
Scientists will start a new survey, trying to find out if the Tasmanian tiger is still out there.
STATES CHRONICLE – Researchers started searching for Tasmanian tiger again, which presumably might still be out there in the wild, even if it was declared extinct in 1936. Scientists have thought that the last individual of this species died many years ago, in 1936. The biggest carnivorous marsupial was the striped thylacine which had once populated the mainland of Australia.
Several locals reported sightings of a mysterious creature which looks like the Tasmanian tiger
This animal was believed to have become extinct 2,000 years ago. However, in the wild, the Tasmanian tiger lived until 1936. The last one in the wild was known to have been killed in 1930, and the last one in captivity died in 1936 at the Hobart Zoo. Even if specialists hoped that some members of the species have survived, in the 1980s the Tasmanian tiger was officially declared extinct.
Despite all this, people reported sightings of the extinct creature. Moreover, there were reported sightings of the thylacine in North Queensland, Australia. Thus, scientists decided to initiate a search. Professor Bill Laurance from James Cook University argued that he obtained detailed descriptions from two persons about some weird animals they have spotted in Cape York Peninsula.
Even if it was thought to be extinct, research will start a new survey to find out the truth
Considering the accurate description of the locals, these animals might be thylacines. One of the witnesses is an employee of the Queensland National Park Service. Sandra Abell, a researcher at James Cook University’s Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, stated that they were contacted by locals about possible sightings since they announced that they would undertake a search.
Abell’s team is bound to install more than fifty camera traps to develop a survey starting with this spring. She said she is not completely sure that they will capture a Tasmanian tiger, but it would not be impossible. Abell stated that people who actually seen this mysterious creature were able to describe it in detail. This makes it harder for scientists to think that locals are lying since they offered so many details.
Nevertheless, the team of scientists would be really lucky to capture some photos of this amazing creature. Irrespective of the results of this search, the scientific survey itself offers credibility to the potential that they might exist. It would be amazing news to find out that the Tasmanian tiger defied extinction.
Image courtesy of: wikipedia