'Hypercarnivore' relative of Tasmanian devil found in remote Queensland fossil field

PHOTO: Whollydooleya's tooth was discovered in 2013, but only recently formally identified. (Supplied: UNSW)

The fossilised tooth of a previously unknown 'hypercarnivore' marsupial has been uncovered in remote Queensland after scientists used satellite data to locate a new hotbed of archaeological records.
The discovery was made possible after a satellite discovery of a an archaeologically rich area of late Miocene rock about four hours' drive north of Mt Isa in outback Queensland.
The area was active from around 12 to 5 million years ago.
Named Whollydooleya tomnpatrichorum — or Whollydooleya for short — the animal was a much larger, distant cousin of the Tasmanian devil.
"This was an animal which was very considerably bigger than the largest [hypercarnivore] we've got today, the Tasmanian devil, probably two to three times," UNSW's Professor Mike Archer told the ABC.
Professor Archer said the animal — discovered with the fossils of several other small to medium animals new to science — was in the size range of thylacines but much more "massive".

While the tooth was first discovered in 2013, the animal is the first of those discovered to be formally identified.
Whollydooleya — and the place it was discovered, Wholly Dooleya Hill — is named after Riversleigh volunteer Genevieve Dooley, the partner of team member Phil Creaser, who named the fossil-rich hill for the team before various types of fossil came their way.
"There's also a new kind of kangaroo that turned up, a distant cousin of the musky rat kangaroo that lives on the Atherton Tableland," Professor Archer said.
Medium to large-sized Australian Late Miocene animals have previously been recorded at Northern Territory sites, but little is known about smaller animals from the period.

"The small to medium-sized mammals from the New Riversleigh deposits will reveal a great deal about how Australia's inland environments and animals changed between 12 and 5 million years ago," team member Dr Karen Black said.Satellites help uncover fossil field

The story behind the discovery of the new fossil field is almost as remarkable as the animals themselves.
 Scientists from UNSW used satellite data to locate the 'New Riversleigh' fossil field before visiting it via helicopter. (Supplied: UNSW)
A PhD student at the university, Ned Stephens, developed a way to use satellite data to find fossil fields by studying the frequencies being returned from known sites at the well-known Riversleigh World Heritage Area.
In 2012, Mr Stephens found a specific set of frequencies coming back up to the satellite but found it was being returned well outside the bounds of the known fossil fields.
"It turns out this area which we're calling New Riversleigh is bigger than the world heritage area, and yet it's not within the world heritage area," Professor Archer said.
"We're just beginning to understand there's a massive deposit of fossils out there which we had no idea about."
Source

Book Review: Lure Of The Thylacine by Col Bailey

By Mike Williams

Easily Col Bailey's best book so far, Lure Of the Thylacine is now out, the second of three planned books dedicated to the Thylacine. Get your copy HERE.

The passion and dedication that Col has put into this subject astounds me.

As engrossing as the stories are, what is perhaps the saddest thing is that they show you how ignorant people were, sometimes, in those days when they encountered these poor animals.

There are 64 punchy short chapters on Tiger encounters and stories, some that do end happily, at least for the tiger!

Professor Mike Archer has been so impressed with Col's work that he happily accepted the request to write a really thoughtful introduction.

Col's first book started when Col interviewed Reg Trigg back in 1980.

The tiger is still out there and the Lure Of The Thylacine will never go away.

Exhaust Notes talks to us about tracking Tigers with Toyota

The team over at Exhaust Notes caught up with some CFZers recently to talk about the recent Tasmanian expedition sponsored by Toyota Australia.

Here's a snippet:

Why did Toyota Australia sponsor your trips?

Toyota Australia agreed to sponsor our trips after we approached them with our idea. They thought the premise was exciting and a good fit for their 4WD vehicles; popular in regional and rural Australia. We were attracted to Toyota because of its solid reputation as a manufacturer of high performance off-road vehicles, and their popularity in the bush. It was a perfect match for us really, and meant we were able to do so much more than we had originally planned.

Get the full story over at Exhaust Notes.

On the trail of the Tiger

NSW man Michael Williams is on his eighth Toyota-sponsored trip in 10 years to the State searching for evidence the Tasmanian tiger walks the Apple Isle - 29 years after it was officially declared dead and gone.

The last known thylacine died in captivity on November 7, 1936.

"Initially I wasn't that much interested in the tiger and we did a book called Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers, which is folklore on the big cat mythology on the mainland," Mr Williams said.

"While we were doing that, we started to get Tassie tiger reports and we started to follow that up.

"I initially thought it couldn't exist and the quality of witnesses really surprised me.

"When I'm dealing with multiple witnesses especially on the same event, I just don't think that everyone of them is lying to or hoaxing me.

"When a husband and wife are sitting there and saying to me in 1994, 2004, or whatever, 'we saw three animals cross the road in front of us with a funny head, weird gait and stripes', I think they are telling the truth.

"All up, I have spoken to about 30 to 40 people."

Mr Williams said the last reported sighting he had received was 13 months ago when multiple witnesses allegedly watched a large adult male thylacine cross the road in the North-East.

He said if the carnivorous marsupial was still around, it would most likely be in the North-West or North East.

"The technology that I think will prove they do exist will be 'Joe Tourist' driving around with those crash cameras," Mr Williams said.

"At the moment I am primarily collecting reports and trying to find locations, farms and areas where the highest probability of me finding the tiger is.

"I'm looking for game trails to put cameras on."

Mr Williams said there were five other people in Tasmania searching for evidence and was excited for what may be discovered.

He said the best secondary evidence available was a coloured image of a thylacine's footprint, allegedly shot dead in 1990 near Adamsfield, published in Col Bailey's book.

"The original photo is in colour which means there was an animal existing, after the black and white era, so it was up to 1991 that they were still around, we believe," he said.

"What the museum does is play a subtle game with the truth, they go 'there is no secondary evidence'.

"If you speak to either of the museums when they get scats, they say 'this could be a Tassie tiger'.

"Their question is 'are you going to do DNA for it', and they say they 'don't have the budget'.

"If you go to the museum in Hobart they now use the term 'biological extinction', which is quite a weird argument.

"It means that it has got such a small genetic pool it has very little effect on the local fauna."

Mr Williams said he had been stalled by some Tasmanian private land owners, not wanting him to explore their land for various reasons.

"Eventually, we think it is worth a book - and after finding some really compelling evidence," he said.

"I think we will keep coming back for another 10 years.

"By that stage we will either be going 'yes we proved it' or know we are just deluded."

Mr Williams heads home on March 29 and is asking private land owners and those who believe they know where the animal is to call 0416 303 371.

Read the full story at The Examiner.

Tasmanian tiger trackers return to island for new expedition

An international team of Tasmanian tigers trackers is back in the island state for another Toyota-sponsored expedition to find the fabled creature.

The group of naturalists, headed by Mike Williams, returned last week to search for the thylacine, which was officially declared extinct in the early 1980s.

The last captive thylacine died in Hobart Zoo in 1936.

Joining Mr Williams on his latest six-week search will be zoologists and thylacine hunters from Britain and Denmark.

The expedition is being run by the Centre for Fortean Zoology, based in the UK and Australia, which investigates “mystery animals” considered rare, extinct or undiscovered.

It will be the group’s second expedition after travelling south in October 2013.

But Mr Williams, from New South Wales, has personally been searching for the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times for more than a decade

“If someone said to me when I first started that 10 years on we would still be getting tips — our last one was a year ago — I wouldn’t have believed you,” he said.

“With the increase of people using crash (dashboard-mounted) cameras, we believe a local using one might be a good chance of stumbling across a thylacine while driving.”

TIGER HUNTER CONFIDENT TECHNOLOGY WILL PROVIDE ANSWERS

The five-person team arrived in the state last week and has already been following up tips and speaking to people who claim they spotted the animal in the state’s north.

They will explore areas around northern Tasmania for about four weeks before shifting their focus to the state’s isolated south-west.

“Tasmania is recognised as one of the most biologically rich places on the planet, so it makes sense that the Tasmanian tiger could survive in remote parts of the state,” Mr Williams said.

“We believe that there is a breeding pack somewhere in Tasmania but we need proof.”

Robert Paddle, who wrote a book on the history and extinction of the thylacine titled The Last Tasmanian Tiger, said finding proof might be impossible.

“I would love to be proved wrong,” he said.

“But there is a definition of extinction and to change that you need a body.”

Have you seen a thylacine? Call Mr Williams on 0416 303 371.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/tasmanian-tiger-trackers-return-to-island-state-for-new-expedition/story-fnjj6013-1227239807893?sv=9bfbb1f0e0723868b2eacfcdc22ee86f#.VPKy6moDCD8.facebook

Search combs state for elusive Tasmanian Tiger

Mike Williams and Lars Thomas hit the Tiger trail.

An international team of naturalists from the Centre for Fortean Zoology has returned to Tasmania to search for the Tasmanian Tiger, Thylacinus cynocephalus, in one of the biggest concentrated ongoing searches yet for the elusive animal, which was officially declared extinct in the early 1980s.

Expedition leader Michael Williams said the six-week trip – once again generously sponsored by Toyota Australia - is exploring densely forested areas in the State’s north and south west.

"Tasmania is recognised as one of the most biologically rich places on the planet, so it makes sense that the Tasmanian Tiger could survive in remote parts of the State," Mr Williams said.

"Tasmania is also something of an ark for Australia, acting as a final refuge for many species declared extinct on the mainland, such as the Eastern quoll.

“As on previous trips, we have already collected several compelling accounts of recent sightings of the Tasmanian Tiger. On this trip we're hopeful of finding scats, hair or footage to back up claims this rare marsupial remains active in these areas."

Danish zoologist Lars Thomas has joined this year's expedition, and said the Tasmanian Tiger has long been a source of interest for him.

"The Tasmanian Tiger is possibly one of the most fascinating 'extinct' animals I can think of - for me it's very much an animal of the Victorian era, evoking the frontier times of Australia's convicts, colonists, and early Aboriginal tribes," Mr Thomas said.

"I think it's one of the few supposedly extinct animals on the planet that has the biggest likelihood of surviving."

The team is traversing the difficult terrain in two Toyota 4WD LandCruisers, using sophisticated game cameras, starlight scopes, and dash-cameras to monitor wildlife.

Expedition team members for 2015 include: Michael Williams (NSW/AUS), Lars Thomas (DENMARK), Dr Chris Clark (UK), Rebecca Lang (NSW/AUS), and Tony Healy (ACT/AUS).

Media Contact: Michael Williams on 0416 303 371.

Seen a Tiger? Share your sighting at cfzaustralia@yahoo.com.au

The Tasmanian Tiger: Extinct or Extant? makes Top 20

Great news!

The Tasmanian Tiger: Extinct or Extant? has made Loren Coleman's Top 20 list of best cryptozoology books for 2014.

Cryptomundo recently featured a guest blog post by anthology editor Rebecca Lang:

The last Thylacine in captivity died on September 7, 1936, ironically just two weeks shy of the species receiving protection status. In 1986, 50 years later, it would be declared extinct. By international standards it no longer exists, and is just another marsupial ghost haunting the Australian landscape following European settlement.

While Benjamin is often symbolically referred to as ‘The Last Thylacine’, in all likelihood the species persisted in the Tasmanian wilderness well into the 1930s, possibly until the 1950s. In 1980 then-Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife officer Steven Smith conducted a detailed study of sightings between 1934 and 1980, concluding of the 320 sightings, just under half could be considered good, if inconclusive.

Judging by the thousands of sightings logged by government departments and private research groups since that time, however, it may still roam remote parts of Tasmania...

New Australian book queries Tasmanian Tiger extinction...

Does the Tasmanian Tiger still roam the island state, parts of the Australian mainland, and the northern land mass of Irian Jaya-Papua New Guinea? 

Despite being hunted to extinction in the early part of the 20th century, the Tasmanian Tiger continues to stalk the imaginations of people the world over. What's more, hundreds of reports of the striped dog-like marsupial with the fearsome gaping jaw are made each year in Australia. 

In The Tasmanian Tiger: Extinct or Extant?, biologists, geneticists, naturalists, and academics explore the evidence for and against the continuing existence of Thylacinus cynocephalus.

Featuring essays by Peter Chapple, Ned Terry, Col Bailey, Bob Paddle, Nick Mooney, Tony Healy, Paul Cropper, Andrew Pask, Malcolm Smith, Gary Opit and Michael Williams.

Tassie Tiger search attracts cranky critics

In November, the CFZ launched a project to find evidence for a surviving population of Thylacines in Tasmania, Australia.

A team of 10 – five from the UK, five from Australia – went ‘in search of’ the Tasmanian Tiger, the first of several planned expeditions over a two-year period.

While we’ve had a few bouquets and ‘good onyas’, we’ve also received a few brickbats and nasty asides, which is mildly amusing all things considered.

We've even spent some time in the past few days directly responding to some of these ill-founded criticisms.

So here are the general criticisms and our responses to them, to save us time, as we won’t be visiting every cyber bolthole to personally respond to critics or address inaccuracies.

~~~

Criticism: It was a success, when clearly it wasn’t.

We never claimed it was! Put it down to journalistic licence – not everything you read is going to be verbatim, folks.

The journalist made the quote up (Wow, really? Never!). Her original question was “So it wasn’t a roaring success, was it?” His reply: “If you judge the word success as having a body or video of the animal as success, then no, our trip was not a success, but it was successful in that we collected many recent eyewitness statements and some scat for analysis.” (Not verbatim, but you get the drift.)

This trip is merely the first stage in a series of largely self-funded trips to be conducted over the next two years to gauge whether there is sufficient evidence of the Thylacine’s survival.

You can read our aims here: http://www.cfzaustralia.com/2013/10/toyota-backs-biggest-search-yet-for.html

Criticism: You created the perception that outsiders (outside Tasmania, that is) are coming to solve the mystery!

No, we didn’t. We have been liaising with some Tasmanians for many years. We have travelled down almost every year for the past eight years or so.

This is a wildlife mystery that transcends state lines and international borders.

We can’t control media interpretations or individual perceptions.

Criticism: We have ignored the previous excellent work by other researchers.

No, we haven’t.

We have been at pains to continually mention the work of countless other researchers including some of the luminaries in the field – David Fleay, Stephen Sleightholme, Eric Guiler, Heinz Moeller, Col Bailey, Bob Paddle, and Nick Mooney, to name a few.

Indeed, we are referring to their knowledge to inform what we are doing for our own project.

The media edit, omit and relay information as they see fit – we have no control over the final news product.

Criticism: The time period in the field is too short.

We would have loved to stay longer but we are all governed by financial obligations and mundane work-a-day concerns. This was the first of many trips over a two-year period.

Anyone want to sponsor us for some fulltime research? ☺

Criticism: We had too many people, or we didn’t have enough people.

The number of people on the trip is really irrelevant – members were split into teams to canvass areas, set up camera traps and interview witnesses.

There was not, as some people might imagine, a conga line of cryptozoologists shuffling through the Australian bush.

Criticism: We didn’t have the right background/expertise/knowledge to be undertaking the expedition.

Bear in mind that many of the great zoological rediscoveries of ‘Lazarus’ species (those species labelled extinct that have been ‘rediscovered’) have been made by everyday people, including naturalists (surviving night parrot population), fishermen (coelacanth, subsequently handed to a museum curator), teenagers (the Bermuda petrel was found by a 15yo boy, and subsequently a naturalist and ornithologist), and bushwalkers (the NZ Takahe was discovered by a bushwalker who also happened to be a doctor of medicine).

Many if not all scientists are at some stage informed in their discoveries by the knowledge of local people who are aware of the species but have felt no need to either classify them or study them in-depth. Seldom are these discoveries the work of just one person.

The team collectively is well read on the subject of Thylacines, have studied the scats and tracks of Australian (and in particular Tasmanian) wildlife, and plotted maps of contemporary sightings to inform the direction of the project.

The team is also liaising with scientists and other naturalists over any interesting discoveries we come across.

Like any good expedition, it’s all about teamwork both within and beyond the immediate team of people who travelled to Tasmania.

~~~

If you think you can do better by all means get involved – the more the merrier, and we just might collectively achieve something great!

If you think it’s all a waste of time, well, that’s fine too. But don’t waste your time or ours by moaning about it and expecting a reply.

In the meantime, we’ll just get on with it. As I’m sure every one of you has had personal experience of by now, the Internet can be a fantastic time sink.

Better we all spend our time doing something rather than just talking about doing, or rubbishing those out there who are doing. We're not the only ones out there looking, after all :-)

And to our loyal readers, supporters, and peers – thanks for rallying behind our multi-faceted project. Let's hope some good comes of it.

Cascade makes Thylacine extinct on label

In what we think is one of the strangest marketing decisions ever made, Tasmanian brewery Cascade has dumped the iconic Tasmanian Tiger from its labels.

As part of its rebranding to tap into the niche market for craft beer, it has ditched the (supposedly extinct) marsupial and replaced it with...a picture of the brewery.

 

We've also heard Cascade has quietly moved its Thylacine model, the one which used to sit behind the bar, elsewhere in line with the new branding direction. We'll miss that Tiger!

Is Thylacine truly extinct? The CFZ team not convinced.

Humans may be responsible for the extinction of the West African black rhinoceros and the Caribbean monk seal, but what about the Tasmanian tiger? A team of zoologists is not so sure.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) recently launched a new hunt for the species, which was once endemic to Australia.

The Thylacinus cynocephalus, commonly called thylacine or Tasmanian tiger for its characteristic stripes, was determined to be extinct as early as 1982.

Researchers are now scouring near Smithton on the island of Tasmania, in an attempt to find evidence that the Tasmanian tiger endures. So far, the team has spoken to several locals who claim to have spotted the creature and have submitted samples of animal feces for DNA testing.

Speaking to The Guardian, CFZ Zoological Director Richard Freeman said he has "no doubt" the species still exists. He told the British newspaper:

The area is so damn remote, there are so many prey species and we have so many reliable witnesses who know the bush that I’d say there is a reasonable population of them left. ... The people who say they’ve seen it have nothing to gain and everything to lose. I’d say there is a population of at least 300 of them.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the last reported Tasmanian tiger was captured in the wild in 1933 and taken to Tasmania's Hobart Zoo. Believed to be the last of its kind due to the population's decimation by Australian hunters, the animal died after three years in captivity.

The question of whether the Tasmanian tiger is really extinct has plagued zoologists for decades. Every so often, researchers seek to disprove the species' extinct status by searching for new evidence of the thylacine's existence.

Zoologists have been unsuccessful to date, and the Australian government still holds that no conclusive evidence has been uncovered. Until it is, the possible existence of the Tasmanian tiger remains a mystery.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/11/tasmanian-tiger-not-extinct-still-alive_n_4255895.html?ir=Green

Extinct species may be alive

A species long believed to be extinct may be declared alive thanks to a team of British naturalists set on finding the elusive wild animal.

A group from the Centre for Fortean Zoology has began looking for the Tasmanian tiger, also known as the thylacine, in Tasmania's northwest, where clues to the animal's existence have reportedly been found, The Guardian reports.

"[We'll have] a lot of trail cameras, game cameras and we've all got infra-red devices ... just spotlighting, looking for tracks," team member Tony Healy told the Australian Broadcast Corporation.

The last confirmed sighting of a Tasmanian tiger was in 1933, when one was captured and taken to the Hobart Zoo. It died three years later and the species was declared extinct in the 1980s. While there have been numerous sightings since then, none have been confirmed, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

The animal, which looks like a large, long dog with stripes, was usually mute – except while hunting, when it made distinctive yaps. The arrival of European settlers are partially to blame for the Tasmanian tiger’s extinction where bounties were placed on thylacines’ heads, effectively wiping them out.

Previous photographic searches conducted between 1988 and 1993 were inconclusive. Even the latest expedition has little support from the scientific community. "It would be great to have traditional scientists on board, but most scientists wouldn't put their name to this sort of thing anyway," expedition leader Mike Williams, a landscaper from New South Wales, told The Examiner.  "Let's face it, it's not going to enhance your career with this sort of fringe subject."

The team says they have spoken to several “highly credible” witnesses who have seen the Tasmanian tiger, including a forestry worker who reportedly saw the animal in daylight in 2011, and have collected animal feces that could belong to the thylacine which will be sent away for DNA analysis.

Richard Freeman, zoological director for the Centre for Fortean Zoology, firmly believes the Tasmanian tiger still exists. “The area is so damn remote, there are so many prey species and we have so many reliable witnesses who know the bush that I’d say there is a reasonable population of them left,” he said. ““The people who say they’ve seen it have nothing to gain and everything to lose. I’d say there is a population of at least 300 of them.”

Read more at: http://www.ibtimes.com/tasmanian-tiger-still-exists-new-hunt-extinct-thylacine-begins-1465120

Credible witnesses and interesting scats - compelling evidence?

It had been considered extinct for nearly 80 years, but the Tasmanian tiger has been declared alive and kicking by an intrepid group of British naturalists.

A team of investigators from the Centre for Fortean Zoology, which operates from a small farmhouse in north Devon, is currently in Tasmania hunting down clues to prove the thylacine, commonly known as the Tassie tiger, still exists.

The group claims to have gathered compelling evidence of the thylacine’s presence in remote parts of Tasmania’s north-west, despite the last known animal dying in Hobart Zoo on 7 September 1936.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology said it has talked to several “highly credible” witnesses of the thylacine and has found animal faeces that could belong to the beast. The droppings have been preserved in alcohol and are being sent awayfor DNA analysis.

The cryptozoologist team, which has previously attempted to find the yeti and boasts that has evidence of a mysterious Indonesian ape that walks on two legs, is one week into a fortnight-long trip to discover if the thylacine still exists.

Richard Freeman, zoological director of the organisation, told Guardian Australia he has “no doubt” the species still roams isolated areas of Tasmania.

“The area is so damn remote, there are so many prey species and we have so many reliable witnesses who know the bush that I’d say there is a reasonable population of them left,” he said. “I’d say there are more of them around in the world than Javan rhinos.” The World Wildlife Fund estimates that there are just 35 Javan rhinos left.

Freeman said he had spoken to a forestry worker who had seen an animal in daylight in 2011 which was distinctive because of its striped rear end, long stiff tail and “weird rolling motion, almost like a cow” when it walked.

A government wildlife marksman and several local people had spotted the same distinctive type of animal in recent years, Freeman said.

He admitted that no pawprints or dead thylacines have been found, attributing this to the sparse rocky ground of the region and the ferociousness of Tasmanian devils, which swiftly devour animal corpses when they discover them.

However, Freeman said he had heard reports of distinctive thylacine kills, where prey is effectively disembowelled, as well as the discovery of the droppings.

“If we get the DNA from them, that’ll be interesting,” he said. “They are far too big for a Tasmanian devil and it can’t be a dog. Why would a dog be so far out there? It’s a very remote area.

“We’ve been baiting and also setting up camera traps. We’ve seen a lot of devils and a feral cat, but nothing else so far. It’s only been up for a week, though, and it can take months. In the UK, we saw deer, otters and even a woman taking a pee on a bush before we saw anything interesting.”

The thylacine, which looked much like a striped, elongated dog, was zealously hunted by European settlers. They were trapped, snared, shot and poisoned, due to fears the animal would ravage sheep stocks.

Several attempts have been found to prove the animal still exists, although the Tasmanian government states that there is “no conclusive evidence” it lives on.

That won’t deter Freeman, who plans several return trips to prove mainstream science wrong.

“I’ll be coming back again and again,” he said. “The people who say they’ve seen it have nothing to gain and everything to lose. I’d say there is a population of at least 300 of them.

Read more at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/11/zoologists-on-the-hunt-for-tasmanian-tiger-declare-no-doubt-species-still-alive

Fresh bid for evidence of Tasmanian Tiger

There is to be another bid to search for evidence that Tasmanian tigers are alive and well.

Representatives from the UK-based Centre for Fortean Zoology will join local searchers venturing into the wilderness of Tasmania's north-west.

The British cryptozoologists have previously tried to find Australia's so-called "big foot", the Yowie.

Expedition member Tony Healy says the team will use a range of equipment.

"[We'll have] a lot of trail cameras, game cameras and we've all got infra-red devices... just spotlighting, looking for tracks," he said.

The group will break into small parties to stake out different areas.

Long-time tiger enthusiast Col Bailey has spent decades trying to find evidence that Tasmanian tigers still exist.

He has reservations about a group of 10 people searching together.

"That's a lot of people to take into the field at the one time because low numbers is essential as far as I'm concerned in this and they also say two weeks they're going to be out," he said.

"Well, two weeks is nearly not enough time, you really need three or four weeks to do this properly."

The centre, founded in 1992, is a not-for-profit group set up to investigate unusual or extinct animals.

The last Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, died in a Hobart zoo in 1933.

The carnivorous marsupial was widely hunted by early settlers trying to protect livestock.

Read more at the ABC: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-30/extinct-or-elusive3f3a-fresh-bid-to-find-tasmania-tiger/5057664

The hunt is on for the Thylacine

The thylacine has officially been put on notice: the hunt is on.

An international team of naturalists from the Centre for Fortean Zoology has arrived in Tasmania for the first in a series of well-resourced and professional expeditions into Tasmania's wilderness to hunt for evidence of the Tasmanian tiger.

Although the animal was officially declared extinct in the 1980s, reports of thylacine sightings are still common and expedition leader Mike Williams from NSW has high hopes that they can find something.

"The problem with a lot of the sightings from members of the public is that they're generally caught by surprise, and their photos are taken on things like mobile phones and aren't very good," he said.

"It will take really good quality video to really convince anyone and preferably a video shot by a person, so we've brought as much gear as we can to improve our chances of being ready if we do see one." Mr Williams is highly regarded in his field and has spent many years searching for evidence of the big cats that are said to roam areas of rural NSW and Victoria.

He is careful not to be too specific about the regions they will investigate in Tasmania, but said they would focus on the state's northwest and southwest.

"We're meeting up with some eyewitnesses to begin with and that will help us narrow down our search areas," he said.

This first expedition of 10 people will run for about two weeks and will be one of eight or nine expeditions over the next two years.

The expedition, sponsored by Toyota, includes British expeditioners Dr Chris Clark and Richard Freeman – who have searched for giant anacondas in Africa and the Indonesian equivalent of Bigfoot on the island of Sumatra – and Hobart-based Dr Hannah Jenkins.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology is based in the UK and Australia and investigates "mystery animals" that are considered rare, extinct or undiscovered, such as the big cats rumoured to live in the Australian bush, and Australia's Bigfoot, the Yowie.

The thylacine has a special place in the international organisation's ethos: it is featured on their emblem.

While in Tasmania the group will also busy itself searching for evidence of feral foxes and identifying healthy devil populations free of the facial tumour disease.

"Let's hope between our resources, those of independent researchers, and the government's, something comes to light," Mr Williams said.

Have you seen a thylacine? The team wants to hear your stories and tip-offs. Call Mike on 0416 303 371

Read more at the Hobart Mercury: http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/international-team-hopes-to-settle-thylacine-mystery-once-and-for-all/story-fnj4f7k1-1226749322972

Expedition searches for Tasmanian Tiger

It has been ‘officially extinct’ for decades, but two British scientists have set off across the world to hunt for the curious animal known as the Tasmanian tiger.
The last known tiger died in captivity in a Tasmanian zoo in 1936, but a team of enthusiasts believe there is still a chance that several of the animals might still be roaming the forested regions of the island state.
British scientists Dr Chris Clark and Richard Freeman, who have searched for giant anacondas in Africa and the Indonesian equivalent of Bigfoot, are due to arrive in Tasmania today (November 1, 2013) to join an expedition searching for the tiger, which has a dog-like appearance and a striped body.

‘This is very serious and we’re putting aside all the other crazy things like Bigfoot hunts and concentrating very much on getting the first convincing evidence that the Tasmanian tiger still exists,’ expedition leader Mike Williams told the MailOnline from the search base in the island capital, Hobart.
While there have been reported sightings of the tiger, known scientifically as a thylacine, Mr Williams said the evidence has never been strong enough to be convincing.
‘The problem with a lot of the sightings from members of the public is that they’re generally caught by surprise and their photos are taken on things like mobile phones and aren’t very good.

‘It will take really good quality video to really convince anyone so we’ve brought as much gear as we can to improve our chances of being ready if we do see one.’
Dr Clark and Mr Freeman, from Britain’s Centre for Fortean Zoology, have explored many of the world’ outstanding mysteries and remain dedicated to cryptozoology - the study of unknown animals.
The centre is based in an old country house in Devon, parts of which are over 200 years old, and which is said to be home to several ghosts.
The Tasmanian tiger features strongly as a ‘most wanted’ animal among the centre’s members - a picture of one is used as the group’s emblem.

The British researchers, along with Mr Williams and his expedition members, will be searching densely forested areas in the island’s north and south west.
‘If we didn’t think there was even a slim chance of stumbling upon evidence in the form of droppings, hair or footage then we wouldn’t have committed to this expedition,’ said Mr Williams.
‘Thylacine sightings are still being reported right across the state of Tasmania, 27 years after it was declared extinct by the Tasmanian government.’
The team will be using two powerful four-wheel-drive vehicles which will be loaded with cameras, dashboard video cameras and powerful binoculars.
The thylacine is believed to have roamed the Australian mainland in ancient times before it became extinct there about 2,000 years ago - but it continued to thrive in Tasmania.
But the arrival of Europeans sealed its fate. The animal was hunted for its fur and because it was responsible for attacks on settlers’ sheep, resulting in alarming photographs showing gunmen standing proudly beside the corpses of piles of animals they had shot down.
With the death of the last known tiger - referred to as Benjamin - in the Hobart zoo in 1936, all that has remained of the elusive animal in recent times has been reported sightings in isolated parts of Tasmania.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2483670/Could-Tasmanian-tiger-roaming-islands-forests-British-scientists-join-new-hunt-extinct-creature.html#ixzz2kHkLI75o

Toyota backs biggest search yet for Tasmanian Tiger

Biggest search yet for elusive Tasmanian Tiger

An international team of naturalists from the Centre for Fortean Zoology will go in search of the Tasmanian Tiger, Thylacinus cynocephalus, in one of the biggest concentrated searches yet for the elusive animal, which was officially declared extinct in the early 1980s.

Expedition leader Mike Williams said the trip – generously sponsored by Toyota Australia, and the first of several to be mounted by the group - will explore densely forested areas in the State’s north and south west.

“If we didn’t think there was even a slim chance of stumbling upon evidence in the form of scats, hair or footage, then we wouldn’t have committed to this expedition,” he said.

“Good quality Thylacine sightings are still being reported right across the state of Tasmania – 77 years after the last Thylacine died in captivity in a Tasmanian Zoo, and 27 years after it was declared extinct by the Tasmanian Government.

“A secondary aim of the trip is to look for evidence of healthy Tasmanian Devil, Sarcophilus Harrisii, populations in remote wilderness areas.

“We will also be monitoring for the presence of the No. 1 enemy of the State, Vulpes vulpes, the fox, rumoured to have established itself in Tasmania, and presently the subject of a multi-million dollar government-sponsored hunt.

“Let’s hope between our resources, those of other independent researchers, and the government’s, something comes to light – preferably a Thylacine over a fox - in the next 24 months.”

The team is highly experienced; several members have been on expeditions all over the world, including to Sumatra in 2011 in search of a mystery primate, the so-called Orang pendek, an as-yet unclassified species attracting serious scientific interest.

The team will be traversing the difficult terrain in two Toyota LandCruiser 200s – the luxury Sahara V8 Turbo-Diesel and the GX V8 Turbo-Diesel – and using sophisticated game cameras, starlight scopes, and dash-cameras.

Expedition team members include: Dr Chris Clark (UK), Richard Freeman (UK), Dr Hannah Jenkins (TAS/AUS), Tania Poole (VIC/AUS), Michael Williams (NSW/AUS), Rebecca Lang (NSW/AUS), Tony Healy (ACT/AUS), Orrin Hare (UK), Lisa Malam (UK), and Jonathan McGowan (UK).

Mike Williams can be contacted on 0416 303 371.

Seen a Tiger? Share your sighting at cfzaustralia@yahoo.com.au

Mike Williams holds a replica Thylacine skull next to the
Toyota LandCruiser 200 GX Turbo-Diesel.

UK survival expert Ray Mears chases devils and tigers

UK survival expert Ray Mears has turned his attention to Australia, filming two segments here on our saltwater crocodile and the iconic Tasmanian devil, the second of which will air in the coming week in Britain. He also looks into some reports of the continuing existence of the Tasmanian Tiger.

The description of the show follows:

About a third of the remote island of Tasmanina and its stunning coastline is classified as National Park, and is mired in tales of prehistoric tigers, monster crayfish and screaming dervishes. Incredibly, these myths are, to some extent, true.

The Tasmanian devil was named after explorers heard its ferocious screams, but it is now on the precipice of extinction. Often represented as a night time terror, the devil is in fact a gregarious marsupial unique to the island. But its survival is threatened by a cancer known as Devil Facial Tumour Disease, which has laid waste to the island’s population.

Ray meets the Anthony family who live in a wildlife sanctuary they built themselves. They are committed to safeguarding the future of the Tasmanian devil.

Owner, Wade says: “What we’re doing here is part of a larger programme, in an attempt to ensure the survival of the Tasmanian devil. In the wild we’ve lost around 80 per cent of the wild population through Devil Facial Tumour Disease. So whilst we’re trying to give people an accurate understanding of what these animals are, we’re also trying to build up the numbers in captivity. ”

Similar in appearance to a small bear, the devil is incredibly strong with immense jaw power.

Sadly extinction is not new to Tasmania’s unique wildlife. The island’s government and people were solely responsible for the extinction of the Tasmanian Tiger just 77 years ago when groups of farmers fearing for their agriculture lobbied the government. As a result, the state paid £1 per head for every animal until they were no more.

Ray meets Kathryn Medlock, Senior Curator at the Tasmanian Museum to find out more about the Thylacine, or Tasmanian Tiger, Australia’s largest carnivorous marsupial.

Kathryn says: “It was a remarkable animal, it really looks like a dog or a wolf but very definitely a marsupial. It had a pouch, gave birth to young and reared it’s young in the mother’s pouch, it could have up to four young at a time.”

Despite their official extinction, Ray meets local people who firmly believe the tiger is still out there due to claims of sightings.

Doug Westbrook, co-proprietor of the Tiger Bar of Mole Creek says: “My wife arrived home, burst in the door…she looked like a ghost and she said, ‘I’ve just seen a tiger’. She saw this dog-like animal walking across, like it had a broken back. Because it’s a marsupial it doesn’t walk like a dog it walks like a kangaroo.”

The government takes sightings seriously enough to employ a government officer. Nick Mooney has worked for the Tasmanian government for 35 years.

Nick says: “There’s a very interesting twist to this whole thing in that with this devil disease we have less devils than in many, many decades in Tasmania and devils would be a problem for Thylacines. It would be very hard for a very rare Thylacine to raise pups where devils were very common. So you have your major competitor  drastically reduced in numbers, more wallabies in Tasmania than probably ever in history, still quite a bit of habitat. We should have Thylacines pouring out our ears.”

Whilst the clock is ticking for the future of the devil, Devil Facial Tumour Disease is a fairly new disease.

Veterinary scientist Ruth Pye says: “1996 was when it was first photographed in North-East Tasmania and its spread has been quite rapid. It’s always been fatal, usually six months, perhaps a bit longer. It’s a transmissible tumour, which is the most unusual characteristic of the disease, being a cancer that’s contagious. So what we’re trying to do is develop a vaccine, the ultimate goal.”

Ray is on hand as Ruth treats a young female devil called Elsie.

Ray says: “Nobody needs to be told how vicious cancer is, but seeing young Elsie here, I can’t help but think this is an unnecessarily cruel way for a species to die.”

Ray also gets up close to some of the other unique creatures that can be found on the island, including the Monster Crayfish, whose numbers are in fast decline due to pollution in rivers. They grow up to a metre in length and are the world’s biggest freshwater invertebrates, the male’s claws are so strong they could break your arm.

Ray also visits Western Tasmania to go in search of one of nature’s most elusive and ancient animals, the Platypus.

Ray says: “It’s really exciting, I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed, because I’ve never seen a platypus in the wild and for any naturalist, this is the possibility of a dream come true.”

At Trowunna Wildlife sanctuary in Mole Creek there’s a ‘devil retirement’ home. Sanctuary owner Androo Kelly has been working with insurance populations and zoo programmes all around the world ever since the Devil Facial Tumour Disease came to light. There is a theory that almost 15,000 years ago the devil’s genetic makeup changed and that’s what made them susceptible to catching the disease. Scientists are therefore working in an attempt to recreate the devil’s DNA before it changed, to see if it is possible to create a new blood line that is resistant to the disease.

Ray ends his journey on the stunning northern tip of the island, on a night-time exploration with wildlife biologists hoping to see a devil in the wild for himself, before it’s too late.

The episode airs on ITV in the UK on Wednesday, 24 July from 9pm-10pm.

Michael Archer's TED talk: Resurrecting the gastric brooding frog and the Tasmanian Tiger

Wikipedia

Paleontologist and former Australian Museum Director Michael Archer is working to de-extinct the gastric brooding frog and the Thylacine (aka Tasmanian Tiger), as mentioned recently on this blog. Archer recently gave an interesting TED talk on his involvement with two projects working towards 'de-extinction' of several species.

De-extinction researchers hot on the Thylacine's trail

He may be a little greyer around the temples now at 68, but palaeontologist Professor Mike Archer is still hot on the trail of resurrecting the Thylacine.

He heads up the Lazarus Project, an Australian scientific team making some extraordinary progress in attempting to bring an extinct species back to life. 

At a gathering a recent gathering of 'de-extinction experts' (it's a bit of a mouthful but it's catching on, trust us!) Archer announced his team had created cloned embryos containing the DNA of an extinct creature, Australia's southern gastric-brooding frog. Producing the embryos, by implanting the extinct frog's DNA in donor frog eggs, brings Archer's team one step closer to undoing extinction, and one step ahead of teams around the world. 

Read Lisa Clausen's excellent feature on Mike Archer and his work in Launceston's Examiner newspaper here.