Shadow Of The Thylacine: One Man's Epic Search For The Tasmanian Tiger

by Col Bailey

In 1967 Col Bailey sighted a Tasmanian Tiger in South Australia. Then in 1993,an encounter with an elderly bushman unlocked previously untold information that led Col into the untrodden wilderness of Tasmania's Weld Valley. Now the truth of this discovery can be revealed about an animal that the experts claim is long extinct.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Natural History, Australia, Tasmania

294 pages, Paperback

First published April 29, 2013

Reviews

[Kadence Albinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up at Launceston airport after a week in lovely Tasmania, after becoming fascinated with the story of the thylacine when I visited the museum.
Col Bailey writes with passion. He just refuses to back down and accept that the thylacine is extinct. Good on him!
He describes the bush land of Australia so beautifully, it makes you want to go out and explore nature.
I did find the book to get a bit repetitive after a while, but this is what col went out and did. Again and again out in the bush to track down this creature.
I want to believe that the thylacine is still out there somewhere.
A great read. I recommend not only reading this book, but exploring the beautiful state of Tasmania and learning it's history .. So much history for a little place :-)

[Lynne Stringer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fascinating and provided a wealth of proof to the thylacine's continued existence in Australia today. The only real negative were a few sections that I think could have been made shorter, especially when the author went searching and didn't find anything (he didn't come up empty-handed every time, though). Clearly this is always going to happen in the search for the thylacine, which I fully believe is still alive and kicking, but I would have loved a few more stories about encounters with it from various different individuals. Still, there was a wealth of rich information and historical detail, and there's no doubt the author made a convincing case for its survival, but then, with me, he's preaching to the converted. :-)

[Craig Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weather your a sceptic or a true believer this book is a cracking yarn about Australia's supposedly extinct Tasmanian Tiger. Filled with fascinating and intriguing information, you'll most likely find yourself wondering 'what if'?. Well worth a read if you love mysteries and a good tale.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

There isn't much mystery left in the world. We pretty much look to pure fiction to find any mystery. But here's an actual mystery, thanks to Col Bailey, and one that he devoted his life to.

As far as I was concerned, Thylacines went extinct in the 1930s. I read the Last Tasmanian Tiger, which was a great book that went over so many accounts from the 1800s about how their population was dwindling even 70 years before the reported extinction. There is no proof that they still exist, not a shred of credible evidence even though we'd all like it to be true.

But Col Bailey truly believed it. He said he saw them. He was thoughtful, well researched and believable. So all we're left with is how do people like him (and there are others) come across as truly believable when all evidence points to the contrary?

Col Bailey died earlier this year. He never got to realize his dream, which was to prove the existence of thylacines and be part of a breeding project to bring them back. He did achieve quite a bit, though. He wrote books like this, full of descriptions of thylacine habitat and stories from old timers who actually interacted with them. He also served as a central authority where people came with reported sightings.

This book is a good companion to The Last Tasmanian Tiger...whereas that one assumes they are extinct, this one assumes they aren't. And both books are well researched and well written.

As a negative, I do agree with one review of his last book...he speaks respectfully of many of the old timer hunter/trapper/snarer people he interviews. That approach for sure allowed him to get stories that others couldn't. But those are the people responsible for killing the poor animals without a shred of remorse. One of them states he cared about them, and treated one kindly in captivity, but they truly were a whole generation of intentional murderers.

[Bill Leach · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thylacine, popularly known as the Tasmanian Tiger, is generally thought to have become extinct in the 1930's. The last wild animal was shot in 1930. The last captive thylacine was Benjamin who lived at the Hobart Zoo until 1936.

Bailey believes that some animals lived on beyond the 1930's in the remote parts of Tasmania. In this book he describes his efforts over the years to collect sightings. Many of those who have reported seeing thylacines are bush men, colorful characters in their own right. Signs of the animal include its unique footprint, vocal call and type of den.

The author also does his own trips into the wilds of Tasmania, his descriptions showing the Tasmanian bush to be rugged but beautiful.

[Richard Paulsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rate this book on a topic I know very little about. One thing I can say for sure: every time I step foot back in Tassie my mind explodes with the possibility that what Col writes about is true and my own sighting and experience of the animal is just waiting on the other side of that bluff. If a books sparks this level and animated anticipation for something, I reckon the author has achieved what they set out to do.

[Lee Belbin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish. After living in Tasmania for 25 years, and walking many of its wild trails, I had always lived in hope that the Tasmanian Tiger was out there somewhere. Maybe it got wise and avoided any smell of humans? This book gives me a small amount of hope. It describes the history, sightings (and hearings) with a lot of the author’s expeditions. I know what horizontal and cutting grass are like.

[Jenni Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

It tended to get a bit tiring towards the end with all the names of wilderness areas in Tasmania. I do admire the man's tenacity in looking for this mysterious creature. I am a believer, I've spent time in South West Tasmania and it's quite possible the tiger still exists.

[Pauline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do some much admire this man's dedication in his belief that the Tasmanian Tiger still exists, his efforts in following up on reported sightings, rumours, stories, and trekking into the harsh wilderness, desperately wanting to prove the animal's existence. The research into the history on how the tiger's extinction came about, creating an awareness of facts previously unknown to me. I did enjoy the book and I wish I could say I had Col's conviction that the Thylacine is still with us, but I feel it is unlikely, as man intrudes further into its domain. However, I would so much like to be wrong, and he is still roaming the remote wilderness, somewhere we can never find him.

[Tim Sands · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read that has got me all excited again about the many mysteries on our planet such as the Thylacine, Loch Ness Monster, Big Foot extra. Can't wait to read more.

[TassieTigerz · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far i really love this book. I have not finished it yet, but highly intend on doing so. Shadow Of The Thylacine continues the mysterie of Tasmania's long lost specie. :)

[Dion Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book. Although as the author points out there is still no definitive proof of the Thylacine's continued existance, for me, this book proves that the tigers are still out there. The book includes not just the author's own experiences, but testimonials from a variety of sources. The book also includes some rare oral histories that otherwise would never have been told. I enjoyed the book because as a keen bushwalker and deer hunter, I have actually been to most of the places he describes and could picture them in my mind. I would recommend the book to nature and animal lovers as well as those who like rate histories.