Australian Relict Fauna Encounters
Thylacoleo in WA? Thursday, May 29, 2003
Esperance is on the western edge of the Nullabor, right on the coast, and it's a long way from major cities & "civilisation". Interestingly, the location isn't too far from that recent thylacoleo fossil find in WA.
Date: Thursday, May 29, 2003
Time: 9:23 AM EST
Submitted by: Darren
Email address: *********
Subject: Thylacoleo?
Age: 41
City: esperance
State: wa
PostCode: 6450
gender: male
encounter_date: 2002
encounter_time: 5:30am
encounter_location_txt:
between ravensthorpe and esperance not sure if i should be more specific can only show location to within 2km due to the time that has elapsed
description_txt:
it had a cat like head eyes more on side pointed up hair tipped ears from the neck long hair down to shoulders then fine spotted coat to tail
vegetation_txt:
harsh bush rocks caves area hasnt been used for mining or farming its too rugged it was cut off by the highway and spreads out to the coast
size_total: 1.5msize_tail: 500mm
size_body: 1m
size_shoulder: 700mm
size_nearest: large dog with catlike head
Aware: yes
reaction:
it stopped and glanced back before leaping off
sounds_txt: unable to hear
action_other:
it ran across the road and stopped on the otherside
stationary_txt: loking back at me
traces_txt: didnt check
group: no
other_animals: yes
other_animals_txt01:
not in site of area but sheep are farmed near by
attention: it ran across the road ahead of me
direction01: north west
direction02: south
how_long: 10 to 20 seconds
distance: 10m to 20m
the_ending: it leapt of into the scub towards the rocks and caves in the area
theWeather: rain
temperature: cool
theTime: dawn
tellothers: yes
history: notknown
similar: yes
similar_txt: it went from runing into lunging and reminded me of a cat
unusual_txt:
it seems to have kept to a creek prior to crossing the road as this is where i first saw it and had no choice but to cross to the safety of the rocks and caves
report_date: 29/5/03
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Thylacoleo in the Grampians? Sun Sep 12 17:46:46 1999
I am a student at ****** University and recently had to write an essay on the extinction of Australian megafauna. Whilst doing some research on the internet I stumbled across your sites on Thylacoleo. Whilst I live in ****** I often stay at a property just out of Dunkeld at the southern end of the Grampians. As you are aware there are many reported sightings of "big cats" in the area. The local story is that two black pumas were released by American servicemen at the end of WW2. Whilst I have not been lucky enough to see the animals myself I have spoken to a number of people who have.
My cousin saw one while practising driving on some bush tracks a number of years ago and the similarities between her description and the one you have on the net are surprising. She says the animal had a very large head with small pointed ears. The head was almost too large for the body and that the whole was amazingly muscular. The tail was very long although she did not mention that it was held upright. When she saw the "cat" it was next to and slightly in front of the car running beside it. She said the animal was bounding or leaping as it ran - whether this was its natural gait or due to the fact that it was leaping small bushes I'm not sure. Last year the son of a local workman was down by the river one evening when he heard a noise behind him and turned to see a "cat" in a tree only 5-10m from him. The animal started to come down the tree and was making a "coughing" noise. At this point he was too terrified to stay and ran away.
I have also spoken to one of the local vets about these animals as he has a particular fascination with them and often goes tracking them through the bush on his horses. He has sighted them a number of times and has had stock brought into the clinic with their necks crushed by something. His only guess is that it must be the "cats". Recently I have also heard that in the homestead of another property in the district there is a stuffed specimen that was shot. I don't know if this is true but many seem to think it is. I am extremely interested in these animals and only wish one day I will be lucky enough to see one.
Yours sincerely Katrina
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Cryptic Animal Encounters - Notes
DATE: 22.08.2010
There's been some interest of late in unusual animal sightings. I've decided to start uploading sightings from our files. Most cryptic animal encouters are readily explainable as misidentifications of well known critters. But there's always a percentage that do seem to be "something else". The question is: what on Earth could they be?
We filter out obvious mistakes, hoaxes and, uh, "unreliable" reports. The accounts that reader will see here are reports that do appear to represent encounters with non-native animal species, presumably imported into Australia sometime after European settlement. Alternatively, some sightings may represent encounters with a relict species, something left over from Pleistocene times. As utterly unlikely as that scenario sounds, it nevertheless appears to be what solid, well-balanced people sometimes observe "out there".
It is a riddle well worth looking into. If it turned out to be true it would be an incredible tale of survival against all odds. Scientifically it could give us insights into the true nature of the mass extinction events that decimated animal life on the Earth at the end of the last Ice Age. The answer to that puzzle has relevance to the question of humanity's own prospects for long term survival.
It is for that reason that I ask of people who have reported encounters with "cryptic animals" to bear with us. To protect informants' privacy we have excised names and personal details: but you may, obviously, recognise your words. While The Quest for Thylacoleo is a hobby, it is also, I hope, a scientific enquiry and we like to think it may someday result in a greater good.
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