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Expeditions
and Searches - 1937 to Present-Day
SOME OF MY MEMORIES FROM THE 1945-46
DAVID FLEAY TASMANIAN TIGER EXPEDITION
(CONTINUED)
© Rosemary Fleay-Thomson
(2002)
When we arrived on
the scene early next morning, a desolate scene met our eyes; there were
scuffle marks but also plenty of definite footprints in the soft wet ground.
Hair adhering to the traps was gathered carefully by father, and when the
hair and some faeces found were later submitted to Dr. Pearson at the Tasmanian
Museum, he verified that beyond any reasonable doubt they were from a thylacine.
If the full complement of traps had been left in place then perhaps father
would have had one Tasmanian thylacine 'in the bag'. It was a tragedy
for him, truly the story of the big one that got away. Since the
1930s, father had worked hard to study the thylacine; this must have been
one of the worst moments of his life - all that dedicated, tiring work
in such rough terrain and all for naught; surely this was the ultimate
in frustration for him!
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The camp near the Collingwood
River. The Fleay family welcome Mr. & Mrs. Michael Sharland and
children (two children on left). Rosemary Fleay in striped jumper,
Stephen on box at front, Sigrid Fleay standing in tent.
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Father was extremely
reluctant to leave Tasmania at this most interesting stage, but duty called
at the Healesville Sanctuary, and he could ill afford to stay away any
longer. The traps were left in the capable hands of Roy Alderson
and other bushmen of the area, but although these men worked tirelessly
that Winter and the following Spring, no further encouraging results were
forthcoming. My father had left Tasmania with every intention of
returning to mount a further expedition the following year now that he
knew just where to concentrate his search, with the knowledge gained from
this first-hand experience in the 1945-46 expedition. However, he
was required to travel with three platypuses to the Bronx Zoo in New York,
so unfortunately no further opportunity to secure a breeding pair of thylacines
presented itself.
My memories of that
fascinating trip to Tasmania 57 years ago remain very clear. I can
still almost smell the damp, woody bush, feel the hurt of physical exhaustion,
the pain of not securing our quarry, and will always have the utmost admiration
for the dedication of my parents, David and Sigrid Fleay, who tried so
hard under the most difficult conditions to follow their dream and make
a positive difference to the fate of that most unique wonder of the Australian
marsupial world - the ever-elusive thylacine.
Rosemary Fleay-Thomson
For further information on David Fleay's pioneering work, please refer
to his biography, "Animals
First". |
