1934-1935

What is believed to have been the so-called Gippsland "Tiger" has been shot by Mr. Robert McDonough, at Moe, who came into close quarters with the animal when pursuing a pair of foxes that made for the timbered country alongside the old Walhalla-road more than three miles to the north-east of Moe township.
     Seeing the foxes cross the road, Mrs. Walter Beck, a sister of Mr. McDonough, indicated the direction In which they fled. Armed with a shot gun, Mr. McDonough followed. Taking cover among some scrub, he was more than surprised at the sight of an animal, approximately 4 feet in height, intently engaged in stalking the foxes, so much so that for a time it failed to observe his presence. When eventually it did see him it made no attempt to escape, but on the contrary, showed fight. It snarled fiercely, and with its hair bristling about its neck, and with teeth bared, it gave every indication that it meant to attack. Mr. McDonough, realising this, raised his gun and fired. Despite the fact that it received most of the charge, the animal ran for almost 100 yards before it dropped and died.
     Brindle in color, the animal was much larger than an ordinary dingo, apparently being a cross between a dingo and one of the larger types of dog. Mr. McDonough asserts that it was much larger than any Alsatian dog he has seen. It closely resembles an animal recently seen by a commercial traveller, and described as a panther by him, when on the journey between Yarram and Traralgon.
     Mr. Beck attributes the loss of one of his dogs to the presence of the animal, in search of which he now believes his four dogs went from time to time in the last month, returning with scars that indicated they had been in severe encounters. Although an animal is reported to have been seen pursuing young cattle none are stated to have been lost.

Is it a Giant Dingo?

     Commenting on the report on Thursday, the chief inspector of the Fisherles and Game Department (Mr. F. Lewis) said from the description the animal appeared to be a giant dingo, although it was difficult to believe that one could be seven feet long. He suggested that the skin should be sent to Melbourne for examination.

Later.

The officer-in-charge of mammals at the museum has identified the skin as that of a crossbred domestic dog. The dog had gone wild. The dog is supposed to have had a mate, and a search is now being made for it.

The story of the Gippsland tiger is no myth, says Mr. Morres, a commercial traveller, who had a graphic story to tell on his arrival at Traralgon, from Yarram.
He came over the hills via Carrajung and Gormandale. "Near Carrajung," he said, "several wallabies thumped across the road, and round another bend I saw numerous kangaroos. I then switched on the head lights along a stretch of road with a steep bank on the side. Suddenly there, appeared a loping animal like a panther or tiger. It stood still, gazing at the oncoming car. It had large, gleaming eyes. As I drew near, the monster crossed over, and must have kept alongside, for later on it dashed in front of the car and crashed into the dense scrub. The animal was no cat, fox, dingo or wombat, many of which I have seen when travelling through Victoria. It was certainly a tiger or a panther. Its gait was not that of an Australian animal."
Mr. Morres' version tallies with that given by many others of the wild animal. Recently it was seen at Jumbuk by Mr. Jackson, of Traralgon, who is interested in a sawmill venture in the same range of hills. The reports that a dog and a horse have been killed in that region by the monster, which was shot at by the camp dwellers after it had flattened down a tin barricade. It then disappeared and residents are disturbed by the report of its reappearance.

About two months ago, Mr. W. McDonagh, of Moe, shot a "mystery animal" of the dog type which may have been some relation to the Taujil "Terror." About a week ago, in the same locality, which is near the old Moe- Walhalla road and is heavily timbered, Mr. W. Beck observed an animal of similar type disappear in the bush ahead of him. Making a search, Mr. Beck saw two small pups which disappeared into a wombat hole at his approach. Blocking up the hole, Mr. Beck later dug it up and discovered seven pups. Three were black, three others had tan markings, and one was yellow and rather savage. Bones of pigs, calves, and various other animals were strewn around the den which showed evidence of having been in occupation for some time. The animal seen by Mr. Beck and presumably the mother of the pups, is black and reddish brown in color, and taller than a cattle dog. Mr. Beck took the pups home, but has since sold them all to city folk.

--Morwell "Advertiser."

Like the ubiquitous Loch Ness monster in Scotland, the Gippsland mystery tiger keeps on turning up.
     In spite of the fact that the "tiger" has twice been killed—once in the form of a large wombat and once as a dingo—farmers continue to report eerie noises at night, and the discovery of large paw marks in the sand about waterholes.
     Again a report has arrived, from Briagolong. It comes from Mr. R. A. Estoppey, assistant inspector of fisheries and game, and local forest officer, and it is much more precise than its predecessors.
     In a letter to Wirth Brothers' circus he says: "In the bush to the north and the north-west of Briagolong a strange animal roams. Those who have seen it in daylight describe it as a cat-looking animal with a long tail, about 5ft. to 6ft. long in the body, yellow in color and plainly striped, and between 2ft. and 3ft. in height.
     "I have measured its footprints at different times and places. They are 6 in. long and 4½ in. wide. The animal takes a stride of from 3½ ft. to 4ft. Footmarks around a waterhole where it was drinking show that its front paws have five toes, whereas a dog has only four. In places where the animal has been lying we have found fur 2in. long some black and some yellow. At night the animal makes a low moaning sort of noise, like a person in pain."
     Mr. Emil Payer, wild animal trainer at Wirth's said that this description tallied almost exactly with that of a tiger.
     "Nevertheless," he said, "it is not a tiger, because a tiger must live on meat, and he leaves bones strewn about. Here there is no evidence of anything or anybody having been killed."
     Giving further details to the "Herald" reporter, Mrs. Estoppey said that the animal was only a mystery so far as its genus was concerned. Residents were positive that it existed, and its tracks were plainly visible after rain: The animal seemed to be approaching closer to the settled area— it had been seen only a mile from her homestead, six miles out of Briagolong. "The men are not game to go out after him alone," Mrs. Estoppey added. Mr. Payer, however, says that he is game. If a reward is offered he proposes to go to Briagolong after his present term with Wirth's has exipired, to hunt the "tiger." He will bring it back, he says, dead or alive.

Credit to R. A. Estoppey for taking the mystery seriously but his evidence in favour of an actual tiger seems to be a mish-mash. He is correct in stating that dogs only leave four-toed footprints yet so do cats (including tigers). The front paws of wombats, however, display five toes just like the ones he had been tracking.

Yellow and black coloured fur seems promising but its length (only 2 inches), while just right for a dog, seems very short for a tiger.

Sightings of the creature, even from experienced bushmen, are often from hundreds of yards away...

MELBOURNE, July 31.
     Victoria appears to be in danger of being overrun with fearsome monsters unknown, to science, unless something is done about it soon. Hard on the heels of the news of the reappearance of the Barwon Heads sea serpent, near Queenscliff, comes a report from Airey's Inlet of the appearance of a sea monster which appears to be a younger and smaller relative of the creature seen at Queenscliff.

THE LATEST DESCRIBED.

     Mr. J. Davis, of Airey's Inlet, who saw it lying in the fringe of the surf, says that the body was about 10 or 12 feet long and about 2¼ or 2½ feet in girth. It was light grey in color with a sparse coat of darker colored hair. It had big eyes like those of the Queenscliff monster, but there were no stripes on the body. The head was
round.

MYSTERY ANIMAL.

     And now from Gippsland, the home of many weird monsters of the past, comes a story of a large mystery animal which has been seen by several prospectors in the last few days lurking in dense bracken undergrowth near Bullumwaal.
     The animal is described by Mr. E. Curtis, a prospector, as being like a large dark brown grizzly bear with a lumbersome gait. For some months prospectors and others have been puzzled by remarkable footprints which have been seen on the sandy margin of creeks and in soft soil. These footprints were five inches wide and marks of a set of claws were clearly visible. At other times a heavy animal was heard by several people crashing through the undergrowth.

MELBOURNE, Saturday.
Mystery surrounds the killing of 20 sheep during the past 18 months in dense bush country beyond Briagalong, north-east of Maffra, in Gippsland. Many other sheep have disappeared, and the remains of kangaroos and wallabies have been found. The director of the Melbourne Zoo (Mr. Wilkie) is convinced that the killer of these animals is a tiger. Residents in the area are most concerned. A young woman there, who has heard deep-throated moanings, is certain that they did not come from a dog.

MELBOURNE, August 25.
A tiger is loose in the wilds of South Gippsland, in the opinion of the Director of the Melbourne Zoo, Mr. A. Wilkie.
For 18 months a mysterious animal has been killing sheep, kangaroos, wallabies and wild game in the bush about Briagolong, near Maffra. Dogs have fled from thickets with their tails between their legs, and a search has revealedd the marks of a huge animal. Residents have come concerned about deep-throated low moaning sounds at night, and 20 sheep have disappeared at various times. The animal has been seen four times by different persons, and their descriptions tally. They say it is yellowish, with distinct black stripes, and measures 5ft. 6ins. from nose to tall, is 2ft. 6ins. to 3ft. high, and has a 3ft. tail. It leaves tracks 5 ins. long and 3½ ins. wide in soft earth, and when the ground is wet and the foothold bad, there are claw marks. When sheep are lost there is always a pile of wool left. Six weeks ago a kangaroo was found dead 200 yards from a house. Its head and shoulders were gone. Next morning the remains had disappeared, and there were marks showing that it had been dragged into the bush. A search revealed the remains caught on a fence as though an attempt had been made to carry it.

Keepers who started working in the zoos as youths, often continued working at the zoos until they retired. It was not unusual for staff to retire after 45 or 50 years of service. Andrew Wilkie, for example, began working at Melbourne Zoo in 1867 as a junior gardener; he retired in 1936 as director and then came back to work as a volunteer until his death 10 years later.

"Zoo and Aquarium History: Ancient Animal Collections To Zoological Gardens"
edited by Vernon N. Kisling (pg. 202).