The Book Of THoTH

A friend of mine went on vacation to Australia, and he e-mailed me this picture a week ago- he said he snapped a picture as soon as he saw the animal, and the flash made it run away.. He said it was small, like a puppy, and it ran akwardly towards a larger "striped German-shephard /Kangaroo thing", and they both disappeared into the brush.
He called it a "Striped Puppy Kangaroo Thing", and he sent it to me because I used to be a vet tech and can ID almost any animal, and am especially good with dog breeds. I think he may have seen 2 Thylacines, but it's not a good picture. He took one as they were running off, too, but you can't see anything in it except bushes and the night sky. When he showed me the picture, I told him I thought they may be Tassie Tigers, and that he should tell someone.I also told him to hold on to his pictures since in my research I read that sometimes when people report sightings park rangers confiscate their evidence. He wrote me the next day saying that everyone he talked to told him he didn't see a Tassie Tiger, and he said a policeman he mentioned it to threatened to take him in for pranking. When he told the cop it wasn't a prank, the cop told him "You didn't see anything, understood?"
I've known this boy forever, and he is always honest (brutally so, at times )

What do you think?
He finally ok'd me to share it, but he wants his identity to remain private. He was very offended by the people in Tasmania calling him a liar, and the cop shook him up pretty bad. He seems convinced that that cop will track him down, the poor guy
Anywho, it'd be nice to find out what other people think of this...
I think it's damn convincing. Aside from the damn plant in the way, I'd say I'm convinced. The number of stripes is variable, from what I've read, and this is also a pup, as he said.. I can't find any info on patterns of pups- does anyone else have info?
If anyone is out there who maybe has equipment to maybe edit out the plants or something, that would be great
By the way- He said he was hiking near "Savage River" when he took this photo, and that it was not far from a wildlife preserve or park of some sort, yet he was also not far from all sorts of factories and mining operations...
If this truly is a Tassie, then that's also a horrible place for some polluting, disgusting mines.

chaotika.

I certainly don't know enough about this animal to know what it is, but I did post it on my blog(if that's not OK, just tell me and I'll take it down), so maybe someone there will ID it. Good luck finding out what it is, and I hope you enjoy your time here on BoT!

Here's the Blog link to the story

Yep I'd definitely be interested to see or hear views about this, I'm no cryptozoologist, but it fascinates me no end

Thank you for the welcome
And, no, I have no problem with you using my friend's picture... he never said I wasn't allowed to share it, so go ahead I appreciate the help!
I personally think it's a Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus) an "extinct" animal from Tasmania.




http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/spp/Schouten/thylacine.htm

a few more pictures:


Thylacines are pretty incredible animals. They had the widest gape of any mammal, and were actually capable of dislocating their jaw to open their mothe even wider than this if needed:

They were Marsupial predators, about the size of a dog, that had/have been around since before the ice age. They are closely related to Tasmanian Devils, and could stand/hop like kangaroos if they needed to, but they generally carried themselves more like a dog.
I think that they're especially awesome because of how they kill their prey- unlike othe rmammalian predators (who strangle their prey or bite their necks, thylacines killed their dinner by putting the prey animal's head in their mouth and crushing their skulls, though most of the time they would not kill their prey before feeding. The thylacine generally hunted it's prey relentlessly until it was too weak from exhaustion to keep running, and than they'd Just start eating their prey while it was still alive.
It's also believed that the mature Thylacine's jaw and bipedal hop were specialised for hunting Emus and either breaking its neck or severing the jugular vein.
Pretty vicious, huh?
They weren't a threat to people, though- they were shy and timid, and never liked people. They preferred to run from them whenever they could, and generally caught the scent of/excaped people before anyone even noticed a thylacine was there.
The first sheep farmers in Tasmania were terrified of losing their flocks to thylacines, and they were hunted relentlessly. The last known wild thylacine was shot in 1930, and the last captive one died at the Hobart zoo in 1936. Thylacines were put under the official protection of the Australian government in 1938 (too little, too late) The Thylacine held the status of "endangered species" until 1986, when it was finally declared extinct by international standards.

This is a thylacine pouch pup preserved in a jar of alcohol..
Pretty sad, huh?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gCov0PXkVo
The link above is to footage of the last known thylacine, and is also the only film in history of a living thylacine.

Wow, thanks for all the info. I learned a lot! The photo certainly looks like it could be one. Hopefully some other people will have a look and have an opinion!

I'll give you four reasons to doubt the picture.

1) It is from an angle that it had to be taken at very close range. So what part of Australia was he in were an animal so rare allowed him to get that close?

2) The picture could have been faked using photoshop very easily.

3) If he was that close there should be another photo, if not why not?

4) Papers have been known to pay big money for such photos in the past so there is a possible motive, not to mention the attention such things get.

All in all, there is plenty of mystery and wonder in the world left to wonder at. But, pictures are not considered the evidence they once were in an age where digital processing can make anything we imagine seem real.

Like you apparently I am amazed by the idea of cryptids and suspect there are many left to be found. Have you heard of these giant dog=like creatures in Arkansas? I think they may be feril spotted hyenas from wildlife parks, but they are scaring the crap out of alot of folks down there.

MM All
I hope it's a Tassie, but I doubt it, as said, if theres this photo, you might expect another, and it's conveniently set so it's debatable too!
But I've been looking at something under magnification in Windows Picture & Fax viewer.
Thats the pink patch on the hind quarters there. It looks a lot like a Hot Spot fairly common on canines and I've treated them again and again on my late Max.
If it is it seems to have been shaved back and been treated too, which would rule out a Tassie!

Just one more observation, the specimen in the pictire has stripes that are not as dense as any of the others in the photographs shown. That is to say the stripes on the unknown animal are significantly wider apart than the others.

Welcome chaotika, what an interesting post. I sure wish the picture was better. The only thing that makes it maybe real is the cops total disrespect of your friend and his photo. There's no reason for that other than intimidation...because it is real.





Allowed him? That doesn't make sense, no wild animal allows you to take pictures, it's pure dumb luck.





If it was photoshopped, the picture would be much better.



He did not take it to magazines that would pay big money for the photo. He doesn't even want his name put up. He was intimidated by the people you would think would love to see something like this.

I see tha mark your talking about Seawitch. It could also be a mark from some nasty entanglement in the wild. IMO only

The stipes look the same to me as in all the other photos.

This has been one animal I have realy loved and followed. Artie on CC also has extensive articles on it. It is still alive. The odds of someone getting a picture is not that outstanding. Right place right time, nothing more or less.

Tell your friend to just keep it and enjoy it. It's not worth loosing the picture and the memory of being there. If he can go back to the same spot and try for more, fantastic! Just don't tell the authorities!

Hi chaotika and welcome here. I would love nothing more to believe Thylacines still exist as I think it was a disgrace that they were wiped out to start with. Having said that I don't think that your photo is of one though. I have seen a good many wild animals in my time in Australia and this one looks like a bandicoot, it's a kind of rabbit like marsupial. Generally they are not too large, about the average small house cat size but sometimes they can get bigger. Another contender is a tree kangaroo but given it's location that's unlikely. I do know 2 people who believe that they saw one and I believe they may have too. I do hope if anyone can produce the proof that they do exist, that person doesn't produce that proof. I wish them to live as nature intended not to be the new toy's of scientist's and the like. As for people questioning why something so rare would allow people to get so close, Australian animals are quite unique in many ways. Many animals stay right where they are when approached as their camoflauge in many instances makes them nigh invisible, but once they move they are easily distinguished. I truly believe in the vast areas of wilderness in Tasmania the Thylacine still does roam freely, and that should be how they stay.

Hi Affected
I understand the view you at least seem to have that it was man who deliberately wiped out the Tassie.
However, it is now established the true cause was by accident rather than design......it was Distemper, he brought it in with dogs.

This has become a big issue in parts of Africa. It is being passed on by domesticated dogs. I can't remember off hand but several predator species are being hit hard.

Hello,

I joined this forum specifically because of this photo, as I have a website which is dedicated to analysing the evidence for the thylacine existing (among other things).

I sent a message to chaotika, but perhaps it was overlooked. (I know I usually forget to check private messages and miss the details at the top...)

Anyway, I'm posting the same request here in the forum in case you (chaotika) come back through here, or if your friend in Australia reads is.

Basically - can we have a look at the second photo also, even though you think it doesn't show the thylacine? It would still be useful to see. Also, do you have the original versions of the photos, straight from the camera so that the EXIF information (things like date/time taken, camera model, etc) is still attached to the file? In the image above, the EXIF information has been lost, probably because the file was opened and re-saved in an application after being transferred off the camera.

If anyone's interested, my analysis is at www.wherelightmeetsdark.com - the summary is that at this stage I think there are definite features which discount the animal being a thylacine, but at the same time I'm not really sure what it is.

Cheers,

Chris.

Most definately not!

Disease certainly played a part in the final days, but this animal was hunted to extinction, with government and private bounties paid for decades.

The species was protected not two months before the last known individual died in a zoo from overexposure to cold and heat.

A great book on the subject is "The Last Tasmanian Tiger: History and Extinction of the Thylacine" by Robert Paddle.

Not only does Paddle document the history of the species, but also the history of human (mis)perceptions of the thylacine - and those, in large part, are what shaped our actions, which were to exterminate them.

youcantry. Thanks for stopping by. I know this photo has gotten a lot of play around the 'net, and has been featured on at least a couple crypto sites, so I'm glad to see your analysis as well. As far as I know Chaotika hasn't been here in a couple/few days, but she did respond to my PM the day after posting it, so hopefully she'll see yours as well.

wow! & welcome
i remember watching videos of these in grade school... Tasmanian Tiger was the slang name i think. Anyway, they've always fascinated me.

Looks real to me!
bad picture, but the body shape is very similar.

that aside, what is a breed anway?
perhaps this is some sort of cross breed or just the last remnants of this great animal. question: geneticly (& practicly) is there any chance of marsupial cross-breeding with, say, ferral dogs? since they are not mammals I wasn't sure exactly how or if that would work, anyone know?

despite that, there are many animals i was taught in school were extinct that WERE & ARE NOT. Most namely, the Blue whale, a HUGE one to miss, was said to be extinct from like the late 80s up to the late 90s when BBC finally photographed some more. If science can miss the world's largest mamal (creature?) EVER, they could miss the the tasmanian tiger easily. especially since they are nocturnal & crepuscular, it would be difficult to spot one. i believe that this photo is real. ^^ that it is taken at night time only gives more proof.

& even if not, it is pleasent to believe that such & exotic & mysterious animal could survive the invaision of people & their pets. /cheers the tasmanian tigers to make a comeback & eat all the ferrel animals.

for those negative nancies who like to cry "photoshop!"
here is the pic close-up from photoshop...



As an artists of both digital 2D & 3D rendered media, imho it would take an expert at DREAMWORKS to match the fur that well. And even then, it would still look cutsy and sort of digital.

In this picture, we can see fine hair lines & even grass intersecting them. To keep such consistancy with fur.. it would be thousands of dollars & artistic talent to produce a fake that looks this real zoomed in on photoshop.

peace

Hi Oneiromancer,

In regard to cross breeding with feral dog's I'd be doubtful on that, they are marsupials and the fetal development of marsuipals is very different to those of regular mammals. I also agree with you that it's probably not retouched, but to me it still has the looks of several other animals.

Sea-witch, Yes distemper did play some part but the bounty placed on pelts for the animal played it's role in a bigger way Back home I have a great book about them (Can't remember the authors name) which I got directly from researchers in Australia. I wish I could get it now, but seeing I'm so far away, it's just wishful thinking.

See here for a good list of texts: http://www.naturalworlds.org/thylacine/ ... ding_1.htm

These include:

Eric Guiler and Philippe Godard's "Tasmanian Tiger: A Lesson to be Learnt",

and

Col Bailey's "Tiger Tales".

I would also add:

Robert Paddle's "The Last Tasmanian Tiger: The History and Extinction of the Thylacine"

At the 3th February 2005 a german tourist had take a photo from a tasmanian tiger. A few days later his holyday ends and he must fly home. Many people say he lies und he often wish that he had never take this photo . He get many trouble. A magazin from switzerland (http://www.mysteries-magazin.com/ published an article issue No. 16 july/augist 2006). Some experts say that the german is telling the truth, also Col Bailey.

Hi Jens
Well, heres the page I'm sure you meant to link to... Tasmanischen Tiger
I do read and speak German and I sure got some practise .. but I would have preferred a photo, has this magazine published one?

The photos were published at the same time by both this magazine and a Tasmanian newspaper. The quality of the print was very poor, however.

Somebody scanned these images from the newspaper print and the scans were published on the internet.

Because the photographer - Klaus Emmerichs - took two photos, and because he moved between photos, the leaves in the photos change position.

Leaves which are closer to the camera move further across the image, than leaves which are further away.

I wrote a long analysis (starting at http://www.wherelightmeetsdark.com/inde ... &PAGE_id=2 ) to examine this geometry.

My question was: if you can work out which layer the animal is in (from forergound to background), then you can calculate how far it *should* have moved across the image (because Klaus took a few steps between photos) - and if you can calculate that it moved further, or less, then you can conclude that the animal itself moved (and was probably alive).

In summary, I have been in communication with Klaus regarding these photos. I personally believe they are genuine - based on the geometry, Klaus' story and Col Bailey's opinion.

I have not seen the original images although Klaus assures me they are of far higher quality than the scans which were published on the internet: you can see fur, ears, etc.

All versions on the internet have been removed, however (including on my site) because of copyright.

With the help of Alton Higgins - who provided some comparison images during my analysis - I am continuing to investigate the scanned versions of the Emmerichs photos. Although I cannot publish the photos, I can still report on the analysis I am conducting and give my conclusions.

Chris.

@ Seawitch: Your link is better than mine.

I am happy some of the users can read german so I hope the information is useful. The photo was only published in the print magazine, not online. The publisher of this magazine is a good friend of mine. I also write articles for him. The quality of the photo in mysteries is good. It was difficult to phtopraph und Emmerich was very surprised. The settings from the camera were not the best for this moment and I think the daylight was not so good. If you consider this the printquality from the picture is not too bad.

Hi Jens
I wonder if you could persuade your editor friend to let you post by scanning these good pictures from Mysteries?
Mutual publicity springs to mind. I'd love to see them, the rather poor photos linked above are still quite .....well, how should I put it, not convincing, but I wouldn't say they weren't a Tassie!

Seawitch - I am in regular communication with the photographer, Klaus Emmerichs. My understanding is that Mr Emmerichs still has copyright on the images - so whilst the magazine (and an Australian newspaper) were permitted to publish them in print, nobody has rights to distribute the images electronically at this stage.

I might add that both Col Bailey and Nick Mooney saw the original images and both have said the photos obviously show a live thylacine.

Col has been researching thylacines for 40 years. He has interviewed countless trappers, most of which have now passed away, who had actually handled thylacines before their extinction. He has also interviewed countless people who claim to have seen a thylacine. He has run a newspaper column dedicated to these stories for many years and recently also published a book.

Nick works for the Tasmanian Parks department and has been responsible for investigating thylacine sightings for the past 20 years.

Hi youcantry
I now understand the lack of illustration. The pictures seen are so far are exciting...... they do look like a Tassie!

Agreed!

From what I've seen it is entirely plausable. After very careful scrutiny I could see no obvious trickery. The stripes look authentic & I can't think of any other animal of that stature that would inherit the same markings. The bare patch of skin is an added piece of authenticity. In nature animals do pick up & recover fom some diseases as well as other ailments like cuts & broken bones.

A dog we owned (Frisco) picked up a skin disease & after all attempts over 2 years we had to put him down. He was suffering. A neighbor's dog suffered from the same affliction & died because of it a couple of years before that we didn't want to put Frisco through the same.



This looks very similar.

@ Seawitch Yourcontry gave you the answer. Ellmerich has got the rights an hins photos und so I can´t copy them. I don´t believe he is lying because he gets so much trouble und experts say that he is telling the truth.

I don´t understand the word "Tassie". What is that?