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BIOLOGY:
- BEHAVIOUR -
(page 5)
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Diet in Captivity:

    Thylacines in captivity were inexpensive to maintain, requiring about 3lbs (1.4kg) of meat per day (Minutes of the Reserves Committee Hobart Zoo, 17th March 1930).  Their diet ranged from wallaby, rabbit, mutton, horse meat, deer, and occasionally, according to the keepers at London Zoo, the odd wild pigeon.  The first thylacines that were exhibited at the Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes in Paris were fed on live prey; in this instance, guinea pig.  The 1887 edition of "Le Naturaliste Revue illustrée des Sciences Naturelles" states: "When they are given live prey, a guinea pig for example, it is with the utmost care that they approach it.  They do not throw it with the ferocity of their congeners, Dasyures, and do not kill these small rodents; rather they harass them with little dabs of paws and teeth".

    Two short sequences of motion picture film exist that were taken at the London Zoo which demonstrate a thylacine feeding.  The first film shows a thylacine stripping meat from a bone, and the second, a thylacine eating a rabbit.

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film still of a thylacine at the London Zoo
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Film still of a thylacine stripping meat from a bone at the London Zoo.
Courtesy: Zoological Society of London.
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film still of a thylacine at the London Zoo
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Film still of a thylacine feeding on a rabbit at the London Zoo.
Courtesy: Zoological Society of London.
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Hunting:

    The thylacine is best described as being crepuscular i.e., it is active and hunts primarily during twilight, or at dawn and dusk.  The Courier newspaper of the 16th June 1858 (p. 2) notes: 

    "Its movements are nocturnal though it has occasionally been seen abroad during the day in thick cloudy weather, and probably on occasions when it has been pressed with hunger".

    The Examiner newspaper of the 14th June 1905 (p. 3), records a daytime kill:

    "One shepherd, who is looked upon as a very trustworthy man by his employer, captured three (thylacines) on his runs within a short time, the last capture being an extraordinary large female, surprised killing a sheep in the day time".

    From historical accounts, it appears that various hunting strategies are employed by the thylacine.  The choice of technique is dependent upon the nature of the prey being hunted, and whether the thylacine is hunting alone, or as a member of a larger family unit.  There are no records of thylacines hunting in packs, as is the case with wolves, but they do hunt in family units.  Records for thylacines hunting in adult pairs far outweigh the number of reports of hunting being restricted to a single adult plus young.  It appears therefore, that adults with pups hunt collectively as a family unit.

    Paddle (2000) states: "The tendency for one or two members of a small family group of hunting thylacines to first expose themselves to communally grouped prey and start them running, before singling out, chasing and bringing down a single item of prey, has been noted by a number of observers, with respect to predation on domestic stock".
 
    Paddle proceeds to quote Sharland (1971) and the recollections of a Mr. Dunbabin, whose father caught thylacines on the sheep runs of his property Marchwiel:

    "They would most likely start sheep running from a hill, and, singling one animal out in particular, chase it to the lower ground and kill it".

    Several authors make mention of the thylacine hunting as a family unit:

thylacine - London Zoo
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A thylacine at the London Zoo.  This male had a healed, broken foreleg (note swelling).  Other photos of this individual: 1, 2.  Courtesy: Zool. Soc. London.

    West (1852) states: "Hunting by night, their exquisite sense of smell enables them to steal cautiously upon these defenceless animals, in the thick covers of the low grassy flats and scrubs, or to run them down in the more open hill and forest land.  They are not very fleet, but follow the track with untiring perseverance occasionally uttering a low smothered bark. They never hunt in packs, but a male and female, or a female with two or three half grown pups, have occasionally been seen together in pursuit of game".

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    Meredith (1852) states: "The common pace of the tiger is a measured, steady canter, and from various anecdotes I have heard, it appears that they pursue the object of their chase wholly by scent, and win (literally) "in the long run" by their endurance.  On one occasion Mr. Adam Amos, of Swan Port, had made his way, by a new track, to the top of the encompassing tier of mountains which separate the Swan Port district from the interior; after he had travelled for some time along the
ridge of the numerous steep "saddles", as they are termed, among the hills, the ground became rocky so that the fat cattle he was driving could not proceed any further, and he partly encamped for the night.  The next morning, about daybreak, they prepared to return, and were getting breakfast, when a brush kangaroo came along the ridge where they were, and hopped passed, within a few yards of their fire.  In ten minutes after this a female tiger came cantering along in the same line, with her .
Beaumaris Zoo (QD) - 1928
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A thylacine family group of three females at the Beaumaris Zoo (QD), 1928.
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nose close to the ground, scenting out the kangaroo, and passed around the fire exactly in the same track, not noticing the cattle-party, who were observing the chase with curiosity.  About twenty minutes now elapsed, when two young tiger-whelps appeared, holding the same course, and passing round the fire, went on after their mother, who, with her steady pace, would finally run down the more swift but less enduring kangaroo, and the cubs, following on her track, if not actually "in at the death", were no doubt in excellent time for dinner".

    Stevenson (1941) states: "The natural food supply of the tiger is the kangaroo and wallaby, chiefly in the tea tree scrubs, there 2 or 3 will get together, one will crouch down beside a track, and the others will hunt the wallaby, and when one comes along the (waiting) tiger will pounce on it".

    It appears that as soon as young thylacines are old enough, they too actively participate in the hunt as part of a cohesive family unit.  The unique stripe pattern and vocalisations would enable expeditious identification of individual family members, and the facial markings would assist in ascertaining the direction of their gaze; vital attributes in the cooperative hunt.

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References
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