Thylacine: The Tragic Tale of the Tasmanian Tiger

by David Owen

Is it still out there?
Thousands of Australians, including dedicated and serious scientists, claim to keep seeing it still.
The world's largest marsupial predator was deliberately hunted to extinction through fear, ignorance and greed. But was it a savage sheep killer or a shy, fussy, nocturnal feeder? And did it really drink its victims' blood?
Once reviled, feared and slaughtered by government decree, the myth of the Tasmanian Tiger continues to grow. So treasured is it now, the Tasmanian Tiger has become the official logo of the island that wiped it out and a symbol of the conservation movement world-wide.
A number of Australian species have miraculously reappeared after being labelled as extinct. Perhaps the Tiger is still with us. And if it's not, can it be brought back by cloning?

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Science, History, Natural History, Biology, Nature

228 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

David Owen was born in Zimbabwe in 1956 and grew up in Malawi and Swaziland. He completed his education in South Africa and then spent some years working in London. He migrated to Australia in 1986. A past editor of Island magazine, he writes fiction and nonfiction. He is now settled in Tasmania.

Reviews

[Andrew Simington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read and well written but was fairly sad. There’s a lot of hidden information in this book for the hard core tiger chasers. Tones of horror that all peoples committed to the tiger a long time ago. Learnt a lot about history of Tasmania as well.

[Sébastien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cette seconde édition, toute récente – 2023 –, parfaitement documentée, constitue désormais le livre de référence sur le sujet du thylacine. Le volume de David Owen couvre en effet tous les champs pertinents, des prémices géologiques aux phantasmes génétiques, des confusions onomastiques initiales aux avatars médiatiques toujours croissants. La version papier est bien terne, avec une couverture trop fine, à l’infographie bas de gamme, et du papier jaunâtre, et n’est pas exempte de quelques coquilles et autres manquements éditoriaux – notamment des renvois de planches manquantes dans le cahier illustre central dans le pourtant très bienvenu chapitre 14 consacre à la présence culturelle du tigre.

Par son exhaustivité encyclopédique et sa prudence, Owen permet hélas de donner une réponse définitive, et négative, à la question de l’existence résiduelle du thylacine, dans quelque coin reculé de l’ile, voire du continent australien ou de la Papouasie. A croiser la mauvaise santé génétique du marsupial, et qui l’avait déjà vu disparaitre il y a 3000 ans en Australie continental au profit du seul dingo ; les innombrables expéditions, et cameras, ayant quadrillé et mitraillé tout ce que la Tasmanie peut offrir de recoin les plus inaccessibles, systématiquement bredouilles, sinon de toutes les autres espèces possibles encore en vie ; les inévitables biais cognitifs des personnes ayant vu – ou cru voir, ou connaissant quelqu’un qui… – à quoi on pourra ajouter l’intrigante corrélation entre la densité des sightings et la proximité des pubs ; la ressemblance du thylacine avec le lévrier australien ; etc., tous les espoirs de la survie du charismatique animal se sont évanouis. A titre personnel, les images récentes du documentaire de Tim Noonan (SBS, 2024), montrant ce qu’une caméra infrarouge, montée sur un drone, permet de saisir en quelques secondes de la vie luxuriante de la faune tasmanienne, a brutalement achevé de me dessiller. L’épuisement résigné de Tigerman face à ces mêmes images doit être le nôtre. He’s not here anymore.

Enfin, quant aux tenants d’une alternative par la résurrection génétique, qui promettent son retour sous cinq ans, ceux-ci omettent sciemment l’absence évidente de viabilité écologique d’un tel projet. Outre que le thylacine – ou en tout cas une version proximale, portée par un dunnart –, qui ne s’est vraisemblablement jamais reproduit en captivité, ne pourrait renaitre comme espèce qu’à partir d’un pool d’individus offrant une quantité et une diversité impossible à produire par l’ingénierie génétique, il n’aurait aucune niche écologique propice. Quand bien même ils seraient réintroduits dans telle ou telle réserve, les spécimens infiniment précieux mourraient sans doute absurdement, tamponnés par un ute sur une route vandiemanienne.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in 2003 as Thylacine: The Tragic Tale of the Tasmanian Tiger, this is the updated 2nd edition was re-released in 2023 as Tasmanian Tiger: The Tragic Tale of the Thylacine. My mum gets an acknowledgment in both! This book spans from the colonial treatment and representations of the Thylacine through to current talks about cloning and de-extinction. An interesting read.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a resource on the thylacine (aka the Tasmanian Tiger), David Owen's Thylacine: The Tragic Tale of the Tasmanian Tiger is absolutely fantastic. Content-wise, there's very little that I feel is missing, and what is missing tends to be things that have occurred post-publication.

For example, when discussing thylacine cloning, Owen says that it's hoped to be completed by 2010 – reading this in 2013 I'm aware that the deadline has been missed. As this was first published in 2003, it's understandable – but as a new edition was published in 2011, I wonder if the opportunity to update the text should have been taken. But it's a moot point, really.

Probably what sticks with me is how hideously depressing and frustrating the tale of the thylacine's extinction is. The thylacine was deemed a pest for hunting sheep – yet the amount of sheep killed by thylacines is nowhere near half the amount killed by dogs. It's enough to make me want to go back in time to punch (some of) the people responsible in the face and, at one stage, I was in tears.

For me, the writing lets the book down a bit. It's not bad, but it's not truly brilliant, and hence the four stars, not five.

[Benjamin Felser · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tragic yes important story of genocide, extinction, exploitation, colonization and ignorance. Owen contributes an important addition to obituaries for the ever inspiring and mourned Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger. As with most natural history adjacent books, it is a bit dry, but he paints a rich picture from the POV of white settlers in Tasmania. The book was severely lacking in indigenous voices and perspectives for a work describing the disappearance of a creature with immense cultural significance. He alludes to stories and genocide, but spends very little time on the topics, opting (as most traditional white male writers) to focus in on MAN (settlers) and NATURE (the Thylacine, forests, etc…).

Deborah Bird Rose, for example, does an artful job even as a white woman in Australia on drawing on collaborations with aboriginal communities when exploring fruit bat stories. Examples abound, yet Owen sticks to tradition, causing the story to lack fullness and a thoughtful post colonial lens which seems necessary to recount an extinction enacted through the forces and violence of British colonialism.

[Kirsti · Rating 5 out of 5]

A subject that always makes me sad; that of the Thylacine, or the Tasmanian Tiger. An animal I have always thought to be so beautiful, wrongly persecuted and finally destroyed (perhaps?) at the hands of man. In Australia, there are those who believe they are extinct, and those who believe, somehow, that they've managed to survive in the remotest parts of Tasmania. I'm not sure where I stand- I want to believe they live on, but even if they do, the destruction of so many is wrong enough in itself.

This book covers their history before and after White men arrived on these shores. There is a lovely Aboriginal legend, facts and first hand accounts. Everything from the known facts to guesses and theories- this book has it all.

It was comprehensive enough for someone who knows a little about Thylacines, but interesting for those who know more as well. If this is topic that interests you, then I would highly recommend this book, it is one of the better books on this subject I have come across.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping to read a book about the behaviour and habits of the Thylacine, which may be a big ask given that it is now extinct and while it was around the prevailing attitude was that it was a pest.

Instead this book describes the short and violent history of the animal's extermination - motivated by a mistaken belief that the animal was a existential threat to early sheep farmers. When in reality, it was a scapegoat for the fact that the land was not suitable for flocks of hooved ruminants.

Quite depressing reading.

[dot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of dry, but an interesting compendium on records about the thylacine since colonisation. Sometimes I found it hard jumping between stories for things fo sink in.

[D.F. Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to read - not in the sense that it is poorly wrote, but in the sense that it truly is a 'Tragic Tale'.

[Michael Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Owen’s very readable history of this intriguing marsupial is a solid examination of the plight of one of Tasmania’s most precious icons – the now mythical ‘tiger’. Misidentified as a rampant killer of sheep, this mostly shy and quiet predator became a target for various reasons (many profit- and ego-related) and was likely hunted to extinction by the 1960s once their population had decreased to an unsustainable number.

This is a sad an unnecessary chapter in Tasmanian (and Australian) history, highlighting the greed and destructiveness of those holding power, and displays the rather miserable lack of respect for our fabulous flora and fauna by the colonial settlers – an unhealthy, neglectful attitude that still exists today at great cost to diversity and understanding of our natural world. Although many sightings are still recorded, both in Tasmania and on mainland Australia, it’s highly unlikely that the tiger still exists as even with favourable conditions and some protections, no genuine proof has been provided to support the idea of their continuation.

Owen presents the unique animal as one of Australia’s most interesting species, a somewhat strange wolf/dog hybrid that equally fascinated and terrified many new to the island state. He neatly discusses the circumstances of their discovery, misidentification and eventual pursuit via a Government-paid bounty system, and describes their habitat preferences, range and potential connection to the Aboriginal peoples – unearthing many thought-provoking facts I was previously unaware of via general accumulation.

The Thylacine is a lost treasure – an unfortunate participant in human behaviour that never should have been allowed to flourish at its expense. If you’re keen to understand more about the story of their untimely demise, this relatively brief book is a perfect introduction to this sorry tale.

[Tess Falco · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a shocking disgrace to the name of non-fiction. I have never been more personally offended by the quality of writing in a book than when reading this piece of "work". The author(s) have done little more than collate other pieces of writing and reporting on the thylacine, and group them together more or less randomly. It almost seems intentional how poorly paced and borderline plagiarised this work is. The best lines in this book were all written by more competent writers and excised from their original contexts for inclusion here. I would say it reads like a thrown together essay by a high schooler, but that would honestly be an insult to the capacities of even the least studious teenager. The order of information is nonsensical, the delivery uninteresting, and not a single original thought is proposed by the author(s). In one case an image plate is referred to that isn't even in the book. Early on, notes are frequently made to things "which will later be discussed at greater length", only to either never be mentioned again or be mentioned in a fleeting sentence or two. The text is full of this kind of asinine organisation. I have to believe no editorial eye was cast over this, or that any editor who was told to work on it took a moral stand and quit their job. If they didn't before, they should be required to now. I wish my eyeballs could be cleansed of the memory of reading this book. In the famous words of a put-upon Scottish mother, it is DISGUSTENG!

[Azzm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the original edition many years ago which sparked a large passion for the Thylacine. I had the opportunity to fall in love with it again in which the book details the Thylacine plight to exist with the early settlers of the country with a few references to new sightings following their extinction.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. David Owen's vocabulary is colorful and verbose. I plan to comb through his sources and check them out individually- and some books he mentions towards the end. He keeps things factual which I always appreciate when talking about thylacines.

My main issue (which other reviews have pointed out) is his omission of Aboriginal voices. A book about genocide towards Tasmanian people and animals not utilizing actual native voices is ironic in an embarrassing way. It's such an oversight on David Owen's part. I enjoyed it nonetheless.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating take on a tragic part of Tasmanian and human history.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and sad study of the greed and stupidity of humans.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 / 5.0

Interesting Story. Too many long quotes.

[dejah_thoris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Owen writes a lovingly detailed book on a unique marsupial hunted to (near?)extinction by human beings due to bad publicity and indifference. A creature of mystery, the thylacine may still survive in the underdeveloped northeast part of the island but that doesn't make its plight much better. And neither does spending money on cloning after the species is eliminated. Other reviewers have found Owen's writing dry but I thought it merely sparse in that he tells the truth without much embellishment allowing the facts to speak for themselves. On conservation, he uses a little hyperbole but not much compared most environmental literature, which I liked. Although it was published 10+ years ago, it has piqued my curiosity about the thylacine, so I think I'll be doing some research while on the Reference Desk in the next few weeks to see what else has happened since the cloning experiment mentioned at the end of the book.

[Chas Bayfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a measured scientific account of the origins, life and demise of the Tasmanian Tiger. Owen takes us through the evolution of the animal and documents the toll taken by the arrival of Europeans in the nineteenth century. Drawing from a huge number of sources both academic and anecdotal the book tells how the myth of the tiger as a predatory and dangerous killer of livestock came into being. It also tells the story of the Tasmanian conservation and green movement - who knew Errol Flynn's dad was a pioneering green? - and paints a bleak picture of the Tasmanians' laissez faire attitude to their unique marsupial. Owen is no romanticist and treats stories of recent sightings with impartiality - it really does seem that it is now extinct. The book is a great read for anyone fascinated by the Tasmanian tiger and conservation in general.

[Sharon Carvosso · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read.
Although academic in nature it’s written with such emotion and my heart was rendered in ways I could never have thought possible.
The tragic and thoughtless extermination of such an incredible animal exposed in relation to the genocide of the indigenous Palawa of Lutruwita, and the exploitive extraction, capitalism and colonialism, that continues today as a lesson unlearned.
Emphasising the fact that “regret & guilt” are not effective in protecting nature from humans.
We deserve what awaits!!

[Hilary "Fox" · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent history of both the thylacine and environmental conservation in Tasmania. While this is a reference book, it was far from boring, and even delved into the cryptozoological question of the creatures continued existence into present day. I would highly recommend this book to people interested in the animal, as well as people with a passing interest in natural history and environmentalism. It is an excellent wake up call for modern day.

[Andre · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an easy to read book and definitely enjoyable. However, this book is rather about the human-thylacine relationship than the thylacine itself, so if you are looking about plenty of information about thylacine biology, ecology and social behavior, this book will not help you.

[Daniel Simmons · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book sums up what is known about a now-extinct marsupial predator in Tasmania. It's written in a dry and occasionally chummy voice that informs but never truly compels -- it felt like reading a Wikipedia article with slightly better than usual illustrations.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible account of the life and times of the marsupial wolf.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fascinating topic; dry and unengaging presentation.

[Paige Pell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not for everyone but an insightful look at the tragically short history of the thylacine after its encounter with western humanity.

[Saturday's Child · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read a physical copy of this interesting, well written and researched book.