Hunt for the

July 05, 2008 12:00am

TASMANIA'S leading authority on thylacines, Eric Guiler, has died.

Dr Guiler, 85, died on Thursday after six years of ill-health following a stroke. Known as Mr Thylacine, much of his life was spent researching the species.

He was born in Ireland and moved to Tasmania in 1947 to work at the University of Tasmania, which offers three wildlife scholarships in his honour. At a time when many marsupials were considered pests, Dr Guiler launched scientific research into them.

He led searches for evidence of thylacines, finding footprints, hairs and scats which were donated to the Tasmanian Museum and Art gallery and still form the basis of research.

Dr Guiler wrote two books regarded as definitive works on thylacines -- The Tragedy of the Tasmanian Tiger and Tasmanian Tiger, A Lesson to Be Learnt.

Eric was such a wonderful and awe inspiring person. I fondly remember the time when Col Bailey, Eric and myself all sat together talking about our thylacine encounters along with our future research plans in his home in Sandy Bay. He has been a tremendous inspiration to others embarking on their own thylacine research journeys. His books are the legacy of his efforts to keep the thylacine spirit alive and to educate the public on conservation and the plight of such a unique Australian animal. It is with great pity that after embarking upon his quest so many years ago that he never had a live encounter or was able to see the thylacine in it's natural state. To me Eric will always be considered "The Guru of Tasmanian Tiger Hunters" I cherish your friendship Eric. Rest In Peace - Murray McAllister

Col Bailey's Tribute!

A TRIBUTE TO MY FRIEND ERIC GUILER

With the death of leading Thylacine researcher, Dr Eric Rowland Guiler, came the end a significant chapter in Tasmanian and Australian zoology.  His exacting and relentless search covering 44 years for the Tasmanian tiger, an animal many believed extinct, stamped Guiler as ‘a man on a mission’.

Born in Belfast, Northern Island in 1922, Eric Guiler served with the British Army in World War 11.  Trained as a marine biologist and, eventually majoring in zoology at Queen’s University, Belfast, he migrated to Australia to take up a lectureship at the University of Tasmania in 1947, eventually retiring as reader in 1982.  He published over 100 scientific papers, including six on the Tasmanian tiger, as well as writing several excellent and widely read books on the subject, most notably “Thylacine; The Tragedy of the Tasmanian Tiger” published in 1985, and “Tasmanian Tiger – A Lesson to be Learnt” in 1998. 

It was  in 1958, when as chairman of the Tasmanian Animals and Birds Protection Board, that Eric Guiler’s attention turned to the Thylacine when he launched an investigation into the animal’s possible continued existence.  His intensive and in-depth survey included personally interviewing, not only those claiming to have sighted the thylacine over recent years, but also those old-time bushmen who had both trapped and lived in the bush alongside the animal in the years prior to1936

From these aging and knowledgeable men, Eric gleaned a much valued and fascinating insight into an animal of which to that time,  little was actually known . The Pearce family of Clarence River near Derwent Bridge was a classic example of this all important first- hand information, for these shy backwoods farmers caught dozens of thylacine under the Tasmanian government bounty scheme which ran from 1888 until 1911. This alone emphasised Eric's exceptional negotiating and interviewing skills  as the only thylacine researcher ever to gain the confidence of the extremely reticent Pearce family, and in doing so untapp a most valuable amount of what would otherwise have been unobtainable information.

Eric conducted many expeditions into far-flung areas of Tasmania in search of the tiger, including the vast Woolnorth property in the North West, in various isolated West Coast localities, the Derwent Valley, the Rossarden area, Trowutta, along the West Coast Road, and the Whyte River area. He also teamed with NPWS officer Steven Smith in 1980, in an extensive in-depth 12 month field investigation in various key areas of Tasmania.

In 1980, Dr. Eric Guiler was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia.

He was a close personal friend and confidant, and on one of our last walks through the Tasmanian bush, we sat on  a log and spent some time working out what course we would take  if we were fortunate enough to catch up with the Tasmanian tiger. He told me that it always worried him what we would actually do if we caught a thylacine and he, like me, was a strong advocate of implementing Maria Island along the East Coast of Tasmania as a thylacine sactuary should this ever eventuate. Eric never lost hope that he would one day lay eyes on a live Tasmanian tiger.

After suffering a disabling stroke while investigating thylacine activity in the Arthur River area, Eric’s health steadily declined over coming years. If any man alive deserved to see the Tasmanian tiger in the flesh it was Eric Guiler, but sadly, it was not to be,

Col Bailey

Other Tributes

Over 50 year's of contributions to the study of the thylacine. He will be remembered and deserves a full feature article commemorating his achievements. Buck and Joan - the scats were forwarded to Adelaide University last year for DNA research. Chris. www.wherelightmeetsdark.com www.mainlanddevils.com

Posted by: Chris of Sydney, Australia 10:07pm July 07, 2008
Comment 4 of 5

And Eric's work helped us in our continuing work. Our website: www.tasmanian-tiger.com has had 250,000 hits from all over the world and the demise or near demise of the animal continues as a sad story and a questionable one. We continue to receive a number of sightings each year. My question is: If the museum has received such information as scat and hairs...why in the world have they not taken DNA samples? We continue to be mystified by governmental responses about the animal. Anyhow...thanks Eric...I hope my footprints left behind are as interesting as yours. Buck Emberg

Posted by: Buck and Joan Emberg of Lton 3:39pm July 06, 2008
Comment 3 of 5

Eric was an inspiring lecturer and passionate researcher. His lectures were enhanced by his wit and humour. It is 35 years since I was a zoology student at UTas, but my memories of him do not fade.

Posted by: John Lamp of Geelong 8:19am July 06, 2008
Comment 2 of 5

Rest in peace Eric. A top bloke who did great work for science, and will always be remembered from the rugby days.

Posted by: nervosa of here 11:08am July 05, 2008