Another animal non-fiction. Is it any good? Let's find out.
In Thylacine, the author delves into many, many accounts of Australians who have supposedly sighted thylacines post-extinction. Heath does all in his might to convince the reader that these are all legit and that thylacines do still exist, not only on Tasmania but also mainland-Australia.
Look, I get trying to be positive about a recently-extinct animal still existing. I love thylacines; they're my favorite animal, and I'd be over the moon if it came to light that they still existed. And if some people really do believe that there's still some out there, that's totally okay, albeit not something I personally believe.
But this book really crosses the line of wishful thinking into downright trying to prove everyone wrong. The author doesn't just think that thylacines are still in Tasmania, but also spread across mainland-Australia. Which is just bonkers. Thylacines have been extinct on the mainland for thousands of years now, so the idea of there still being some out there is just too over the top for me to subscribe to. I can possibly get behind the idea or at least get why people believe that there might be a small population left on Tasmania that's hidden from many people. But on the main continent where they've been gone for literally thousands of years, especially now in an age where everyone carries a decent-quality camera in their pocket at all time? That's just bull.
Also, the "evidence" proposed here isn't scientific at all. The author literally just goes through about a hundred people's accounts of supposedly having seen a thylacine. You know, other people's stories. That are non-verifiable. Heck, even when the people he interviews do bring up actual evidence (e.g. thylacine remains or prints that could be of a Tasmanian tiger), it's always just conveniently gone when the author asks to see it. This feels less like the author trying to present actual evidence and more just people's accounts of something they might have seen but cannot even be verified. People can lie, duh.
Instead of spending all these years talking to people about thylacines, why didn't the author go looking for them himself if he's so convinced that they're out there? More effort into actual research into the species existence and less into accounts that could easily be lies or embellished stories.
Also, some of the claims of these people are just ridiculous. I've mentioned the mainland-thylacines, but there's also some that literally claim they were about the size of a Great Dane. Have you ever seen a thylacine, even just a taxidermy mount or skeleton? They're not the smallest critters, yes, being about the size of a medium-sized dog, but there's no way they're as big as one of the largest dog breeds on the planet. This is just where I could tell that these stories were either hoaxes or really embellished a lot.
The book also doesn't read that nicely. Like, yes, the author's writing voice is passable, but the book feels so damn repetitive. Literally each chapter is just him interviewing people in a different location of Australia to ask about potential sightings. That's it. Most accounts go like "X person claims to have seen a thylacine in Y scenario. I believe X is telling the truth". Though each account is of course different, this repetitive way of writing got old really quick. We get it, author, that you believe that thylacines still exist. Otherwise you wouldn't be writing this book. So why the need to add that you believe each person is being truthful? It adds absolutely nothing to the writing because these are still accounts of hypothetical sightings, no actual hard proof.
While I get what the author was going for, I just do not stand for his way of researching things whatsoever. Rather than collecting hard evidence he only focuses on word-of-mouth stories, which are not the evidence you'll need if you want to convince anyone with critical thinking skills that these thylacines are still out there.
I love thylacines, as I've said before. I don't believe they're still out there, but I would love to. But I'll need more than claims of other people in order to believe so. So Heath's time would be better spent trying to look for actual thylacines and gathering proof of them still existing rather than asking a bajillion people if they possibly saw something that vaguely resembled one.
Rating: 1.5/5
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