Claimed Thylacine Thermal Footage

[Wapiti]

So there we go. Bloody dogs, introduced menace.
So the suggestion that they strongly contributed to the extinction of another native Australian, the Thylacine is credible.

Which is why true Australians concerned about this country's natives shoot any canine on sight.

[Oldbloke]

IMHO, dingoes should be treated as a pest/vermin. They were never "native"

[Die Judicii]

IMHO, dingoes should be treated as a pest/vermin. They were never "native"

Nonetheless,,,,,,,,, they are far more "native" than you or any of the mongrel cross breds roaming the countryside and now PROTECTED in Vic thanks to an abomination of government decision making.

I hunt an extinguish many canines that appear to be pure dingo (at landowners request) and in my mind there really is a conundrum here.

These dogs, (pure bred or otherwise) wreak absolute financial havoc and suffering to domestic/farming livestock with no doubt whatsoever, and need to
be culled/destroyed from a financial point of view.

However,,,, at the same time I consider it is a shame to see what appears to be pure dingo by appearance, and characteristics being systematically destroyed.
They were born in this country and are only doing what nature demands.
It's just sad that modern farming got thrown into the mix and suffers as a consequence.

My very strong feelings keep telling me that we have but one, and one only chance here,,, to do the right thing, and that is on Kagari (Fraser Island).

1) The powers to be need to stop mucking around, and put a secure fence line right across, in a position that will enable just enough room for tourists to be able to view the dingo inhabitants through the fence, but zero access to the dingo side.
Which will cease the happenings of "dog attacks" (mainly caused by stupid tourists)
There is ample opportunity to go 4 wheel driving in other parts of Australia.

2) Provide and or maintain an environment (on the dingo side of the fence) that sustains and promotes natural food sources for them to live and breed as nature intended

Only when these basics are met can we all look forward to the continuing existence of the Warigal,,, and without "That dingo took my baby"

It ain't rocket science.

100_5377.JPG (484.77 KiB) Viewed 820 times

[womble]

Great post Die Judicii.

I was hoping for your insight.

I say just let them eat the dumb tourists. You’re in their territory, you accept the risk. And there is no risk if you take the right precautions. Or what risk there is, you just have to accept it.

Grizzly bears coexist in Canada because hikers in National parks know how not put themselves at risk. A grizzly won’t attack a group of more than 4 people. It’s never happened. Plus they have bear spray. And if it works on a grizzly it’s going to deter dingoes.

People swim, surf with sharks. Sometimes they get eaten. But you can’t blame the shark. The shark didn’t come into your home and eat you. You went to his home and dressed up as a seal.

If you went hiking in South America and a jaguar suddenly appears and eats you alive. Well s**t. What did you think would happen. You’re in a jungle.

Screw the tourists. You get eaten that’s on you.

[Wapiti]

Apart from all the conspiracy theories, after reading the competition over who's got the best thermal device and knowledge, I can't help but thinking,
After the other night me and a mate attended a thermal product night in Warwick, and saw the latest, and definitely greatest European made thermals out there for hunters. Definitely the best out there right now. No Chinesium there.
One thing is still the same, if you record some video of an animal at a decent range, then enlarge it to see detail, that's what happens if it's way out there. No matter how fat your wallet. It's not a true optical image.

Can anybody definitely say they know at what range that video was taken? Nope.

Pretty much the point I was trying to make lol

No problem with that above, I was being a little cheeky, but at the same time still genuine in my view point.

Now, trying not to be too much of a pompous sod, I will attempt to explain rather than duck for cover after my comments.
I do stand by my comments, BUT we do NOT use Chinese or any other "cheaper" thermals at all, and have in our safe 6 scopes (varying models) at just over $98,000 plus $28,500 being 1 bino and 1 monocular.

I / we will never discredit a shooter for what he / she can afford, but at the same time will try to explain that there is better if they can.
Lets be honest, a normal shooter can NOT justify that sort of expense, as mentioned we do a lot of contract Govt work but this is a different ball game.

On the original subject, Thylacines. I personally feel that there are none left, mainland or Tassy, but one can never guarantee this as there is SO MUCH dense scrub, bush etc on all of our land, that people have never really penetrated to be really sure.
Now that should start something here ??

Nightowl, I was only tongue-in-cheek smart-arsing with my comment about Chinesium, merely putting up the point myself that even with the best European stuff out there now, with STILL only up to 4x base optical magnification before zooming digitally - and now even with a pixel range nobody would ever put up with in a good digital camera nowadays, zooming right in on a distant, elusive target makes for a pretty subjective image in the best thermals we can get.
I will never hang crap on anyone for buying what they can afford.

To me, that video is either hugely zoomed in to the point of crappyness, or taken with one of the very economical and therefore crudely pixelated (and still zoomed in to screen size) early bits of gear.
Either way, anyone who has observed animals with long coats at night (like foxes can have in varying seasons for example) will know that longer range when zooming in, you don't see much of the animals hair on the outine, only the body underneath. The resolution of the device just can't represent this.
A feral dog is different, it has short hair, which the sensors can usually pick up it's complete true outline so it's easier to determine what it is.

So back to the animal supposed to be a Thylacine, some points that tell me it aint one.

Unless my ears are painted on, this video was from the "mainland", not Tasmania. Probably Victoria. With the forests there crawling with hunters, and game cameras, better definitive evidence of a thylacine would've been captured by now.
Second, with most hunters being obsessed with social media i.e. showing anyone and everyone what they are up to in the bush for personal elevation, any of this video would've been out there by now and making news. Heck, they even publish online cruelty and illegal acts. Any Thylacine shot, or video's would be headlines.
Third, these hunters just can't bear to own a device that doesn't record the shot, or what they are looking at, to again relive the moment, refer to the above. Simple units that just inform the user are not first choice because social media profile comes first. So again, evidence aplenty.
Forth, with all the proliferation of feral dogs in Vic and a government and self-important supporters of the laws protecting them allowing so many natives being killed regularly, Thylacines have no chance. That is, if the stories that they are under feral dogs/dingoes in the food chain as is said by the uni experts.
Fifth, that video is almost definitely a fox, shown at distance, minus the fur that doesn't show up.

I'd like to think that these animals still exist, but I doubt it. Like Port Arthur conspiracies, people's imaginations run wild when they are bored.

[Die Judicii]

One point that no-one has so far mentioned.
Many times while hunting dogs, I have watched foxes going about their business (thermal binocs) both at distance as well as close up.
There is one thing that makes some look distinctly different from your average fox.

Those that have mange and lost a lot of fur from their brush have the appearance of a longer and thinner tail.
Which may suggest to the viewer that what they are looking at (in this case) is maybe a Thylacine.

[niteowl]

Yes as I said originally it is fox without question, no ifs and buts.

Yes a 100 mm focal length lens will give you 4 x optical using a 640 x 480 sensor 17 micron pixels. No problem there, but the software / firmware processing in the device makes a HUGE difference to the seen image. Using a now common 640 x 512 12 micron pixel sensor will provide and additional 1.4 X with any given lens length, but the image produced on the OLED is exactly the same "quality" as the 17 micron. The image quality is the same due to the fact that the image is digitally expanded the 1.4 times. (the difference between 12 and 17 microns.
Going to a larger 12 micron sensor will indeed give a great image but the optical magnification will be less with any given lens length. It is based on the physical size of the sensor, not the pixel numbers, the same as a 384 x 288 17 micron sensor will give a higher magnification with a given lens length, along with a lesser image quality.
All this is very easy to explain to people on a diagram but very hard in text.
We do use digital zoom at times, generally x2, rarely x4 due to that mention of image quality becoming too crappy.
You can play around with OLED sizes but this only appears to be greater magnification, because you still have the same field of view, just like putting the image up on a screen.
I tend to feel that most common thermals around could not positively identify cows against horses at a measured 2000 m, and yes, using some digital zoom with a 75 mm lens (3X optical) ?? We use 75 mm lenses 99.9% of the time as they give us the best compromise between magnification and physical device bulk.

And as mentioned previously we are contractors (since 1995 no thermals back then though) and DO NOT SHOOT AT EXTENDED RANGES.
I personally like to have everything at about 100 Y

Sorry to all I have bored to death !

[womble]

[Oldbloke]

[womble]

Just kidding

[niteowl]

Oooo sorry about that

[Oldbloke]

all good fun

[Wapiti]

Yes as I said originally it is fox without question, no ifs and buts.
*************
And as mentioned previously we are contractors (since 1995 no thermals back then though) and DO NOT SHOOT AT EXTENDED RANGES.
I personally like to have everything at about 100 Y
*****************
Sorry to all I have bored to death !

Not boring at all. I don't know any of that stuff, I'll just look through something and say, that looks like crap, or too far away, exaggeration city again.

Holy cr@p, someone talking about realistic range distances. You know your stuff alright.

[Die Judicii]

I’ve only seen the old one in the cage video where it’s pacing around. But apparently they can run faster than the average domestic dog. Not greyhound fast but still. Their favourite meal was wallabies. So yeah they can motor. The long spine is a bit of a giveaway.

So it's no wonder the Taswegians hate the burgeoning wallaby population.

[MG5150]

Part 2 of the video just dropped...

Longer footage and an interview with the hunter. They've let it leak that it's from Vic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCBlKy0FApk

[MG5150]

IMHO, dingoes should be treated as a pest/vermin. They were never "native"

This is 100% spot on.

Does that mean in another 5000 years deer are going to be treated as a native species because they've been here this long? People who hate deer will likely hold a double standard here.

[womble]

Part 2 of the video just dropped...

Longer footage and an interview with the hunter. They've let it leak that it's from Vic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCBlKy0FApk

That dose’nt look like a fox.

But it does look like a dingo.

And if not a dingo. I’d say wolf.

Could be a wolf I guess

[bigrich]

Part 2 of the video just dropped...

Longer footage and an interview with the hunter. They've let it leak that it's from Vic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCBlKy0FApk

very interesting video and the carcass ? mmmm yeah .

i know one thing for a fact , lots of people say you'll never eradicate feral deer and pigs cause there's a lot of this country that is remote and very inaccessible. i hunt the high ridge country a lot , from down near inverell up to west of stanthorpe . and there could be anything in it and you'd never know (small hairy man maybe?) . some of the most beautiful, rugged country i've ever seen is the region south of tenterfeild known as "rocky river " drops down probably over 1500 meters or more from mountains on all sides to the river . could be anything living in there . so while i'm not a firm beleiver in thylacine still being around, i wouldn't discount it either . there was a release program in north east victoria back when, and there was a security camera photo from a few years ago of the back end of a stripped critter that looks a awful lot like a thylacine . i'd like to believe it's true

[womble]

Miniature pony maybe

[Wapiti]

That video is thought provoking, that's for sure.
It's the profile of the head, and the hocks that the hippy talks about that gets me. Although the kind of long grey-haired people who normally jump on all conspiracy theories and who want to believe are usually difficult to give credibility to for anything, the video is thought provoking.

I've only seen a few foxes on thermal devices but shot a sh*tload over time so I've had plenty of close looks. The mangy one he shows videos of has quite a mild mange to what I've seen, I've seen the poor buggers virtually hairless and suffering terribly.

Looking past all the smalltalk BS on the video, the bloke who took the video isn't some long grey-haired city nutter with a Thylacine t-shirt. He talks like he has been around.
And the hippy has a great point about a fox's tail, it is long, whippy and thin.
I've degloved many a fox's tail for mates hotrod aerials and just skinning the buggers, and they are pointers alright.

It's the head that isn't from any fox I've seen. Nor the profile of any wild dog either.

[Oldbloke]

He says he sees it about once a month in the same spot/area. If they are fair dinkum they will set up 3-4 trail cameras.

So, in 3 or 4 months they will have good quality pics right?

[womble]

Strange that he only shoots foxes and not wild dogs

[Die Judicii]

i know one thing for a fact , lots of people say you'll never eradicate feral deer and pigs cause there's a lot of this country that is remote and very inaccessible. i hunt the high ridge country a lot , from down near inverell up to west of stanthorpe . and there could be anything in it and you'd never know (small hairy man maybe?) . some of the most beautiful, rugged country i've ever seen is the region south of tenterfeild known as "rocky river " drops down probably over 1500 meters or more from mountains on all sides to the river . could be anything living in there . so while i'm not a firm beleiver in thylacine still being around, i wouldn't discount it either . there was a release program in north east victoria back when, and there was a security camera photo from a few years ago of the back end of a stripped critter that looks a awful lot like a thylacine . i'd like to believe it's true

There was also a photo back in 2008 of the "striped" body of a (dog/Thylacine) as it was moving into grass.
It was taken up near Normanton,, but did not get publicity further afield from the general area.
I was up there at the time, and saw the photo myself. (the council) CEO showed it to me)

It certainly looked dinky dye to me.

[Wapiti]

So there are already credible witnesses, and credible pics.
Would love to see more.

I've seen some wierd stuff in my time in the bush, so I'm keeping an open mind.

Problem is when I see so much beat up crap on YouTube generated by people with wierd hair styles and with financial axes to grind, I can only believe myself. So much out there just generates a "f**k off, he's full of sh*t" response. Hilarious are the comments of the gullible too.

One things for sure, if there are a breeding number left, they face an uphill battle. Ferals, mentally challenged gun toting clowns desperate for Facebook likes, habitat loss. Some animals are just survivors though.

[Die Judicii]

Although this is not a Thylacine,,,, it is well worth going to see and or read up about it.
The animal itself is there for all to see in its glass case. At the Tantanoola Tiger Hotel.
It is the "Tantanoola Tiger" (as it was named back in the day when it was killing sheep in the area)
After it was eventually shot, it was identified as an Assyrian Wolf that was believed to have been in a crate on a sailing ship that was subsequently ship wrecked off the coast.
And managed to swim ashore, and started killing and eating sheep throughout the district of Tantanoola in Sth East of South Australia.

[Oldbloke]

Strange that he only shoots foxes and not wild dogs

Not really. Dogs/dingoes are protected in Vic.

viewtopic.php?f=73&t=12783

[Wapiti]

Strange that he only shoots foxes and not wild dogs

Not really. Dogs/dingoes are protected in Vic.

viewtopic.php?f=73&t=12783

There you go again, on the preach. A complete lack of understanding and knowledge of anyone else's problems.

Roos are protected too, are you so naive that these never get shot without an approved permit?

[Wapiti]

Although this is not a Thylacine,,,, it is well worth going to see and or read up about it.
The animal itself is there for all to see in its glass case. At the Tantanoola Tiger Hotel.
It is the "Tantanoola Tiger" (as it was named back in the day when it was killing sheep in the area)
After it was eventually shot, it was identified as an Assyrian Wolf that was believed to have been in a crate on a sailing ship that was subsequently ship wrecked off the coast.
And managed to swim ashore, and started killing and eating sheep throughout the district of Tantanoola in Sth East of South Australia.

Interesting.
Down here, the old "Brisbane Line" runs through. Down the Mt Lindsay Hwy, then the Bruxner west of Tenterfield.
I've seen pics of the American soldiers with their black panther mascots, apparently taken from there. Also the disturbing pic of the Small Hairy Man that they claimed to hit and kill in an old Willy Jeep.
Strange thing is, so many real bushies out here who've never heard or seen of those pics, have seen some very strange stuff. Including me. We were shown the info later.

Maybe those pics aren't from there. Maybe they were photoshopped. Maybe everyone's lost their marbles. What I most often see though, is that these opinions come from people who spend their negativity about all this from their never-left lounge rooms. Funny eh.

[Oldbloke]

Strange that he only shoots foxes and not wild dogs

Not really. Dogs/dingoes are protected in Vic.

viewtopic.php?f=73&t=12783

There you go again, on the preach. A complete lack of understanding and knowledge of anyone else's problems.

Roos are protected too, are you so naive that these never get shot without an approved permit?

There you go again, attacking me for posting FACTS. That's a little different to "promotion" as you continue to claim.

In case you havnt worked it out yet, im not an MP.

And who in their right mind would admit to or promote on social media the shooting of protected animals. Only an idiot!


Clearly the bloke talking in the video is smarter than some here,,, or simply chooses not to shoot dogs.

[bigrich]

Now , now, let’s not get all cranky. Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. I mean DJ’s post about an Assyrian wolf ? Who’d have thunk it. And yeah, the small hairy man sounds far fetched but apparently true. I’ve seen some strange things in my life, spooks, ufo’s and such, so I keep a open mind