Ricoh confirmed the photos could not have been uploaded onto the camera – so they took a photo of something.

Col Bailey saw the exact location, down to the creek and the log which features in the photos. He cast no doubt about the scene being genuine.

Do you really think Klaus and Birgit – who arrived in Tasmania only because their planned holiday to Sri Lanka was cancelled a few days before by the Indian Ocean Earthquake of 2004 – arrived in Tasmania on February 1st, started the overland track from Cradle Mountain carrying nothing but backpacks, canceled that trip and ordered hire cars to be delivered, decided instead to drive down the west coast, then across from Queenstown towards Derwent Bridge — all just so that they could somehow take a photo of a printout of Fleay’s photo in the middle of the South West / Franklin / Gordon Rivers / Cradle Mountain National Park? They barely know how to use a computer, even today!

I’ll grant the resemblance to Fleay’s photograph, and the colouration (of even the originals) are somewhat perplexing. But the feasibility of a hoax is just as troubling.

For the real thing about tasmanian tigers, I recommend reading an on-line book at Magnificent Survivor – Continued Existence of the Tasmanian Tiger.

I hope you are right about the thylacines not being susceptible to the devil facial tumor disease. I can imagine a sad scenario in which a couple of young thylacines run across an infected devil and harass it (as young hooligans of many species will do) and then are bitten by the devil but do not die, thereby becoming infected themselves. I guess that the susceptibility of thylacines to the devil disease would depend on a lot of factors. Since no one is sure where the devil disease came from, it’s not known yet whether it will infect other animals, is it? Or is it pretty certain that only devils become infected? I confess I do not know nearly as much about it as I would like.

I’m glad to know that Warner Brothers has given permission for Taz plush animals to be used to raise funds to study the disease and save the devils, but a company the size of Warner Brothers surely could do more. After all, the Taz is one of their most beloved (and profitable) characters. Maybe if they begin receiving hundreds of emails and letters askiing that they do more, they will, if only for the publicity. If they were to pledge even a small percentage of the royalties from their licensed Taz products, that would be a tremendous amount of money.

Or possibly a public service announcement could be aired on Animal Planet, featuring The Taz, urging people to donate to fund the research into the disease. Think of the many millions of viewers of Animal Planet, worldwide.

Where would one send donations? Do you have an address?

I looked it up. I’m thinking Chaotika. Guess I missed the Emmerichs.

Are you remembering the Emmerichs photos, or are you thinking of the Chaotika photo? I (along with quite a few others) thought that the Chaotika photo looked like it may have been a painted dog.

As thylacines are known to hunt their own prey, it is unlikely they would be infected in this way. Even if a thylacine ate an infected devil, it is unlikely the disease would spread from that thylacine to any other.

However, if *all* thylacines started eating the ever increasing number of weakening, infected devils, then maybe yes, there might be a problem.

Some have also expressed the opinion that using baits (possibly for foxes) may have been the trigger for DFTD in the first place. It’s hard to know whether fox baits would have a significant effect on thylacines. Media releases relating to the practice emphasise that the baits are targeted for the intended species (foxes), but critics claim other species (such as devils and quolls – both also carnivores) may well also take the baits and be affected. Logically, if the thylacine still exists, it may also be susceptible to taking fox baits.

yes, devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is very serious. Devils have already been shipped to mainland Australian zoos for the purpose of breeding in a disease-free environment – well, let’s hope it’s disease free!

In addition, four devils have been sent to Denmark as a gift to Crown Princess Mary. Apart from those four, at this time, there are no other devils outside Australia.

In sad news, the disease was found to have breached a safety zone at Trowunna wildlife park – a Tasmanian sanctuary doing all it can to maintain a healthy devil population. In fact, the devils given to Crown Princess Mary came from there, and I only learned recently that there is a very small possibility that one of these may be amongst the devils I photographed on my visit there some time ago. I wasn’t going to ask them to check the paperwork for as trivial an enquiry as that though!

In good news though, the plight of the devil is gaining frequent and international attention. I believe Nick Mooney was recently (or still is?) in the United States seeking funding and support for research into DFTD. Warner Brothers, have permitted plush toys of their iconic “Taz” cartoon character to be produced and sold in the hopes of raising research funds.

State and federal governments are contributing to the cost of research, but their contributions are nearing their expiry dates. The Greens political party is calling on the state government to appeal internationally for scientific assistance in searching for a cure.

I tell you what – “duskshade” wrote in the comments above, of the thylacine, “it was a tragic, dumb way to lose a magnificent animal.” – thank God there has been a complete turnaround in attitude now that it is time to save that animal we called “devil”.

At any rate I wish him success on his current venture.

I wonder if the contagious facial cancer that is wiping out the Tasmanian devils could also affect the thylacines? That is a terribly disturbing idea. I’ve been following that story closely at Where Light Meets Dark. I wonder if breeding-age uninfected devils should be captured and situated in widely separated zoos around the world, to provide a sort of safety net for the species? Of course that is not a solution, but those devils could be held in trust “just in case” a solution is not found in time to save the wild population.

If that terrible disease can affect thylacines, they may be doomed just on the brink of their rediscovery.