Evidence the supposedly extinct Tasmanian tiger survived
Posted by staff / March 29, 2017
The carnivorous marsupial known as the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, was declared extinct in the 1980s after a live specimen hadn’t been spotted since the 1930s. A few recent sightings, though, have scientists considering the possibility they may have survived in Australia of all place, where they were thought to have disappeared 2000 years ago.
As Treehugger’s Melissa Breyer reported:
Professor Bill Laurance from James Cook University says he has “plausible and detailed descriptions” from two people about mystery animals they had seen in Cape York peninsula; the animals could possibly be thylacines. One of the witnesses is a long-time employee of the Queensland National Parks Service; the other a frequent camper.
The descriptions of the sightings – some as close as 20 feet away – described physical features that are distinct from other large species in the area, animals like dingoes, wild dogs or feral pigs.
Really tiny , emaciated zebras? No, probably not those, either.
Researchers are setting camera traps to see if they can get film of whatever’s being spotted out there in the wild, so keep your fingers crossed.
(Random fun fact: It’s said to be a relative of the numbat, an animal I’d never heard of until today with a great name.)
Full story at The Guardian via Treehugger.
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