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'Sightings' of Extinct Tasmanian Tiger Prompt Search in Queensland (theguardian.com)
Elle Hunt, writing for The Guardian: "Plausible" possible sightings of a Tasmanian tiger in northern Queensland have prompted scientists to undertake a search for the species thought to have died out more than 80 years ago. The last thylacine is thought to have died in Hobart zoo in 1936, and it is widely believed to have become extinct on mainland Australia at least 2,000 years ago. But sightings of large, dog-like animals that are neither dingoes nor foxes have persisted over the decades, despite widespread scepticism. Recent eyewitness accounts of potential thylacines in far north Queensland have spurred scientists from James Cook University to launch a search for the animal long considered extinct. Professor Bill Laurance said he had spoken at length to two people about animals they had seen in Cape York peninsula that could potentially be thylacines, and that they had given plausible and detailed descriptions.
"Plausible" possible "sightings" of Tasmanian "Tiger" prompt "search" in "Queensland."
Also, if they live in Queensland, they are not "Tasmanian".
But, anyway, there is about a zero chance that these sightings are real. Thylacines can coexist with humans, and did for 40,000 years. They can NOT coexist with dingoes. Dingoes arrived in Australia (probably with Indonesian traders) about 3500 years ago. As they spread across the continent, thylacines rapidly went extinct, and only survived in Tasmania because the dingoes didn't cross the Bass Strait. There is very little chance that a sustainable population of thylacines could have survived in direct competition with dingoes for over 3000 years in one, and only one, location. That makes no sense.
The article doesn't mention it, but the Tasmanian Tiger is a marsupial. It is essentially a dog (wolf) that carries its young in a pouch. Most mammals in Australia were marsupials but many became extinct after the Australian Aborigines discovered the continent.
Marsupials evolved pouches to deal with the extreme climate and unreliable vegetation in Australia. A mother will remove and discard her young if the available food is not sufficient for both. Pregnant mammals with long gestation cycles don't have that luxury...
I am not interested in articles about life extension advancements.
It's okay to be skeptical, but outright cynicism can leave you looking like an idiot.
Consider that:
1. Vietnam people said for years there was a big deer that only lived deep in the jungle, but scientists kept saying "no there's not, we're smart and we looked"
2. Border Mexico people said for years that there was Jaguars roaming in the US/Mexico border region, but scientists kept saying "no there's not, we're smart and we looked"
3. People said for the last several hundred years that octopi can come out of the water and attack prey, but scientists said "no they don't, we're smart and we looked"
A lot of local yokel animal stories turn out to be BS, but a few have not.