.
THE THYLACINE IN CAPTIVITY:
- BURRELL'S THYLACINE PHOTOGRAPHS -
(page 3)
.

 
.
    Freeman (2008) responded to Paddle's critique in an article published in the Australian Zoologist entitled "On seeing the big picture: A reply to Paddle (2008)" in which she disputes Paddle's conclusion that the Tyenna male was the subject of Burrell's photos, based on observations of its stripe pattern.  Freeman states: 

    "All thylacines have very similar patterning of long, short and bifurcate stripes, so vague verbal descriptions of their configuration cannot constitute valid evidence.  There is no proof that the animal in the Burrell photograph is the Tyenna male or any other thylacine at Beaumaris Zoo".

    With respect to the location at which the Burrell images were taken, one must look for clues within the photographs that might assist in identification.  The fact that the enclosure was "staged" for the photographs is in no doubt.  This would have been within the photographer's sanction, depending on the type of images he was trying to obtain; in this instance a series of images with naturalistic backgrounds to give the impression, when cropped, of a thylacine in the wild killing a chicken.  This would explain the use of the hessian (=burlap) cloth to provide a neutral backdrop, and the use of broken branches, rocks, leaves and ferns to obscure the rear of the enclosure.

    Paddle contends that the photographs were taken at the Beaumaris Zoo at its Sandy Bay site.  The zoo at that time was privately owned by Mrs. Roberts.  Freeman counters Paddle's argument in stating: 

    "Paddle's focus on the wiring and construction of the enclosure in the photographs of the thylacine with a chicken and 'the thylacine cage in Beaumaris Zoo after the renovation of 28th August 1911' is ill advised.  Lattice and chicken wire of various gauges were the most common materials used in the construction of the hen houses, aviaries, rabbit hutches, and many other domestic and wildlife enclosures frequently on Australian properties from the late nineteenth century to at least the 1950s.  It is therefore necessary to be very careful in identifying the location of any specific structure".

    On the mainland, in the four zoos that exhibited thylacines (Adelaide, Moore Park, Taronga and Melbourne), thylacines were kept in concrete floored, barred enclosures.  The Thylacine Museum has not been able to identify any private zoo on the mainland that kept thylacines.  Undoubtedly, simple chicken wire enclosures were used to house small mammals and birds in mainland zoos, but the lattice and wire construction of the thylacine enclosure shown in the Burrell photographs appears to have been unique to the Beaumaris Zoo at its Sandy Bay site.  The fencing also appears in other, unrelated photographs that were taken at the Beaumaris Zoo (SB).

.
fence detail (Burrell photo V8226)
.
Fence detail (from Burrell photo V8226 - Australian Museum Archives: series 392).
fence detail (Beaumaris Zoo SB)
.
Fence detail (from photo of Beaumaris Zoo (SB) thylacine group shown below).
.
thylacine - Beaumaris Zoo (SB) - circa 1911
.
Tyenna male, Beaumaris Zoo (SB), circa 1911.  View another image from the zoo that shows the same lattice fencing in the background.
.
   The above photograph shows the Tyenna male in his enclosure at the Beaumaris Zoo (SB), circa 1911.  Note the lattice fencing behind the thylacine. The form of its construction is identical to that seen in the Burrell images.

    Paddle (2008) also notes that the internal fixation of the large-gauge chicken wire over the lattice in the Burrell photographs corresponds perfectly with the construction of the thylacine enclosure at the Beaumaris Zoo after the renovation of 28th August 1911.

.
thylacines - Beaumaris Zoo (SB) - circa 1911
.
Thylacine enclosure at the Beaumaris Zoo (SB), circa 1911.

    The museum commends both Freeman and Paddle for instigating the debate on the Burrell images, and would recommend that visitors to the museum with an interest in the Burrell images refer to the source papers, and draw their own conclusions on the evidence presented.

    The museum, for its part, is in full agreement with Paddle.  In all probability, this is the same enclosure that Burrell used for his chicken-eating photographs, and the Tyenna male was his subject.

.
.
References
.
back to: Burrell's Thylacine Photographs (page 2) return to the section's introduction forward to: James Harrison - Tasmanian Animal Dealer (page 1)


Search the Thylacine Museum
Site Map
Website copyright © C. Campbell's NATURAL WORLDS.
Photographs and other illustrations (where indicated) are © C. Campbell's NATURAL WORLDS.
Other photos and images are © their respective owners.
.