Thylacine Researchers: Sid Slee (28 December 1929–30 December 2015)
One of Western Australia's pioneer thylacine researchers, alongside Sharon West. Sid's classic book(let) 'The Haunt of the Marsupial Wolf' arguably helped lay the foundation for thylacine research in the state. From his experiences of a strange kind of animal in his youth during the 1940's on the family's farm, later in life he juggled life as a farmer with that of a thylacine researcher/author. Sid and his son Ian featured prominently in the classic Animal X Natural Mystery Unit episode 'The Mystery of the Thylacine':
The aboriginal tracker, Kevin Cameron, who famously took five photos of animal partially hidden by the base of a tree, tracked and attempted to trap thylacines on the Slee farm Hillside for a year. Sid's book, 'The Haunt of the Marsupial Wolf', includes extracts from Kevin's reports during that time (Slee, 1987). The book was narrated in three parts by Neil Waters (Thylacine Awareness Group of Australia), with the permission of the Slee family, and uploaded to YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Obituary
Sid (or Syd) passed away on the 30th December 2015, shortly after his 86th birthday. Family and friends posted as part of his obituary. His full name appears to be Sidney Fredrick Slee, although I cannot confirm this as his first name is sometimes given as 'Syd', including by his daughter Wendy, thus implying that his name was Sydney not Sidney.
References
Healy, Tony and Cropper, Paul. (1994). Mainland Thylacines, pp. 21-54. Out of the Shadows: Mystery Animals of Australia. Chippendale, New South Wales: Ironbark Pan Macmillan. ii + 200 pp. [pp. 43-44, 45, 52]
Healy, Tony and Cropper, Paul. (1994). A Glimpse Into the Shadows, pp. 181-193. Out of the Shadows: Mystery Animals of Australia. Chippendale, New South Wales: Ironbark Pan Macmillan. ii + 200 pp. [p. 190]
Slee, Sid. (1987). The Haunt of the Marsupial Wolf. Bunbury, WA: South West Printing and Publishing Company.
Smith, Malcolm. (1996). Bunyips and Bigfoots: In Search of Australia’s Mystery Animals. Alexandria, N.S.W.: Millennium. 214 pp. [pp. 97-98]