“Marsupial Spotlight: Thylacine” by T.K. Wade
Heads up! I'm wrapping up my Marsupial Spotlights within the next weeks. I'll be moving on to new spotlights after that. But there are still more marsupials to deal with, and I shall be happy to introduce you to them.
The thylacine is a very strange marsupial that looks like a really odd cross between a mountain cat and a dog. It also has some very interesting stripes on its back that get very thick and defined around its rump. They are very cool to look at. Size-wise, they are 51 inches long with a very long tail of 26 inches. Since they are strict quadrupeds, I find it important to inform you that they have a shoulder height of 24 inches.
Thylacines are strict carnivores. They hunt other marsupials such as kangaroos, wallabies, and wombats. Although they have a mountain cat look to them, they have something of a stiff gait. Because of this, they cannot run very fast. Instead, the thylacines will sneak up on their prey and perform a bipedal hop upon the unfortunate animal. Standing on back legs is not hard for marsupials in general. It comes naturally to this marsupial too; however, they prefer walking on all-fours.
Like most marsupials, the thylacine has a pouch. They breed all year; although, they prefer doing it in winter and spring. They have 4 cubs per litter and will carry their children in their pouch for up to 3 months.
Now, I have been a little deceptive in how I've been writing this blog. It's time to come clean. Firstly, let me just say that I really like this animal. I have watched a lot of videos of them. They have a spring to their step which is cute. They make little barking sounds which are described as "yip-yap," "cay-yip," or "hop-hop-hop!" Their stripes are awesome. I love everything about them and long to write stories about them; I probably will too. But there is a problem.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has the thylacines listed under the rating of EX. As of 1939, the thylacine is extinct. There is nothing I can do about that, but when I see those videos of them while they were still alive, they still seem like a very real and living creature. At the very least, this creature was documented in modern times, and I was able to learn about them as if they were still around.
Guess what! The thylacine has been immortalized in fiction as well! To name a few, there is a video game called "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger" which features a very cool looking thylacine who wields a boomerang. I have not played the game... yet. I want to though. The title is totally appropriate. Thylacines were often called Tasmanian tigers. The game has had two sequels since it came out in 2002, and the original game has been remade in HD recently for modern systems. Needless to say, it did well.
In the recently mentioned TV show "Taz-Mania," there was a living thylacine character named Wendell T. Wolf. He claimed to be the last surviving Tazmanian wolf. He did not like being alone despite being so lonely in the world. I think that is actually kind of sad. Despite officially being a thylacine, he looked nothing like them.
Lastly, there was a thylacine in literature. In the children's book called "Tiger Tales" by Steve Isham, you will learn an Aboriginal story about how the thylacine gained his stripes. It sounds very interesting. After all, I love those stripes!
For me, I see the thylacines as a tribal race of silly warriors. If you watch the videos of them, they are very jumpy. I see them as very talkative and friendly with those they are allied with, but if you are not among their clique, they will try and kill or capture you... and, I don't know... maybe put you in a cage and make fun of you or something. That sounds about right.
Even though I was not around when the thylacines were, I do love them. I wish they were still around. Pull up a video of them sometime and watch how they act. It's very peculiar and even fun! As long as we enjoy their memory, we can keep creating with them. An active imagination never lets anything cool fade away forever.
