- They come out as soon as the sun goes down on the Australian
island state of Tasmania.
-
- The winter has now come. The temperature is just above
freezing so they are wrapped in jumpers and thick coats as they head out
into one of the last great wilderness areas on Earth.
-
- The bush is thick. It is hard to catch your step. The
towering canopy of the eucalyptus trees blots out all but the faintest
glow of moonlight.
-
- I have come on this expedition to join Col Bailey and
a group of friends on a tiger hunt.
-
- The fact that the Tasmanian "tiger" was officially
declared extinct nearly 70 years ago does not deter Col and his fellow
tiger hunters one bit.
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- Exotic species
-
- They are convinced that the nocturnal Tasmanian tiger
( Thylacinus cynocephalus ), one of the most exotic species to have roamed
the Earth, is still out there somewhere hanging on for survival.
-
- Col tells me he saw one 40 years ago and has been looking
for another ever since.
-
- "I've smelt one and tracked several since then and
you cannot come much closer than that." He smiles to himself as if
reliving the experience once more. "They are out there for sure".
-
- There is not a moment of doubt in his mind.
-
- The Tasmanian tiger was once the king of the Australian
bush. A carnivorous marsupial, it is in fact no relation to the rest of
the tiger of the family.
-
- It is described as about the size of an Alsatian dog
with a head that looks almost too big for its body. Its fur is tan in colour
but its back is covered with black stripes.
-
- On seeing it for the first time, European settlers arriving
in Australia more than 200 years ago immediately thought it must be some
kind of tiger. The name stuck.
-
- Col explains as we stumble over the terrain: "It's
not like most predators. It does not possess great speed. Rather than pouncing
on its prey, it just runs them down over hours and days. It's more a marathon
runner than a sprinter."
-
- The last known Tasmanian tiger died in Hobart zoo of
exposure in 1936. The species had been quite deliberately hunted to extinction
by farmers incensed at the number of sheep being taken by animals that
were seen as nothing more than pests.
-
- Big reward
-
- There was a bounty on the tigers' heads. Professional
shooters were encouraged to go out into the bush. Each pelt they came back
with earned them a government-sponsored reward.
-
- But now the hunt has come full circle. Australia's leading
news magazine, The Bulletin, is offering a $1m reward to anyone who can
photograph a tiger and prove that the species still survives.
-
- Col and the dozens of other long-term hunters say money
never has been and never will be their motivation.
-
- There are clear parallels with the hunt for the Loch
Ness Monster in Scotland. The tiger engenders a similar obsession inside
the hearts of true believers, but there is a much more solid scientific
basis for thinking the tiger really is still alive.
-
- Mena Jones is one of Tasmania's most respected wildlife
biologists. She leads a research team at Hobart University and has an open
mind about the tiger's survival.
-
- "The longer it goes without a verified sighting,
the less likely it is that they are out there."
-
- However, she tells me: "It is quite possible that
pockets of tigers have survived. They would be very hard to spot, and they
are most likely in areas that are almost impossible for humans to reach.
There may well be valleys out in the bush where small colonies are still
hiding out."
-
- Tasmania does contain a huge expanse of wilderness. There
is hope for the tiger.
-
- Several apparently credible witnesses have claimed to
have seen them in recent years.
-
- The only snag is that photographs of the tigers are proving
as elusive as the creatures themselves.
-
- TASMANIAN 'TIGER' * The thylacine was a large marsupial
carnivore * It ranged widely from Papua New Guinea to Tasmania * Many scientists
doubt cloning technology can bring it back
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- © BBC MMV
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- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4591137.stm
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