Nannup Tiger
Around the southern corner of Western Australia there are quite a number of people who really believe that in the Nannup Tiger.
Firstly and most importantly, the Nannup Tiger is not a Bengal Tiger, nor even a relation of that famed Black and Yellow striped feline. The Nannup Tiger is believed to be Thylacinus Cynocephalus (striped wolf with a dog's head), the largest carnivorous marsupial ever known. Being marsupial, it belongs to the same family as the Kalgaroo, the Tasmanian Devil and the native Cat. All of these bear their young in a very immature form and then rear them in a pouch, attached to the mother's teat, until they are mature enough to be left for short periods while the mother forages for food.
Being carnivorous, the adult Thylacine feeds on meat, generally wild game of their own killing. Thylacine is not known to be a scavenger - he always prefers his own fresh kill. This need not be cause for alarm to travellers because this animal is known to be shy and cautious. Indeed, the only recorded case of attack on a human occurred in 1900 in Tasmania, and the animal proved to be old and lacking sight in one eye.
Thylacine is roughly the size of an adult Labrador dog. It has a large head, short upright ears, and a long tail. The spine is continuous right to the tail-tip so the tail is held stiffly and is non-wagging - unlike a dog. Its body colour is generally Yellow, Brown or Mustard-coloured, with distinctive dark stipes - starting at the shoulders and becoming more pronounced over the hindquarters. Unless the animal is cooperative enough to sit and say 'aaah' for you, you are unlikely to notice that is has a massive jaw with eight incisor teeth between the fangs - instead of six as with a dog or fox. It's quite distinctive, especially if seen in soft soil. The forefoot has five toes, but the fifth is not usually seen unless under pressure or in very soft conditions. The hind foot is very like a dog's but suitable soil or movement conditions could show the long 'heel' extending to the 'knee' - as in a dog Kangaroo. The Thylacine was native to the entire Australian Continent until the advent of the Dingo. These two species had to compete for the same habitat, and the Dingo seems to have won. The Dingo was never introduced to Tasmania, so the 'Tiger' was able to survive there until bounty hunters virtually eliminated the species in the 1930's. The latest Thylacine specimens collected on the mainland were found on the Nullarbor Plains, and are estimated to be nearly 3,000 years old. These can now be seen at the Perth Museum. The Adelaide Museum of Australian Fauna has and excellent display of Thylacine's - both adult and cub. An interested body of people in Nannup have collected reports of many sightings of strange animals. Reports have come in from as far north as Geraldton, and extend round to the coast of Esperance. The greatest number of local sightings were made in the late sixties and early seventies. It was thought that the extremely wet Winters of that period may have forced the animals to move into the local hills - where established Pine plantations gave the needed cover, while wildlife and the occasional sheep provided food. An organised hunt in 1970 was hampered by the distraction of finding a sheep suitably painted and with a long tail added. No doubt some of the reports received are the result of over-enthusiasm, mistaken identity or simply 'not taking enough water', but far too many sightings have been made by clear-thinking people, well accustomed to bush life, to be able to brush them aside. As recently as this year, some activity has been observed in the foothills of between Nannup and Busselton, in the Yoongerillup area, and good sightings have been reported. Footprints have been noted in the newly established Shelly Pine Plantation, but rain prevented the taking of plaster-casts of these.
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