productive areas, such as Woolnorth, or whether they match fairly well the increasing human distribution on the island. In one of the rare lucid sections of Paddle's book, he mentions surveys conducted as far back as the late 1800s(?) the results of which seemed to suggest that the species had already become subject to localised extinctions.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Pertinax]

What I'd like to ask is whether anyone has got or could direct me to a record of thylacine bounty payments by date and location.

In one of the rare lucid sections of Paddle's book, he mentions surveys conducted as far back as the late 1800s(?) the results of which seemed to suggest that the species had already become subject to localised extinctions.

Do you have access to Eric Guiler's book 'Thylacine, Tragedy of the Tasmanian Tiger'? He goes into the Bounty payments fairly extensively, and on Page 70 there is a map showing proportionate circles for the number and distribution of 2131 bounty payments across the island, 1888-1909. Further details are given for Woolnorth also.

I agree Paddle's book, which I have only recently read, is very strange in some parts, particularly the rantings about scientific and political chauvinism. He also made a major faux pas in insisting the last Thylacine in Hobart Zoo was a female- its been proved since that it was male.

 

[oldrover]

I must admit I haven’t tracked down a copy of Guiler’s book, they don’t seem to be that easy to get hold of. There’s a couple on Amazon and as far as I understand it they want £200 plus for them. Annoyingly I’m sure I've seen the map you mean reproduced somewhere else, I just can’t recall where.

As for Paddle, I find him just as selective and prejudiced as any of those he criticises. There’s not even a hint of a methodology behind any of his assertions, and he doesn't give any plausible criteria as to why info has been accepted or rejected. Trouble is though people are going round referencing the bloody book as if it’s passed some sort of peer review.

But then sadly I think that much thylacine research is pretty questionable. I wonder sometimes if it isn't carried out in a little too much isolation, published a little too fast, and with a little too much attention on impact.

Returning to Paddle, one thing I did find very interesting though was the section about Alison Reid, her and her father’s treatment by the local authority and the introduction of inexperienced staff. Hell of testimony for the last known representative of the species; gave its life for the ET scheme.

And yes, he really shows himself up with his ‘last lone male’ claptrap.

 

[Pertinax]

I must admit I haven’t tracked down a copy of Guiler’s book, they don’t seem to be that easy to get hold of. There’s a couple on Amazon and as far as I understand it they want £200 plus for them. Annoyingly I’m sure I've seen the map you mean reproduced somewhere else, I just can’t recall where.


Returning to Paddle, one thing I did find very interesting though was the section about Alison Reid, her and her father’s treatment by the local authority and the introduction of inexperienced staff. Hell of testimony for the last known representative of the species; gave its life for the ET scheme.

I bought my copy in a bookshop in Hobart...maybe its pricy because its unusual/out of print/published in Australia. The bounty distribution map sets the circles pretty much evenly all over Tasmania barring the South West, tie-ing in with the accepted distribution. If you pm me with your address I can photocopy it and send it to you if you like.

I also found the section about Alison Reid and the last days of Hobart Zoo one of the more enlightening chapters in Paddle's book, which seems to veer from complex rantings to detailed and very interesting sections with a lot of fresh anecdotal information on their behaviour; e.g. the chapters on (supposed) hunting techniques/ vocalisations, breeding/relationships with man.

I met both Eric Guiler and Alison Reid on my first visit there. Of course she was an old lady by then and I had no idea about her cavalier treatment by the authorities in the past. It goes without saying the treatment of the 'last' thylacine was pretty abysmal too, particularly as by then they must have been well aware it was a very rare animal indeed.

I have also replied to your other Thylacine post in the Cryptozoology section of the General Discussion.

 

[oldrover]

Firstly thanks very much for the kind offer to send on a copy of the map, I’ve sent a PM. Much appreciated.

You met Eric Guiler and Alison Reid, that’s pretty impressive, what a wonderful opportunity. I’d have loved a few minutes of their time. Especially Reid I know I’ll never see a thylacine so I’d love to have had the chance to speak to a first hand witness.

Interesting thought about the three films being of the same animal. Looking again, as well as the snare mark being present in the same place, I felt that the left hand side stripe patterns in the two other sequences matched the animal in the Fleay footage very, very closely. And the one time you do get to see the animal briefly from the right in one of the 1928 films (number 3 of The Thylacine Museum page) the pattern is again very similar to the 1933 thylacine. Though to be honest due to the quality of the footage as available to me I can’t really tell. Also I note that it’s not certain that this right hand view is of the same animal as the one seen in the bulk of the footage, certainly the quality of the film changes. I doubt that means too much though given that the clarity of the Fleay film itself fluctuates a fair bit. As does I notice does the order of scenes from place to place, in the Australian National Film and Sound Archive version of the film things happen in a different order than in the Thylacine Museum’s for example.

I’ve contacted the Thylacine Museum also and found the guy running it to be very helpful. One of the things I wanted to find out was if he could direct me to anything published regarding the often quoted results Henry Nix had from his bioclim programme. No luck there though I’m afraid.

 

[Pertinax]

You met Eric Guiler and Alison Reid, that’s pretty impressive, what a wonderful opportunity. I’d have loved a few minutes of their time. Especially Reid I know I’ll never see a thylacine so I’d love to have had the chance to speak to a first hand witness.

Interesting thought about the three films being of the same animal. Looking again, as well as the snare mark being present in the same place, I felt that the left hand side stripe patterns in the two other sequences matched the animal in the Fleay footage very, very closely. And the one time you do get to see the animal briefly from the right in one of the 1928 films (number 3 of The Thylacine Museum page) the pattern is again very similar to the 1933 thylacine.

Eric Guiler I was able to meet through a relative who knew him. Alison Reid I can't remember how we tracked her down but she lived in a little terrace house in the city and was happy to chat and reminisce about the Thylacines, about which she had obviously been interviewed many times before, and were obviously her 'claim to fame'. Looking back now it was quite a highspot. Stephen Smith who conducted the 1980 WWF Sightings Survey was also very helpful too.

Regarding the films- the identical snare mark on the animal in all three films pretty much clinches it for me, but I also looked carefully at the stripes on the three different films and like you, thought they were a match too. In some photos(e.g. Plate 8.2 in Paddle's book) the snare mark is on the 'wrong' leg but that's where the same photo has been reversed, though it can confuse things. I had never noticed this snare mark when looking at Fleay's film in the past, or read his short but entrancing description of the last zoo Thylacine, until I came across the 'Thylacine Museum.'