Are Tasmanian Tigers really extinct? There has been a string of sightings in recent years – new government documents reveal
- At least eight sightings of the species have been reported in the past three years
- Reports say the animal had a stiff, firm tail and had stripes all over its back
- The animal officially became instinct in Australia when the last died in 1936
There have been string of reported Tasmanian tiger sightings in the past three years, Government documents reveal, despite the animal long being considered extinct.
The cat-like species, known as Thylacine, died out more than 80 years ago in Tasmania and about 2,000 years on the Australian mainland.
The animal officially became extinct in Australia when the last known member of the species – named Benjamin – died at Hobart Zoo in 1936.
But at least eight sightings have been reported since September 2016, according to documents by the Department of Industries, Parks, Water and Environment.
Two Tasmanian Tigers are pictured living in captivity at an unknown date
A Tasmanian Tiger with distinctive features such as stripes across its back is spotted
The most recent report was in August claiming a person thought he ‘saw a Tassie Tiger on his land seven years ago’ in the Midlands.
A couple from Western Australia reported seeing a Tasmanian tiger while crossing the road near the Pieman river in the west coast region of Tasmania in January 2018.
‘The animal had a stiff, firm tail, that was thick at the base. It had stripes down its back,’ the report read.
‘It had stripes down its back. It was the size of a large kelpie. The animal was calm and did not act scared at all.’
The couple were able to watch the animal cross the road for about 15 seconds.
‘The animal walked from the right hand side of the road three quarters of the way across the gravel road, turned and looked at the vehicle a couple of times, and then walked back in the same ”run” it had come out of,’ the report read.
The last Tasmanian Tiger (pictured) to exist lived in Hobart Zoo and died in 1936
A cyclist said he saw a ‘cat-like’ animal with stripes and darkish brown fur crossing the road near King William Saddle on the Lyell Highway in February 2018.
‘[The animal] was slightly higher at the rear legs than in the front,’ the report read.
‘It had a long body … as long as a Labrador but lower and thinner, so it looked stretched in a sense … It had a thin tail pointing backwards.
‘It didn’t really make sense to me as being a typical cat, location wise, behaviour and the way it walked, it was obvious it wasn’t a fox.’
A sighting of the animal was reported from the north of Waratah in January 2017 with a movement described to have a ‘half trot, half run’ across the road in front of a vehicle.
‘The tail stood out as being at least a foot or two foot long … Seemed certain that if it was a cat it was a bloody big one,’ the report read.
There is no hard evidence for any of the reported sightings.
Tasmanian Tigers were the largest living carnivorous marsupials (pictured: a sketch of two Thylacines)