Maybe.

It is within the realms of possibility - and there may be a related case where two people have likely been murdered.

I have been searching for the thylacine in Tasmania since 2005. I have been visiting Tasmania since 1993. The atmosphere created by the film The Hunter is palpable and, in my opinion, *does* reflect the mood and sentiment within that state of some people. I have recommended this film to others as a great example for getting a sense of the mood you can sense in Tasmania on this topic.

But despite passionate opinions that are divided between conservation and primary industry - is there enough of a sentiment there to lead to murder?

There may be a precedent.

The people in the photograph above are Brenda Hean and Max Price.

Brenda became a spokesperson arguing against the damming of the Gordon River in Tasmania. The Gordon River dam (which did go ahead) has led to the loss of Lake Pedder, which was a truly unique lake in the world.

In 1972 Hean had arranged to fly to Canberra to petition politicians to make this conservation effort a national issue. Max Price was her pilot. In brief, the details I’ve heard are that the night prior to the flight, both she and her pilot received anonymous phone calls cautioning against the flight. The plane disappeared and neither has been found since. A Queensland documentary-maker heard about the story and began to research it, uncovering eyewitness testimonies in Tasmania from people who say they saw the plane leave land and head over Bass Strait. The allegations were that at the time, police told these witnesses they were not interested in the testimonies. Further, some plane wreckage was found on King Island but people were told to make the evidence disappear. Afterward there was the suggestion there was evidence the plane had been sabotaged - someone had broken into the hangar, removed its emerency beacon and hidden it behind some fuel drums. Hean is said to have had two bottles of champagne - to be used in celebration in the hope of finding positive favour in Canberra. One of these is said to also have washed up on King Island.

When I first heard this story it was a long time ago - and before the documentary maker had completed his work. You can read about the finished documentary here: http://www.realtimearts.net/arti...

It seems from that article that the motive for the sabotage - if it was sabotage - may have related more to the pilot Max Price than specifically to Brenda Hean and her quest to prevent primary industry from destroying natural heritage in Tasmania but, as might be expected, nothing is certain except it certainly seems possible that in 1972, at least, there may have been a person, or persons, passionate enough to see the agenda of primary industry push through conservation concerns, to the point of sabotaging a plane with the likely death of two on board.

One would have to hope this level of passion is incredibly uncommon. Yet in the 12 years I have been “examining the evidence” for the persistence of the Tasmanian tiger, I have heard two separate accounts from eye-witnesses of their home windows being smashed in with bricks after going to media to report their Tasmanian tiger sighting.

Again: hearsay; second hand accounts; unanswered questions.

So are there people killing others to prevent the rediscovery of the Tasmanian tiger? Unlikely.

Might they? Maybe.

If this was the motive behind Brenda Hean’s disappearance, then her conservation concerns were directly at loggerheads - so to speak - with an entire industry and a large scale development project. A lot of people stood to gain financially from the project proceeding.

For there to be motive to kill, today, to prevent the rediscovery of the thylacine, one might think there would need to be similar large-scale gain or, the inverse - in order to prevent large scale *loss* of existing gain/income/development/industry.

Many have made the point to me in private discussion that if the thylacine persists today, it has done so in spite of any and all industrial and development efforts to date - and therefore there should be no risk to those industries in the event the Tasmanian tiger is rediscovered.

Find out more about Tasmanian tigers at my website Where Light Meets Dark or follow along on Facebook Where Light Meets Dark