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During 1931 my Grandfather, James Harrison, was prospecting in the Tarkine area, south of Burnie. Whilst setting snares for wallabies this particular Thylacine was trapped. This was the last reported Tasmanian Tiger. He or she (later known as Benjamin) suffered from a broken leg, so my grandfather and his mate managed to confine it to a box. They then transported it back to Wynyard where the local doctor (also a friend of my Grandfather) anesthetised it and set the leg.
My grandfather then took it back to his house where he owned his own private zoo. Luckily the leg healed well and my Grandfather presented it to the old Hobart Zoo, where it lived until 1936.
I remember having been within 1 meter of the Thylacine. But never touched or pat him as he was very timid.
In my Grandfather zoo he also kept animals such as Wombats, Devils,
Native cats, Platypus, Eagles, White hawks and Cockatoos.
He once shipped one of his Platypus of to Taronga Zoo.
-Neil McCulloch (Age 90)
Hello Elk, thank you for this wonderful interview with your grandfather - it is fascinating. I am a wildlife artist with a keen interest in the thylacine. Please visit my website at www.timsquires.com
ReplyDeleteI have been searching for information on James Harrison, because I am trying to confirm that a series of photos of the thylacine that I am studying at the moment were taken in his zoo. One of the photos shows a thylacine with a bird in its mouth, and appears in Robert Paddle's book, who says that the photo was taken on James Harrison's property. I would be very grateful for any information that you or Neil may be able to provide regarding the thylacine and Mr Harrison's zoo. Kind regards, Tim Squires (my email address is squirest@gmail.com)
Hi elk, this post is quite a few years old so I hope you're still listening. I'm researching Australia's early naturalists and private zoos, and I would love to learn more about James Harrison who it seems was a key figure in this field. Please email me at alistair.i.paton@gmail.com if you can help. Thanks, Alistair
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. I am great grandson to James' sister Minnie.
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