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Review
'… seldom can a new writer have entered the literary arena with a more important volume.' Zoo, Independent Zoo Enthusiasts Society
'I can pay no finer tribute than to say that we now know the Thylacine a good deal better thanks to this book.' Zoo, Independent Zoo Enthusiasts Society
'… a thoughtful search for the context in which ideas about the thylacine and its biology have been formulated and promulgated.' Historical Records of Australian Science
' … a fascinating blend of meticulous scholarship and barely suppressed fury. As the contradictory reports were piled up dryly and relentlessly, I laughed until I cried. In this way, the book achieves a rich and plausible picture of the Thylacine's natural and unnatural history, before and during its decline to extinction.' The Quarterly Review of Biology
'Paddle's account achieves the rare double distinction of meeting the highest standards of academic rigour while at the same time speaking eloquently to a non-specialist audience. … his subject is now a creature of near-iconic standing and national guilt makes it all the more accessible and fascinating.' Australian Journal of Environmental Education
'… a masterful study of what must be almost everything that is known about the thylacine, and it contains a large number of photographs of thylacines in all sorts of postures that have never been widely reproduced before.' Archives of Natural History
'… excellent, very thorough study … flows well and provides a most interesting and easy read. So much so, that the book received the Whitley Medal of the Zoological Society of New South Wales for the best science book of 2001 … The whole is beautifully researched and documented …'. The Environmentalist
'I can pay no finer tribute than to say that we now know the Thylacine a good deal better thanks to this book.' Zoo, Independent Zoo Enthusiasts Society
'… a thoughtful search for the context in which ideas about the thylacine and its biology have been formulated and promulgated.' Historical Records of Australian Science
' … a fascinating blend of meticulous scholarship and barely suppressed fury. As the contradictory reports were piled up dryly and relentlessly, I laughed until I cried. In this way, the book achieves a rich and plausible picture of the Thylacine's natural and unnatural history, before and during its decline to extinction.' The Quarterly Review of Biology
'Paddle's account achieves the rare double distinction of meeting the highest standards of academic rigour while at the same time speaking eloquently to a non-specialist audience. … his subject is now a creature of near-iconic standing and national guilt makes it all the more accessible and fascinating.' Australian Journal of Environmental Education
'… a masterful study of what must be almost everything that is known about the thylacine, and it contains a large number of photographs of thylacines in all sorts of postures that have never been widely reproduced before.' Archives of Natural History
'… excellent, very thorough study … flows well and provides a most interesting and easy read. So much so, that the book received the Whitley Medal of the Zoological Society of New South Wales for the best science book of 2001 … The whole is beautifully researched and documented …'. The Environmentalist
Product Description
This book is the most complete and up-to-date examination of the history and extinction of one of Australia's most enduring folkloric beasts - the thylacine, otherwise affectionately known as the Tasmanian tiger. Bob Paddle challenges conventional theories explaining the behaviour and eventual extinction of the thylacine, arguing that rural politicians used the Tasmanian tiger as a scapegoat to protect local agricultural enterprise from the consequences of mismanagement. After the population of thylacines was decimated through a bounty scheme, ineffective political action by scientists finally resulted in the extinction of a once proud species. Paddle also uncovers a deeper intellectual snobbery that set the scene for the thylacine's eventual extinction. The Last Tasmanian Tiger offers new perspectives on the subjective nature of scientific investigation and the politics of preservation. For its groundbreaking work it received the Whitley Medal of the Zoological Society of New South Wales for best science book of 2001.
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Species finally depart the biota, not with a bang but a whimper. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Species finally depart the biota, not with a bang but a whimper. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
You have to feel sorry for the thylacine. Hunted to extinction with a price on its head for allegedly killing sheep but with a protection order at the same time! So this is a sad book, mainly detailing the animal's exploits against man. There are some photos (generally of poor quality) of killed specimens and of animals in zoos, including some of Benjamin, the last surviving thylacine kept in Hobart zoo. (Ben was found to be a female after it died in 1936.) It's a fantastic story and the book is what it says it is, ie the history of the extinction. Personally, I'd have liked more on the zoology and convergent evolution pertaining to the thylacine but that's criticising a dog for not being a cat (so to speak).
Some people still hope to find a living specimen, lurking behind a clump of bushes in Tasmania. I'd like to think there was some chance of that but in my heart of hearts I accept that the tiger has gone forever. (There was some work to clone one from a preserved specimen... we shall see.)
Some people still hope to find a living specimen, lurking behind a clump of bushes in Tasmania. I'd like to think there was some chance of that but in my heart of hearts I accept that the tiger has gone forever. (There was some work to clone one from a preserved specimen... we shall see.)
5 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book and felt an incandescent rage against those who persecuted this creature. I will state that before I read this book I was highly opinionated that the extinction of the Tasmanian Tiger was an atrocity. After reading the book I was amazed at the weakness of the efforts to conserve this magnificent animal and the sophistry that was used to justify the means to effect its extinction.
OK onto the book. Paddle takes the story up from the start of European settlement of Tasmania. He shows that the Tiger was used as a Scapegoat for failures in the sheep industry. He effectively illustrates that prejudices in the science community and the terrible zoo-keeping which failed to save this animal from extinction. That liars (for economic and political gains), credulous people, government-paid bounty trappers and farmers killed this species. Although the animal was in a seriously close situation to extinction, at the latter part of the 19th Century and the early part of the 20th century, the arguments for lifting a hunting ban where ignored. That the protection of this creature was only lifted days before the last one died (of terrible neglect in Hobart Zoo). That even after its extinction, even into the 1980's false stories, about the Tiger were still being widely excepted as true.
Paddle doesn't cover the recent efforts to bring the Tiger back to life through cloning. I do believe that there was no obligation on his part to do so.
He also showed that it was humans too that were responsible for the Thylacine's demise on the mainland of Australia.
The Tiger had an interesting close social structure and were capable of being domesticated.
It was also the loss of habitat to sheep farming that had an impact on the Thylacine - although there is no indication of how far this contributed to the extinction. This was the only chink in Paddle's armour. Although I do not know if he could effectively demonstrate how much this was a contributing factor to its demise.
Besides for articles on cloning or on the Thylacine through the web this is the only book that I have read on this creature. Perhaps there is someone out there who may try and refute Paddle's arguments. However because of the intricate evidence and very careful sifting and refuting of faulty evidence by Paddle I would say they would have a very steep uphill task of doing so.
When I finished reading the book - like what Paddle I am sure felt. I thought of the lines of Walter De La Mere's poem. 'oh how I hate the human race, oh how I hate its ugly face'. What is shown by the end of the book that man hasn't changed and other creatures are threatened by this overgrown faculty-challenged ape.
Just to add the reason for four stars may reflect more upon me than the author. I found it hard going reading all the evidence that Paddle presented and others may find it an easier task than I did. So if I should have given the book five stars then the fault is entirely mine.
OK onto the book. Paddle takes the story up from the start of European settlement of Tasmania. He shows that the Tiger was used as a Scapegoat for failures in the sheep industry. He effectively illustrates that prejudices in the science community and the terrible zoo-keeping which failed to save this animal from extinction. That liars (for economic and political gains), credulous people, government-paid bounty trappers and farmers killed this species. Although the animal was in a seriously close situation to extinction, at the latter part of the 19th Century and the early part of the 20th century, the arguments for lifting a hunting ban where ignored. That the protection of this creature was only lifted days before the last one died (of terrible neglect in Hobart Zoo). That even after its extinction, even into the 1980's false stories, about the Tiger were still being widely excepted as true.
Paddle doesn't cover the recent efforts to bring the Tiger back to life through cloning. I do believe that there was no obligation on his part to do so.
He also showed that it was humans too that were responsible for the Thylacine's demise on the mainland of Australia.
The Tiger had an interesting close social structure and were capable of being domesticated.
It was also the loss of habitat to sheep farming that had an impact on the Thylacine - although there is no indication of how far this contributed to the extinction. This was the only chink in Paddle's armour. Although I do not know if he could effectively demonstrate how much this was a contributing factor to its demise.
Besides for articles on cloning or on the Thylacine through the web this is the only book that I have read on this creature. Perhaps there is someone out there who may try and refute Paddle's arguments. However because of the intricate evidence and very careful sifting and refuting of faulty evidence by Paddle I would say they would have a very steep uphill task of doing so.
When I finished reading the book - like what Paddle I am sure felt. I thought of the lines of Walter De La Mere's poem. 'oh how I hate the human race, oh how I hate its ugly face'. What is shown by the end of the book that man hasn't changed and other creatures are threatened by this overgrown faculty-challenged ape.
Just to add the reason for four stars may reflect more upon me than the author. I found it hard going reading all the evidence that Paddle presented and others may find it an easier task than I did. So if I should have given the book five stars then the fault is entirely mine.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
a book that does what the title says
14 May 2002
Format:Hardcover
i write this recommendation to emphasise to potential readers that this is a very worthy study of the extinction of the Thylacine. whilst true that this book will not inspire hope that this most unique of creatures survives, it does unravel the reasoning behind it's rapid fall into extinction. Paddle offers a gentle introduction to the species' biology and ecology, aswell as a history in captivity, but it is his research of bounty records and contemperary accounts that sets this work above others. scientific maybe, but well planned, researched and written, and the twist he brings in regarding the reason for the bounty is worthy of an agatha christie novel! an excellent piece of work and well suited to conservation biologists, natural historians and anyone with an interest in the twentieth century's greatest loss.
6 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Controversial Theories Versus Accepted Logic
19 Mar 2001
Format:Hardcover
Robert Paddle's controversial book, The Last Tasmanian Tiger, attempts to overturn most previously accepted anecdotal reasoning on a subject that is fast becoming popular world wide. Paddle has rather recklessly thrown caution to the wind in his sometimes dangerous dismantilling of sound anecdotal evidence, replacing it with his own logic, which is in many cases sadly wide of the mark. The Last Tasmanian Tiger could prove to be a dangerous book in the wrong hands, for it could lead astray those tender souls genuinely seeking information of this unique creature. Being pro-scientific as it is, Paddle's book is written in a style that can be hard to decipher for us mere mortals. But, all this aside, Paddle has done a tremendous ammount of research in assembling his book, some of it ground breaking, and from this point alone it makes worthwhile reading. The Last Tasmanian Tiger is definitely not suitable for the novice thylacine enthusiast.
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