Creatures, Myths & Legends

Author catches glimpse of extinct thylacine

By T.K. Randall
April 21, 2013 ·  42 comments

Image Credit: Hobart Zoo The 76-year-old has been researching the elusive carnivore for decades, which despite becoming officially extinct in 1936 continues to be sighted now and again in the Australian outback. In 1995 Bailey had been taking a leak in the bush when he encountered what he believed to be a live thylacine. "It shot out of some ferns behind me - I thought it was a cattle dog at first," he said. "But then I was face-to-face with the darn thing..."

Out next month, Bailey's book "Shadow of the Thylacine" will describe in detail the topic of the thylacine's survival as well as his travels in the outback in his attempts to catch a glimpse of one. "Expanding civilisation has pushed it right back into the bush, to places where people can't really get to," he said. "About 20 or 30 years ago it was still hanging around settled areas, but logging and tourism have pushed the frontiers back further and further."[!gad]The 76-year-old has been researching the elusive carnivore for decades, which despite becoming officially extinct in 1936 continues to be sighted now and again in the Australian outback. In 1995 Bailey had been taking a leak in the bush when he encountered what he believed to be a live thylacine. "It shot out of some ferns behind me - I thought it was a cattle dog at first," he said. "But then I was face-to-face with the darn thing..."

Out next month, Bailey's book "Shadow of the Thylacine" will describe in detail the topic of the thylacine's survival as well as his travels in the outback in his attempts to catch a glimpse of one. "Expanding civilisation has pushed it right back into the bush, to places where people can't really get to," he said. "About 20 or 30 years ago it was still hanging around settled areas, but logging and tourism have pushed the frontiers back further and further."

Source: The Examiner | Comments (42)

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