'That's not a fucking kangaroo': Activists say the Tasmanian wolf is not extinct. Why the marsupial wolf died out The marsupial wolf is different

The Tasmanian wolf, also called thylacine or marsupial tiger, is one of the most mysterious animals that has ever lived on our planet. Three and a half centuries ago, a Dutch navigator discovered a large island off the southwestern tip of the Australian continent, which later received the name of its discoverer. Sailors sent from the ship to explore this piece of land told about footprints they saw that looked like tiger paw prints. Thus, in the middle of the seventeenth century, the mystery of marsupial tigers was born, rumors about which stubbornly wandered over the next several centuries. Then, when Tasmania was already sufficiently settled by immigrants from Europe, eyewitness accounts began to appear.

The first more or less reliable report about the marsupial wolf was published in one of the English scientific publications in 1871. The famous naturalist and naturalist D. Sharp studied local birds in one of the river valleys of Queensland. One evening he noticed a sand color with clearly visible stripes. An unusual-looking animal managed to disappear even before the naturalist could do anything. Sharpe later learned that a similar animal had been killed nearby. He immediately went to this place and carefully examined the skin. Its length was one and a half meters. Unfortunately, it was not possible to save this skin for science.

The Tasmanian wolf (the photo confirms this) has, in some ways, a certain resemblance to representatives of the canine family, for which it got its name. Before the arrival of white settlers on the Australian continent, who brought their beloved sheep with them, the thylacine hunted small rodents, wallabies, marsupial opossums, bandicoot badgers and other exotic animals then known only to local aborigines. Most likely, the Tasmanian wolf preferred not to pursue game, but to use ambush tactics, lying in wait for prey in a secluded place. Unfortunately, today science has too little information about the life of this predator in wildlife.

Forty years ago, based on numerous expert reports, scientists announced the irrevocable disappearance of this animal. Indeed, one of the last representatives of the species was a Tasmanian who died of old age in 1936 in the zoo of the city of Hobart, the administrative center of the island of Tasmania. But in the forties, several fairly reliable evidence of meetings with this predator was recorded. Therefore, in its natural habitat, it still continued to exist.

True, after these documented evidence, it was possible to see this beast only in the pictures. But even less than a hundred years ago, the Tasmanian wolf was so common that visiting farmers were obsessed with genuine hatred for the thylacine, which gained among them the notoriety of a sheep thief. There was even a large bounty on his head. Over the last twenty years of the century before last, the authorities paid out 2,268 such rewards. Thus, the thirst for easy money gave rise to a wave of real hunting for thylacine. It soon turned out that such zeal led to the almost complete extermination of this predator. Already at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Tasmanian wolf was endangered. The law on his protection came into force only when, in all likelihood, there was no one to protect ...

But, apparently, the marsupial wolf still did not suffer the fate of the tarpan, and in 1985, Kevin Cameron, an amateur naturalist from the town of Girravin, Western Australia, suddenly presented to the world community quite convincing evidence that the thylacine continues to exist. Around the same time, evidence of occasional fleeting encounters with this beast began to emerge in New South Wales.

Eyewitnesses noted a strange wagging with a tossing back of the body, which, according to experts who studied the skeletons of representatives of this species, is consistent with the morphological and anatomical structure of the marsupial wolf. Moreover, of all Australian animals, only he is characterized by similar features. So isn't it time to exclude the Tasmanian marsupial wolf from the "martyrology" of the animal world and re-introduce it to the list of living, albeit not prosperous, contemporaries?

Means "entrance to the lakes" - in this place, an extensive network of rivers and lakes flows into the ocean, creating ideal conditions for fishing.

Indeed, there were quite a few fishing trawlers on the pier at Lakes Entrance, which immediately sold fresh fish and shrimp. Almost all vacationers in this place in Victoria could see a boat, many hotels have corners with tables for cutting fish.

Well, where there are fish, there are pelicans.

And the fishermen...

In general, apart from fish and a couple of beaches, there is nothing special to see in Lakes Entrance, except for the private maritime museum Griffiths Sea Shell Museum, where you could find just tons of different types of shells, alcoholized and dried fish and other marine reptiles.

Not far from Lakes Entrance are the Buchan Caves.

Well, after visiting the caves, it was nice to skip a mug of local beer at the Bullant Brewery.

We were already in Canberra in 2008, stopping by for a couple of days on our way to Sydney. Then we saw that there are many places in the city that can be visited in a few days.

Before leaving Canberra we visited the Australian Parliament building. There were several police officers at the entrance, who let visitors through the frame, like in airports. After walking through the halls and offices, visiting the green roof, we drove on...

The Economist Intelligence Unit consulting group has published its top cities in the world and Melbourne topped it for the second year in a row.

The top ten cities look like this:

great ocean road

Last December we took a ride on the Great Ocean Road and just yesterday added everything from that trip.

You can drive the whole road in one day, if you leave early in the morning, stop not everywhere, but return directly along the highway. In order not to rush into sightseeing, we stopped for a couple of nights right in the middle of the road, in the town of Port Campbell (Summer's Rest Units).

On the first day it was cloudy, so we had to put on jackets, but on the second day the sun came out and it became much more fun.

A few places we visited:

Despite s18(1) of the Spam Act 2003 (Cth), I agree and acknowledge that any message Vodafone sends me will not contain an unsubscribe facility. I understand that I can, at any time, opt out of receiving marketing material by contacting Vodafone Customer Care.

In general, Australian laws may not be followed, the main thing is to report this in small print.

She received the surname "Macpherson" from her stepfather, Neil MacPherson.

Thanks to her ideal body proportions (90-61-89), at the age of 18, El signed the first contract with the famous Click Model Management modeling agency.

In 1985, El decides to marry the photographer and creative director of Elle magazine Gilles Bensimon, who was 20 years older than McPherson. Through her marriage, El appeared in every issue of Elle magazine for six years.

Elle was featured on the cover of Time magazine in 1986. By that time, she had already been on the covers of magazines such as Cosmopolitan, GQ, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and Playboy. El also appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated six times during her career.

In 1989, McPherson and Bensimon divorced, and along with her husband, Elle lost her largest employer, Elle magazine. This period in the girl's career and life is not easy, but Elle pulls herself together and decides to move on.

Elle MacPherson in the movie "On the Edge"

In 1990, the first film with the participation of a famous model, Alice, directed by Woody Allen, was released. Then she plays in several films: "Sirens" (with Hugh Grant), "Batman and Robin" (with George Clooney), "On the Edge" (with Anthony Hopkins) and others.

Also in 1990, MacPherson launched her Elle Macpherson Intimates underwear line, which is sold exclusively in Australia.

In 1995, together with supermodel friends, El opened the Fashion Café restaurant chain, which did not become profitable and was closed in 1998.

In 1999, Elle MacPherson starred in five episodes of the hit series Friends.

Elle was engaged to French financier Arpad Busson in 2003, with whom she had two sons, Flynn in 1998 and Cy in 2003.

In 2005, the couple broke up, and today Elle lives in London with her children.

Smile!

I'm reading today in the local newspaper about what to do when traveling, and I see this advice:

smile. always smile.

It "ll get you places you wouldn't believe. From persuading Parisian waiters to speak English to figuring out where the hell you"re supposed to be sitting on that train, a little smile and a good attitude will get you help in no time. NB: There"s an exception to this rule – it "s called Russia. (They" ll think you "re mad.)

In translation:

Smile! Always smile.

It will open up so many new opportunities for you that you never dreamed of. For example, a waiter from Paris will suddenly speak English, or you will finally find that fucking seat on the train - just smile a little and act accordingly.

One exception to this rule is Russia. They will think you are crazy.

Marsupial or tasmanian wolf, or thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) is an extinct marsupial mammal, the only representative of the family of marsupial wolves.

It should be noted that he had a very indirect relationship with wolves, and his ancestors died out in the late Oligocene - Miocene.

For the first time, a description of the marsupial wolf was published in the proceedings of the London Linnean Society in 1808 by the amateur naturalist Harris. generic name Thylacinus means "marsupial dog", species cynocephalus"dog-headed".

Outwardly, the marsupial wolf looked like a dog - its body was elongated, the limbs were digitigrade.

The marsupial wolf was the largest of the carnivorous marsupials, and its resemblance to wolves is only an example of convergent evolution, especially since it differed sharply from its closest relatives, carnivorous marsupials, such as the Tasmanian devil, both in size and body shape.

The length of the marsupial wolf reached 100-130 cm, together with the tail 150-180 cm, height at the shoulders - 60 cm, weight 20-25 kg.

The skull of the marsupial wolf also resembled a dog's, and by the way, unlike real wolves, the marsupial wolf had eight incisors, not six,

The coat of the marsupial wolf was short, thick and coarse, the back was gray-yellow-brown, with 13-19 dark brown transverse stripes running from the shoulders to the base of the tail, and with a lighter belly. The muzzle is grey, with blurred white markings around the eyes. Ears are short, rounded, erect.

The elongated mouth could open very wide, 120 degrees, when the animal yawned, its jaws formed an almost straight line.

The curved hind legs made possible a specific hopping gait and even jumping on toes, similar to kangaroo jumps.

The bag of the marsupial wolf, like the bag of the Tasmanian devil, was formed by a fold of skin that opened back and covered two pairs of nipples.

Rock painting of a marsupial wolf in the area of ​​Ubirr

The indigenous peoples of Australia were the first to make contact with marsupial wolves. This is confirmed by the engravings and rock paintings found in large numbers, which date back to no later than 1000 BC.

By the time the first explorers arrived in Australia, there were few of these animals in Tasmania. Europeans may have first encountered the marsupial wolf in 1642, when Abel Tasman arrived in Tasmania and his coast guard reported the discovery of traces of "wild animals with tiger claws".

Marc-Joseph Marion-Dufresin reported in 1772 that he had observed a "tiger cat".

For the first time, a marsupial wolf was seen and described in detail on May 13, 1792 by the naturalist Jacques Labillardier.

However, it was not until 1805 that William Paterson, lieutenant governor of the northern part of Van Diemen's Land (present-day Tasmania), sent a detailed description for publication in " Sydney Gazette".

And the first detailed scientific description was made by the representative of the Tasmanian Society, Inspector George Harris, only in 1808. Harris first placed the marsupial wolf in the genus Didelphis, which was created by Linnaeus for the American opossum, describing it as Didelphis cynocephala- "a possum with a dog's head."

The notion that Australian marsupials were significantly different from known mammalian genera led to the modern system of classification, and in 1796 the genus Dasyurus, to which the marsupial wolf was assigned in 1810.

At the end of the Pleistocene and the beginning of the Holocene, the marsupial wolf was also found in the mainland of Australia, as well as on the island of New Guinea. However, there is an opinion that at least 3000 years ago it was driven out of here by dingo dogs, brought by aboriginal settlers.

In historical times, the marsupial wolf was known only on the island of Tasmania, where dingoes were not found. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the marsupial wolf was widespread and numerous in Tasmania, until the mass extermination of this beast, which was considered the enemy of sheep bred by farmers, began in the 30s of the 19th century.

He also ravaged poultry houses and ate game caught in traps. There were legends about the incredible ferocity and bloodthirstiness of marsupial wolves.

As a result of uncontrolled shooting and trapping, by 1863 marsupial wolves survived only in the remote mountainous and forest regions of Tasmania. A catastrophic drop in its numbers occurred at the beginning of the 20th century, when an epizootic of some kind of disease broke out in Tasmania, probably dog ​​distemper, introduced by imported dogs.

Marsupial wolves were susceptible to it, and by 1914 there were only a few of them left. However, even in 1928, when the law on the protection of the fauna of Tasmania was passed, the marsupial wolf was not included in the number of protected species. The last wild marsupial wolf was killed on May 13, 1930, and in 1936 the last captive marsupial wolf died of old age at a private zoo in Hobart.

The ban on their extraction was introduced only in 1938, and in 1966 in the south-west of the island, in a mountainous area near Lake St. Clair, a 647,000-hectare reserve was organized, a third of which was later transformed into a national park.

In 2013, Australian scientists stated that due to their relatively underdeveloped jaws, marsupial wolves could not hunt sheep (which they were accused of and caused extermination). Another reason for the extinction of the species is its low genetic diversity.

Unlike, for example, the undoubtedly destroyed Falkland fox, the marsupial wolf may have survived in the deep forests of Tasmania.

Over the following years, cases of meetings with animals were recorded, but none of them received reliable confirmation. Cases of capturing the marsupial wolf are unknown, and attempts to find it have not been successful.

In March 2005, the Australian magazine The Bulletin has offered a $1.25 million reward to anyone who captures a live marsupial wolf, but the reward has yet to be claimed.

Marsupial wolves at the New York Zoo, 1902

The marsupial wolf lived in sparse forests and on grassy plains, but was forced out by people into rainforests and mountains, where burrows under tree roots, hollows of fallen trees and rocky caves served as its usual refuge.

He usually led a nocturnal lifestyle, but sometimes he was noticed basking in the sun. The way of life was solitary, sometimes couples or small family groups gathered for hunting.

The marsupial wolf fed on medium and large terrestrial vertebrates. After the introduction of sheep and poultry to Tasmania, they also became the prey of the marsupial wolf. He often ate animals caught in traps, he himself was successfully caught with traps.

According to different versions, the marsupial wolf either lay in wait for prey in ambush, or leisurely pursued prey, bringing it to exhaustion. The marsupial wolf never returned to half-eaten prey, which was used by smaller predators, such as marsupial martens. The voice of a marsupial wolf on the hunt resembled a coughing bark, deaf, guttural and shrill.

Marsupial wolves have never attacked a man and usually avoided meeting him. Adult marsupial wolves were tamed badly, but young ones lived well in captivity if they were given, in addition to meat, live prey.

The females had a bag formed by a fold of skin on their belly, in which the cubs were born and fed. In captivity, marsupial wolves did not breed. Life expectancy in captivity was more than 8 years.

In 1999, the National Australian Museum in Sydney announced the start of a project to create a clone of the marsupial wolf using the DNA of puppies of this animal, which were preserved in the museum in alcohol form.

At the end of 2002, DNA was extracted, but the samples were damaged and unusable. On February 15, 2005, the suspension of the project was announced.

However, in May 2008, scientists still managed to get one of the marsupial wolf genes to work in a mouse embryo. The source of genetic material was the alcoholized cub of this marsupial predator, which has been kept in the Sydney Museum for more than a hundred years.

But… Now the marsupial wolf is another animal completely exterminated by humans.

List of used literature

Akimushkin I. Tragedy of wild animals. M: "Thought", 1969.

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The history of the existence of the marsupial wolf, or, as it is also called, the Tasmanian (Tasmanian) wolf, is very sad. With the arrival of Europeans in Australia, their merciless extermination began, and then, when their numbers were already in critical condition, the situation was aggravated by dog ​​distemper. The thylacine is now extinct. The last wolf died on September 7, 1936 at a private zoo in Hobart of old age.

Despite the fact that outwardly the thylacine looks more like a wolf or a dog, its closer relatives are the Tasmanian devil, or. After all, the Tasmanian wolf is the only large predator belonging to the marsupial family. Its tail, which is wide at the base, and a bag in the form of a skin fold covering 2 nipples, are clear evidence of this relationship.

Sometimes you wonder how stupid people can be. Instead of studying this animal well, they exterminated it. For almost a hundred years, researchers had this opportunity, but no. Its only official description and pictures were published only once, in the writings of the London Linnean Society in 1808 by amateur naturalist Harris. He then gave him the name thylacinus kinocephalus, which means "striped dog with a wolf's head."

The marsupial wolf was of medium size. The length of his body, together with the tail, reached 180 centimeters, while the height at the shoulders was 60 centimeters. The wolf weighed about 20-25 kilograms.

Outwardly, he looked more like a dog than a wolf. His thick hairline had a grayish-yellow color. There were 16-18 transverse dark stripes on the back, hind legs and at the base of the tail.

Even the thylacine's skull was shaped like a dog's. But of particular interest was its elongated mouth. The wolf during yawning could open it almost up to 120 degrees. And the special structure of its hind legs gave the gait spasmodic movements and gave the animal the opportunity to stand on its hind legs.

These wolves are loners. But for hunting, they often gathered in pairs or small groups. This medium-sized predator had prey of the appropriate size - wallabies, other small marsupials, echidnas and even lizards. They exhausted their prey with a slow but long chase. In their natural habitat, thylacines never returned to a half-eaten carcass. Therefore, when people tried to kill them by throwing poisoned carcasses, they did not succeed.

Like all marsupial mammals, the thylacine had a bag with 2 nipples, in which from 1 to 4 cubs could grow at the same time. They were born very tiny, just a couple of centimeters, and moved into their mother's bag. They spent 3 months there, and then the female looked for a good shelter, where she left the cubs and went hunting. She also brought prey here, and also taught the kids how to deal with it.

Before the arrival of man on mainland Australia, the marsupial wolf was distributed over a significant part of this mainland, as well as about. Tasmania and New Guinea. But with the advent of Europeans and the dingo dogs they brought, the life of these marsupials turned into hell.

Initially, they lived in sparse forests and grassy plains, but then they were forced out by man into rainforests and mountains, where burrows under tree roots, caves and hollows of fallen trees became their main shelters.

In the 30s of the 19th century, their mass extermination began, caused by the fact that these animals were allegedly guilty of the mass death of sheep. But these were false accusations. Of course, marsupial wolves could sometimes steal poultry or other small animals from the colonists, but the harm attributed to them was exaggerated tenfold. The main reason for the death of sheep was just wild dingoes or stray dogs brought by man. But the farmers were not up to the showdown, and they declared the marsupial wolf enemy No. 1. Their mass extermination began.

As a result, thylacines survived only on about. Tasmania, where people and dingoes just couldn’t get to. But at the beginning of the 20th century, another misfortune occurred with these animals - an epidemic of dog distemper began. Thus, the Tasmanian wolf was almost completely defeated. By 1914, only a few remained. In 1928, the Tasmanian Fauna Protection Act was passed, but despite the almost complete extinction of this species of animal, it was not listed as a protected species. So the last marsupial wolves died: one on May 13, 1930 from a hunter's bullet and in 1936 - the last marsupial wolf in the world died in captivity.

In our time, in connection with the successful development of science in the field of cloning, attempts have been made to restore the function of thylacine DNA. The DNA material was a drunk cub that had lain in the Sydney Museum for more than 100 years. The gene from an extinct animal was transplanted into a mouse embryo. As a result, this gene began to function successfully in the rodent organism. But cloning the extinct animal itself would require far more genetic material than is currently available.

Tylacine is one of the most legendary animals in the world. Despite its fame, it is still one of the most understudied living creatures in Tasmania. The European settlers were puzzled by him, feared him and killed him whenever they could. After a century of white settlements, the animal was brought to the brink of extinction.
In 1863, John Gould, the famous naturalist, predicted that the Tasmanian tiger was doomed to extinction: “As the relatively small island of Tasmania becomes denser and denser, and its primeval forests are crossed by roads from east to west coast, the number of these unique animals will fall rapidly, destruction will reach its climax, and they, like the wolf in England and Scotland, will be declared animals of the past."
All efforts were made (baits, traps, poison, shooting) to make his prophecy come true. Records of rewards for the extermination of thylacines show that an unexpected decline in the number of the species occurred at the beginning of the 20th century. It is believed that hunting and habitat destruction, leading to the fragmentation of the population, were the main causes of extinction. The residual population was weakened further by plague-like diseases.
The last known thylacine died at the Hobart Zoo on September 7, 1936.
The thylacine looked like a large long dog with stripes, a large stiff tail and a large head. Its scientific name Thylacinus cynocephalus translates as a marsupial dog with a wolf's head. A full-grown individual was 180 cm long from the nose to the tip of the tail, about 58 cm tall at the shoulders and weighed up to 30 kg. The short, soft fur was brown except for 13 - 20 dark brown - black stripes that extended from the base of the tail almost to the shoulders. The stiff tail became thicker towards its base and seemed to merge with the body.
Thylacines were usually silent, but when agitated or excited, they made a series of hoarse, coughing barks. When hunting, they emitted a characteristic double bark (like a terrier), repeating it every few seconds.



1930

1933

1925 Tasmanian hunter with prey