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Creatures, Myths & Legends

Government file details new thylacine sightings

By T.K. Randall
October 17, 2019 · Comment icon 47 comments

Is the thylacine still out there ? Image Credit: Benjamin A. Sheppard
A recently released government document has revealed 8 new sightings of the 'extinct' animal in the last 3 years.
One of the best known recent examples of a species wiped out by human hunting practices, the thylacine was a distinctive carnivorous marsupial native to Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea.

Sporadic reports of alleged thylacines in the wild however have continued even to the present day.

Now eight more potential sightings of the elusive creature - including one that occurred as recently as two months ago - have come to light thanks to a newly released Australian government document.

One of the sightings was reported by a couple from Western Australia who saw what they believed to be a thylacine crossing a road while visiting Tasmania. According to the report, the animal "was in clear view for 12-15 seconds" and the couple were "100 per cent certain" that it was a thylacine.
A similar report from the same month concerned a sighting of a "cat-like creature".

"I am accustomed to coming across most animals working on rural farms ... and I have never come across an animal anything close to what I saw in Tasmania that day," the witness stated.

In February 2017 a man saw a possible thylacine crossing the road in northwestern Tasmania while in July of this year a set of potential thylacine tracks were found near the state capital of Hobart.

Could these sightings mean that the thylacine is alive and well in the wilds of Tasmania ?

Unless an actual specimen can be captured, it's going to be impossible to know for sure.

Source: Independent | Comments (47)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #38 Posted by Jon the frog 4 years ago
Quite interesting ! I never bet my life on a modeling but it doesn't look far fetched. 
Comment icon #39 Posted by Iilaa'mpuul'xem 4 years ago
I love the Tiger threads and its always nice to see @oldrover being pulled out of the drawer and blow off the cobwebs, to educate us on it. Deep down, I hope they are still around.
Comment icon #40 Posted by Robotic Jew 4 years ago
Maybe this thing is also dimension hopping?
Comment icon #41 Posted by Dynamo X 4 years ago
Link to a very credible sighting from an expert. This sighting was taken very seriously and was followed up by an extensive, but unsuccessful search effort.  It was also kept secret for about 2 years, probably to prevent any hampering of their efforts by "Thylacine enthusiasts".  https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2016/09/thylacines-survived-into-the-1940s/
Comment icon #42 Posted by Carnoferox 4 years ago
Note that the sightings analyzed extended only to 1940, so nothing as implausible as the modern sightings. 
Comment icon #43 Posted by oldrover 4 years ago
Not so reliable I'm afraid. The usual go to reference source for numbers of sightings these days is Sleightholne and Campbell 2015. They take references gathered up to this year as reliable, they just publushed a paper based on testimony recovered this year regarding events from 1931, when the witness was six.  They also count the Mullins capture of 1923 three times because it was covered differently in three newspapers, in effect they state that while Mullins was in Victoria displaying his tigers, he was also in Tasmania capturing another group of tigers. Best if all, they count the Trigg ... [More]
Comment icon #44 Posted by oldrover 4 years ago
The Naarding sighting is very famous, and justufiably so. I've never spoken to Mr Naarding but several people I know have, and all agree on his deceny. At the time if his sighting he was a very senior member of Parks and Wildlife but was not in any way an expert on the thylacine. I have no explanation for his sighting. You're right, it was taken very seriously. 
Comment icon #45 Posted by Earl.Of.Trumps 4 years ago
**if it exists** that's just a good as guess as any
Comment icon #46 Posted by Habitat 4 years ago
In recent years, there was a number of reported sightings, not in Tasmania, but the rather different tropical Far North Queensland. One was by a highly experienced National Parks officer, and led to surveillance cameras being installed at unspecified locations. Obviously, there has been no evidence collected. Remarkable they even tried, considering there is no evidence from the past inhabitants, European or indigenous, of such an animal in the region.
Comment icon #47 Posted by Carnoferox 4 years ago
Thanks, I only skimmed the paper and I didn’t realize the flaws with some of these accounts.


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