My love affair with Australia started as a small child. Any time we were given a research assignment throughout school I would report on Australia. Ayres Rock, Olgas, Aboriginals, Wild life... you name it, I was fascinated with it.
Especially wild life. I have always had a special connection with animals. People through out my life have been very cruel. To this day, I have little or no trust for my fellow homosapiens. But animals were another story. Animals are instinctual. If they did things we humans found cruel, it was because that is the way they are made, not the way they chose to be.
Australia has by far the most unique animals, be them reptilian, mammalian, or avery. Marsupials exist no where else on the planet with the sole exception of the Water Opossum (strangely found in Mexico, Central and South America, and Argentina).
Australia also has the worst track record in history of any other country on the planet when it comes to the extinction of it's native animals due to European colonization. A staggering 50% of all the native animals have become extinct in only 200 years. Hunting, introduction of K9's and felines, deforestation and encroachment into habitat have destroyed some of the most unique and oldest wilderness. A tragedy that cannot be reversed, regardless of desire and intent.
The Thylacine, or Tasmanian Tiger is one of the most recent victims. A very shy and misunderstood creature that was hunted to extinction due to ignorance and intolerance. The last known Tassie Tiger died at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania on September 7, 1936. His name was Benjamin, and he was thought to have died from neglect. He was locked out of his shelter exposing him to the extreme Tasmanian weather - blistering heat in the day, freezing temperatures at night.
Benjamin and his kind were of the only two known kinds of marsupials that had a pouch in both sexes. Once again the other being the Water Opossum. They (Tasmanian Tigers) were the largest living meat eating marsupials. Very few marsupials are carnivores, making the Tigers even more rare.
Thylacines first appeared on the planet 4 million years ago. 4 million years of survival, only to be wiped out by humans 74 years ago. Says a lot doesn't it?
They populated Australia and New Guinea, but closer to modern times their last refuge was Tasmania. They had similar body type to canines; sharp teeth, powerful jaws, raised heels, and similar body form. They were sandy to red in colour and had 13 to 21 bold black stripes down their backs and into their tails. They were short haired with a stiff tail which extended from the body in a similar way to that of a kangaroo. Unlike other marsupials it's pouch opened to the rear of it's body.
The Tassie Tigers could open their jaws up to 120 degrees. Longer snout with muscular and powerful jaws, housing 46 teeth. They had one of the strongest bites for any mammal. Despite it's many combative attributes, it was an extremely shy animal that would go out of it's way to avoid conflict with other animals and humans. (completely unlike it's cousin the Devil).
They had a stiff gate and would often stand upright on it's hind legs for brief periods of time, much like the kangaroo. It would growl and hiss when angry, and show it's threatening "yawn". It did not bark as K9's do, but would give a series of rapid guttural cough-like yaps. It also had a long whining cry, and a low snuffling noise used for communicating with pack members.
Little is really know about this amazing animal. They were nocturnal, and they were pretty much gone before study and preservation of their kind was entertained. The young were called Joeys and up to 4 were born in a litter, and they were carried in the pouch for up to three months.
They were exclusively carnivorous. They were known for hunting both large game, Kangaroos, Emu's, and anything smaller including possums.
They are officially considered to be extinct, but continued (and unverified) sightings have people hoping for the best. I hope they have managed to survive somehow. But more importantly, I hope that people have learned to respect these creatures, so that if they have survived, they will continue to do so. Again 4 million years is a most impressive run, to bad we ended it.
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