MAGNIFICENT SURVIVOR - CONTINUED
EXISTENCE OF THE TASMANIAN TIGER
(CONTINUED)
"Tigerman" (2005)
The film was shelved,
and two years of intensive, full-time field work followed. Various
kinds of sub-proof evidence were found in the area, and likely thylacine
footprints were cast every few months. |
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| Six
automatic motion sensor still cameras were set on well-used game trails
in various habitat types, and some nice images were collected. |
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| Of course, the aim
of all this effort was to prove to the world that the Tasmanian tiger is
not extinct. However, after two years of day-after-day work, trying every
conceivable strategy at any financial cost, I finally accepted in 2004
that I would not be able to do it. Two years' living in a remote
Tasmanian community allows insights which people living outside of Tasmania
cannot understand. These are the subtleties of Tasmanian life; the
subtle ways in which local people know full-well that the thylacine exists
in their area, but keep it secret because they fear interference from the
outside. Isolated local residents, backcountry farmers, and the Tasmanian
logging industry all have reasons to suppress thylacine information.
Yet, these are the people most likely to see the species. |
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| The
original long-suffering automatic video cameras were also set on all kinds
of bait and sound attractants, along roads or game tracks, and again at
the entrances to caves. The video cameras performed well despite
spending years in the rain/hail and being repeatedly knocked over or chewed
by Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii), but IR (infra-red) night
vision video was limited to poor quality black & white. |
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| What else could I do
to help the Tasmanian tiger but write a book, and publish it free on the
internet without seeking money or notoriety? What else could I do
but write the book anonymously? In colonial times, a "tigerman" was
paid by sheep farmers to track thylacines and kill them. Today, |
| there
are still a few tigermen (and women), but now they are in a race against
time to save the species instead of eradicate it.
I am proud to be part
of that group, and proud to take a name born of pointless destruction,
then reclaim it in the pursuit of conservation. Magnificent Survivor
is the culmination of six years' privately funded field work at a cost
of at least AUD$100,000. The book is provided free of charge, and
has only one purpose; to help the Tasmanian tiger by declaring to the world
that it is not yet extinct. I urge you to read my book
and hear its message. |
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| The
November 14, 2004 edition of The Sunday Examiner (Launceston, Tasmania)
included a two-page article which discusses Tigerman's field research. |
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Tigerman
Magnificent
Survivor - Continued Existence of the Tasmanian Tiger |
