It gives me great pleasure to write the foreword for what I consider to
be the most significant and widely read website on the thylacine - the
Thylacine Museum.
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This extensive and highly informative site expertly covers a broad selection
of thylacine-related topics, of interest to both the scientist and amateur
naturalist alike, and therefore presents a most valuable source of specialist
information.
Each subject is treated
with the same enthusiasm and attention to detail, and as such, this site
is without peer on the World Wide Web.
To many people, the
thylacine presents an enduring mystery that begs unraveling, and nowhere
is this more evident than in Tasmania.
The present official
status of the thylacine (better known as the Tasmanian tiger) is extinct,
but despite this designation, many, including myself, still believe the
species to be extant. |
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present-day status can be best described as critically endangered, and
bordering on the very brink of extinction.
To a dedicated group
of field researchers active within Tasmania today, determining this fact
beyond reasonable doubt is proving to be an extremely arduous task, but
I am confident that given time, this animal's true status will be confirmed
and it will be proven to still exist.
It is because of this
situation that the Thylacine Museum attains so much relevance, fulfilling
as it does a most necessary role in the provision of critical data about
an animal the world knows little about.
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"Shadow of the Thylacine
- One Man's Epic Search for
the Tasmanian Tiger",
Col Bailey, 2013, 295 pages.
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"Lure of the Thylacine
- True Stories and Legendary Tales of the Tasmanian Tiger", Col Bailey,
2016, 294 pages.
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Over recent years, many
wildlife documentaries have focused on the thylacine, and in doing so have
highlighted the magnificent Tasmanian wilderness, so necessary in isolating
and protecting this animal in its continuing quest to roam free.
There is little doubt that these documentaries have served to create even
more interest in the Tasmanian tiger worldwide.
My good friend and fellow
researcher Cameron Campbell has, through the Thylacine Museum, fostered
an incredible amount of global interest in the thylacine.
The latest revision
of the museum website with its new and expanded sections, is extensively
researched and scientifically referenced, with additional information collated
from research on the Tasmanian tiger throughout Australia and the world. |
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Therefore, I have no hesitation in recommending the Thylacine Museum to
not only the novice, keen to grasp an understanding of this enduring animal,
but also to the devoted enthusiast striving for expertise, for you will
not find better informed and more comprehensive information about the thylacine
anywhere else on the Internet.
I commend Cameron Campbell
for referencing the museum's content largely from the exacting work of
noted zoologists and recognized world authorities on the thylacine, including
Dr. Eric Guiler, Prof. Heinz Moeller, Dr. Stephen Sleightholme, Prof. Michael
Archer and other highly respected sources, including Cameron himself.
In doing so, the Thylacine Museum has been constructed upon a firm and
stable scientific footing. |
Consequently, I am certain
that this revision of the museum will prove to be the catalyst for further
discoveries and revelations regarding the world's most precious top order
marsupial carnivore - the thylacine.
Col Bailey,
Tasmanian Tiger Research
& Data Centre
New Norfolk, Tasmania |
