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'Sightings' of Extinct Tasmanian Tiger Prompt Search in Queensland (theguardian.com)

Posted by msmash on from the what-do-we-know dept.

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.

3 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. I know just the man for the job by necro81 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Let's get Willem Dafoe on this straight away! (obscure movie ref?)

    1. Re:I know just the man for the job by Rei · · Score: 5, Informative

      Not just been photos, there's been some reported video as well (also Queensland). I did check the gait of the animal in the video, and it matches a diagram of the thylacine's gait. But that's hardly unique to them, it just narrows down the range of possible species. There's old zoo footage here.

      I doubt it's actually a thylacine, but who knows, weirder things have been discovered.

      --
      Kneel Before Christ!
  2. Re:Not sure but by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "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.