oldrover
Justified & Ancient
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2009
- Messages
- 4,056
Hi, this is a subject that's been coming up a bit these days, so I've put it in a new thread. Apologies if that's not right.
It's a bit long, and probably only of interest to those who follow the subject.
For at least twenty years now there's been at least one colour photograph doing the rounds, which almost certainly shows a thylacine hind foot. I first saw it about then on a TV documentary with Chris Packham, I'm sure most people will know the one I mean. It is occasionally, but always briefly, available on Youtube. 'The X Creatures: Beyond the jaws of extinction'.
Just recently it's also been published in one of Col Bailey's books. Significantly perhaps, only in black and white.
The story behind this photo appears to change. But, it's not certain whether the two main versions apply to the photo in the book, which is definitely the same as the one in the documentary. Or whether two thylacine carcasses turned up in the same area, and within about ten years or so of each other. Both were photographed in some detail. And photographs of both animal's feet were handed over to two separate researchers. And then, due to the unnecessarily shadowy and complicated way it's all been handled, they got confused.
The original version I heard, as per the documentary, was that in 1991 two hunters out in the Adamsfield area of Tasmania. Came across and shot a dog like animal. Realising afterward what they'd done and fearing prosecution, they photographed the body and kept it quiet. Except that they showed the set of photos to Col Bailey, and allowed him to keep at least one. There appear to be two in the documentary.
But there's a second story, told here;
This version introduces a man known as Rusty, who at about 13:20, tells how he came across the body of a recently dead tiger, sometime in the eighties. Again he takes a series of photos, and again keeps quiet about it. Except to hand over one of the photos to someone, who he doesn't name. But he does say about whoever it was, that 'he'd' made up his own stories about it. Crucially though, at that point the interviewer says that he has seen the photo and that it 'looks like a thylacine foot'.
So the photo Rusty handed over seems certainly to have also been of a foot, as he doesn't contradict him.
For those who may not know, thylacine feet are fairly distinctive. And it is possible to make a pretty certain identification from them. So it isn't quite as random as it may seem.
So, it would seem that the photos from the book, which seem to be the same as those from the documentary, and are therefore in colour. Do show part of a thylacine. I must admit, I have not seen the book, but have that on good authority.
But, assuming that the photos are the same as those in the documentary, and again I've heard from several people who've seen both, that they are. Then firstly, they can't be the ones which Rusty claimed to have taken in the 80's.
They're are clearly not taken in the bush, but on what looks like a table, and on top of what definitely is a sheet of paper of some sort. So that would to me definitely put Rusty out of the running. As he clearly states in the interview that he left the carcass where he found it.
So returning to the hunters' version. Personally I don't know whether they claimed to have left the body in situ or not. But, apart from the whole contradictory nature of the half disclosure. What bothers me most about the photograph itself, is that in it there's photo scale tape. Why would they have that, why would they have used that? As another thread here supports, photo scale tapes are normally more associated with surveyors, archaeologists, museums, police etc. Not the sort of stuff the average person would have knocking about.
Personally, I think that its presence suggests that those photos are private snaps taken by someone, during an examination of a museum specimen.
And to me that's aside from the hugely unlikely scenario of them having kept quiet about it in the first place. Especially after fearing prosecution and deciding to cover up what happened. They've lugged a blood dripping, recently shot corpse home. Put it on their table getting their photo scale tape out.
It's a bit long, and probably only of interest to those who follow the subject.
For at least twenty years now there's been at least one colour photograph doing the rounds, which almost certainly shows a thylacine hind foot. I first saw it about then on a TV documentary with Chris Packham, I'm sure most people will know the one I mean. It is occasionally, but always briefly, available on Youtube. 'The X Creatures: Beyond the jaws of extinction'.
Just recently it's also been published in one of Col Bailey's books. Significantly perhaps, only in black and white.
The story behind this photo appears to change. But, it's not certain whether the two main versions apply to the photo in the book, which is definitely the same as the one in the documentary. Or whether two thylacine carcasses turned up in the same area, and within about ten years or so of each other. Both were photographed in some detail. And photographs of both animal's feet were handed over to two separate researchers. And then, due to the unnecessarily shadowy and complicated way it's all been handled, they got confused.
The original version I heard, as per the documentary, was that in 1991 two hunters out in the Adamsfield area of Tasmania. Came across and shot a dog like animal. Realising afterward what they'd done and fearing prosecution, they photographed the body and kept it quiet. Except that they showed the set of photos to Col Bailey, and allowed him to keep at least one. There appear to be two in the documentary.
But there's a second story, told here;
This version introduces a man known as Rusty, who at about 13:20, tells how he came across the body of a recently dead tiger, sometime in the eighties. Again he takes a series of photos, and again keeps quiet about it. Except to hand over one of the photos to someone, who he doesn't name. But he does say about whoever it was, that 'he'd' made up his own stories about it. Crucially though, at that point the interviewer says that he has seen the photo and that it 'looks like a thylacine foot'.
So the photo Rusty handed over seems certainly to have also been of a foot, as he doesn't contradict him.
For those who may not know, thylacine feet are fairly distinctive. And it is possible to make a pretty certain identification from them. So it isn't quite as random as it may seem.
So, it would seem that the photos from the book, which seem to be the same as those from the documentary, and are therefore in colour. Do show part of a thylacine. I must admit, I have not seen the book, but have that on good authority.
But, assuming that the photos are the same as those in the documentary, and again I've heard from several people who've seen both, that they are. Then firstly, they can't be the ones which Rusty claimed to have taken in the 80's.
They're are clearly not taken in the bush, but on what looks like a table, and on top of what definitely is a sheet of paper of some sort. So that would to me definitely put Rusty out of the running. As he clearly states in the interview that he left the carcass where he found it.
So returning to the hunters' version. Personally I don't know whether they claimed to have left the body in situ or not. But, apart from the whole contradictory nature of the half disclosure. What bothers me most about the photograph itself, is that in it there's photo scale tape. Why would they have that, why would they have used that? As another thread here supports, photo scale tapes are normally more associated with surveyors, archaeologists, museums, police etc. Not the sort of stuff the average person would have knocking about.
Personally, I think that its presence suggests that those photos are private snaps taken by someone, during an examination of a museum specimen.
And to me that's aside from the hugely unlikely scenario of them having kept quiet about it in the first place. Especially after fearing prosecution and deciding to cover up what happened. They've lugged a blood dripping, recently shot corpse home. Put it on their table getting their photo scale tape out.