This is the skeleton of a foal, which, eight hours before death, was still sucking milk from its mother
The gnawed remains were found one morning at a farm in Geelong County, Australia. The owner of the farm was horrified at his find and realized that he had received another confirmation that large predators are still found in Australia.
Farmers in those places have long been accustomed to the fact that someone attacks their sheep and other domestic animals and devours them almost entirely. That said, long-distance stray dogs were also excluded from the list of suspects, because they usually leave behind a mess and pull bones. And here a completely different picture was seen.
After examining the tooth marks on the foal's bones, experts found that it was most likely done by an animal from the feline family.
Veterinarian Kylie Splatt says it's a very neat and clean kill.
"The bones are completely intact, while all the soft tissue is destroyed."
“They say that they saw a flock of wild dogs nearby, but then why didn't the mare scare them away? Mares usually protect their young from dogs and other predators to the last. It's all pretty weird."
Dr. Splatt also says that the foal's neck bones were intact, although it is difficult for him to tell if the spinal cord was damaged.
“Rumor has it that this is the case of the paws of the Tasmanian tigers (considered extinct). All that has happened causes great concern among people, but so far we have virtually no evidence of this."
For reference. Australia's only carnivorous predator is the wild dingo dog. About 60% of the diet of Australian dingoes is made up of small mammals, in particular, rabbits (Oryctolagus). They hunt kangaroos and wallabies; to a lesser extent they feed on birds, reptiles, insects and carrion. With the beginning of mass breeding of cattle, the dingo began to attack him, which entailed the destruction of wild dogs by farmers. Although livestock has been found to make up only 4% of the dingo's diet, these wild dogs often slaughter sheep without eating.