South Australian Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) Sighting Reports
Reports from other states and countries can be accessed here. Please note that I have taken the liberty of quoting liberally from all sources. This is only to make it easier for the reader to access these reports which would otherwise be spread over many websites and other mediums (e.g. newspaper articles, books, CD's etc.). In all cases I have clearly cited the source.
SA.c1966.xx.xx
An anonymous report received by REPAD:
"Myself and 2 friends saw what we were certain was a thylacine near struan near Naracoorte in approx 1966 ... We watched it in a spotlight for about 30 seconds... It had faint stripes and a thick tail and watched us and stood perfectly still for that time..."
SA.1967.7.xx
"Rosalie, the 12-year-old daughter of one member [Field Naturalists' Society], Mrs. Dawn Anderson, of Spence, was one of a busload of people who reported that a thylacine had run alongside the bus for about a mile near Naracoorte recently. Rosalie described the animal as fast-moving and dog-like, with a tapering tail like a kangaroo and a striped body."
Source: Harris, Samela. (1968). Hold that tiger! Walkabout 34(6): 28-31.
"in July, 1967, when the passengers and driver of a Lucindale school bus had a clear view of an animal as it loped parallel with their vehicle—a mere few yards away at the side of the road—for about a mile. This sighting was fully reported in local and city newspapers. Rosalie Anderson, then 13, was one of the bus passengers, and her mother, Mrs. Dawn Anderson, intrigued, tried to draw the animal described by Rosalie, the driver, Mr. Bob Jackson, and other children. After much erasing and modification, the children were satisfied that she had drawn a fair representation of what they saw. The drawing at the top of this page is a tracing of that one."
Source: Parker, Heather. (1970). Is it the Tasmanian Tiger? The Australian Women's Weekly, Wednesday, 25 February, p. 35, 56, 61.
SA.1967.xx.xx
Col Bailey had his first thylacine encounter in South Australia, where he grew up (second: TAS.1995.3.xx; third: TAS.2000.xx.xx):
"He recounts that, in 1967, at the age of 30, he was canoeing on South Australia’s Coorong wetlands system when he spotted a dog-like animal on a beach 200m away. It had a heavy head, low-slung body and long tail that seemed to drag on the sand. “I thought, what is that thing?” he recalls. “To this day I’m not sure what it was. But it got me interested enough to inquire about it.” Col’s investigation pointed to the thylacine and he’s been researching and seeking it in Tasmania ever since."
Source: Meredith, Peter. (2017). An endless quest. Australian Geographic 138(May-June): 74-87.
SA.1968.1.19
South Australian thylacine researcher Dawn Anderson's first1 sighting, with her son, Peter:
"About 9.15 a.m. on January 19, 1968, six months after she began collecting these records, Dawn was driving with her 11-year-old son, Peter, through a scrubby *area near their property when she noticed something unusual bounding along the bottom of the drain beside the road. She stopped the car. For what seemed a long time she didn't understand what she saw. Then she realised —this was it—the Animal. The controversial creature was there, lithe and alive, gold and brown in the morning sun. "Now they'll say I'm seeing things," she thought, remembering the sceptics. For quarter of an hour she and Peter watched it, knowing they must make the most of this chance to observe it in detail—its color, markings, movements, the set of the tail, the set of the head, how it walked, sat, stood, ran. It was a hot, windy day, and the animal, being up-wind and probably short-sighted in daylight, was apparently not aware that it was being watched."
Source: Parker, Heather. (1970). Is it the Tasmanian Tiger? The Australian Women's Weekly, Wednesday, 25 February, p. 35, 56, 61.
1 Second sighting: SA.196X.xx.xx #1; third sighting: SA.196X.xx.xx #2.
SA.1968.1.xx
"A typical sighting was reported by a Mr. Buzzacott in January, 1968. He said: "The animal was sighted about 4.30 to 5 p.m. I was only about 30 to 40 yards away from it as it trotted across the road. "I hope my eyes were not playing tricks or that I was not dreaming, as what I saw was very unusual. "The animal was very much larger than a fox. It seemed to have a long face, but I could not see it properly, as the animal looked neither to right nor left." (This was unusual, as a dog or fox will nearly always turn its head.) "It just kept going and took its time as it crossed the road. It was in sight for several seconds, and I was able to get a reasonable look at it. "It was a kind of grey-blue with light off-white stripes down the back and tail. The tail was long and thin and hung rigid, the back was high and thin, and in front the animal was thickset.""
Source: Parker, Heather. (1970). Is it the Tasmanian Tiger? The Australian Women's Weekly, Wednesday, 25 February, p. 35, 56, 61.
SA.1968.6.13
South Australian thylacine researchers Dawn Anderson and Kath Alcock:
"On June 13, 1968, the two women found the tracks of an adult animal, accompanied by one set of smaller ones, and concluded that this was a mother trailing a pup. After a while the smaller prints disappeared, but the larger ones continued. Was it too far-fetched to consider that at this point the pup was taken into the mother's pouch?"
Source: Parker, Heather. (1970). Is it the Tasmanian Tiger? The Australian Women's Weekly, Wednesday, 25 February, p. 35, 56, 61.
SA.1968.7.22
"a sighting by Mr. Trevor Taylor, a wool auctioneer. This is part of his description of what he saw: "First impression: animal about the size of a kelpie, first seen side-on, about 18-20 inches tall from ground to shoulder. Head appeared to be wide, with pointed ears and snout larger than a fox. "Most distinctive tail, longish, thick at the butt and running with a downward curve to a point, did not appear furry. Looked like a kangaroo's, except that it thinned off closer to the butt. "Coloring: brownish, with saddle-shaped marking of blackish color over the shoulder, and a black marking over back and flanks. Coat looked like winter dog's coat, with blackish fur appearing to be longer than the brown fur. "Movements: stopped at every whistle I made, always seeming to be facing me to see what I was doing, but not in anger. When disturbed would walk into the scrub and along the fence and appear in a different position again facing me. "After pointing out the animal to a passing motorist, we followed it into the scrub and it jumped on to a fence post, then down into a cleared paddock with a cat-like motion, and loped away for about 100 yards.""
Source: Parker, Heather. (1970). Is it the Tasmanian Tiger? The Australian Women's Weekly, Wednesday, 25 February, p. 35, 56, 61.
SA.1968.7.23
"Dawn was notified and early next morning drove with Mr. Taylor and his wife to the spot. There had been a hard frost and the evidence was undisturbed. There was sand on top of the post where the animal had landed, and a clear trail of footprints on the ground. Hair samples were found, and photographs and foot-casts taken."
Source: Parker, Heather. (1970). Is it the Tasmanian Tiger? The Australian Women's Weekly, Wednesday, 25 February, p. 35, 56, 61.
SA.1968.8.xx
"A few days before Mr. Hooper's discovery [i.e. TAS.1968.8.xx], a tiger was thought to be seen in South Australia, about 20 miles from Adelaide. However, searchers were unable to find the creature which was described by Mr. L. W. Gasmier, of Naracoorte, as dog-like with extended hindquarters, striped markings, and a long, tapering tail. Mr. Gasmier and his wife observed the animal for about 15 minutes through binoculars. The searchers did find a set of strange pad marks which have been sketched and photographed for identification."
Source: Terry, Anne. (1968). Extinct or not, interest remains in our tiger. The Weekender, Saturday, 19 October, p. ?.
SA.196X.xx.xx #1
South Australian thylacine researcher Dawn Anderson's second1 sighting:
"She was one of a party of 16 people, in three cars, who saw an animal cross the road and disappear into a reed bed. They stopped and decided to go in and try to surround it. They were successful. In the encircling movement many of them saw it at close quarters, and heard the soft hissing-coughing noise it was making before it eluded them and disappeared."
Source: Parker, Heather. (1970). Is it the Tasmanian Tiger? The Australian Women's Weekly, Wednesday, 25 February, p. 35, 56, 61.
1 First sighting: SA.1968.1.19; third sighting: SA.196X.xx.xx #2.
SA.196X.xx.xx #2
South Australian thylacine researcher Dawn Anderson's third1 sighting:
"The third time Dawn had a brief glimpse of an animal in a paddock near the same place."
Source: Parker, Heather. (1970). Is it the Tasmanian Tiger? The Australian Women's Weekly, Wednesday, 25 February, p. 35, 56, 61.
1 First sighting: SA.1968.1.19; second sighting: SA.196X.xx.xx #1.
SA.196X.xx.xx #3
Dawn Anderson and Kath Alcock:
"One of their first field operations was making casts of footprints found where an animal had been seen, in the Spence district."
Source: Parker, Heather. (1970). Is it the Tasmanian Tiger? The Australian Women's Weekly, Wednesday, 25 February, p. 35, 56, 61.
SA.196X.xx.xx #4
"Another time, some children playing had seen an animal sit and groom itself for several minutes. They pointed out the exact spot where it sat, a few feet from where they were hiding behind a log. Kath examined the ground carefully and picked up a golden brown hair 1¼ in. long. More searching revealed more hairs.
...
In a letter to Dawn Anderson he suggested that the animal seen in the south- east was a mangy fox. He thought the footprints could have been those of a dog, and gave his reasons. The hairs, he said, might have come from the inside of the leg of a fox, but he was not entirely satisfied that it was the hair of a fox. Mrs. Alcock has tanned dozens of fox skins. And among the numerous wild creatures Mrs. Anderson has raised and kept as pets is a vixen, which she reared from a cub a few days old. They believe this gives them some knowledge of the characteristics of fox hairs, and that those found in the scrub were different."
Source: Parker, Heather. (1970). Is it the Tasmanian Tiger? The Australian Women's Weekly, Wednesday, 25 February, p. 35, 56, 61.
SA.196X?.xx.xx #1
""Yes, I saw him", avers Parks Comission Park Keeper, Jack Victory, of Kingston. "He was like a cross between a fox and a kangaroo. He had the characteristics of both, but was neither. He had a head like a dog, yet a rump with a tapering tail like the kangaroo. His general colour was brown, but he was striped in grey towards the rear."
Jack Victory went on: "I spotted him on Taylor's property on the Coorong. I was about 400 yards away looking for birds through a telescope. I just didn't know what he was. He started to run wtih a long loping gait, carrying his tail low. He moved quickly and soon disappeard into the scrub. When we got to the spot where we had seen him, we found hiw paw marks in the clay. They were about the size of my fist and looked quite similar when I struck my fist into the clay beside his imprint. We estimated his weight as about 120 to 150 pounds. The The animal's appearance fits only that of the thylacine. I am positive thylacines exist down here"" (p. 29)
Source: Harris, Samela. (1968). Hold that tiger! Walkabout 34(6): 28-31.
SA.196X?.xx.xx #2
"I was sure all those people who were raving about seeing some kangaroo-like tiger-dog in the bush were either drunk or mad", says a Millicent businessman. "Then I saw the thing myself. I found it hard toc redit. But there it was, just as they had told me, a heavy-looking dog with stripes on its back and a thick tapering tail which looked like a mangy rat's tail, only much larger."
Source: Harris, Samela. (1968). Hold that tiger! Walkabout 34(6): 28-31.
SA.196X?.xx.xx #3
"A Commonwealth film unit filming wildlife in a private sanctuary at Rendlesham near Grey missed a thylacine by seconds. Millicent tourist officer, John Pocock, spotted the animal when rounding up a flock of emus in long tussock grass. The thylacine was sitting watching proceedings with some interest, but by the time Mr. Pocock had alerted the cameraman, it had loped into the dense undergrowth.
"There have been many reported sightings here", said Mr. Pocock, "and it seems they must be living here in numbers. This would be understandable, for the countryside has dense scrub interspersed with water soaks. Most of it has now been declared a wildlife sanctuary. With the rugged terrain, animals could exist for many years without being seen.""
Source: Harris, Samela. (1968). Hold that tiger! Walkabout 34(6): 28-31.
SA.196X?.xx.xx #4
"Sketch A shows the general shape of the animal sighted by Penny Gneil of Hindmarsh Park. She and six friends saw it near Coorong"
Source: Harris, Samela. (1968). Hold that tiger! Walkabout 34(6): 28-31.
SA.196X?.xx.xx #5-6
"Sketch B was drawn from the description given by Naracoorte train driver Mr. Don Gilette, who sketched the loping run of the thylacine he claims to have seen on two occasions"
Source: Harris, Samela. (1968). Hold that tiger! Walkabout 34(6): 28-31.
SA.1973.xx.xx
Liz and Gary Doyle, a young married couple, were in a caravan at Wilpena Pound when an unknown quadruped ran from right to left some distance in front of them. Liz managed to record the animal through their caravan's window, which has since become known simply as the 'Doyle footage'. The original 8mm copy of the film is presumably quite clear. Unfortunately that available online is of an inferior quality, and the grainy nature of the available footage makes analysis of it difficult.
Many are convinced that the animal depicted is a thylacine, or at least morphologically consistent with that of a thylacine. With the tantalising potential for stripes to be visible on the animal, as Liz Doyle observed. However, they may instead be an artefact of the pixelated nature of the unoriginal footage widely available.
Cryptozoologist Chris Rehberg has carried out some basic analyses of the footage: http://www.wherelightmeetsdark.com.au/examining-the-evidence/tasmanian-tiger-(thylacine)/doyle-thylacine/
SA.1974.11.1
"Barbara Adams and her four children watched two Thylacine pups at play near Frances on November 1, 1974; they were about a foot high and sandy-colored, with dark markings on the flanks. Numerous sightings also occurred to the southeast on Cape Nelson, Victoria, in the early 1970s."
Source: https://www.alpfmedical.info/freshwater-monster/thylacine.html
SA.197X.xx.xx
"I arrived in Australia,from England in 1970 with my family.In 1972 my father took a job,as hospital administrater,in Meningie,South Australia....we rented a farm called the Needles that bordered the Coorong.....It was an amazing place to live for a 13 year old....I was able to drive a ute and would shoot rabbits to sell to a local butcher for pocket money.I had found out from other kids at school that there was real money to be made in fox hunting.....Looking back now I feel lucky that I never harmed one.
One weekend I went hunting in some scrub,in a clearing I saw what I thought was a fox dash across the clearing and into a bush.....in those couple of seconds I raised the rifle to fire but realised it wasn't a fox.....it was larger,had a strange back end and stripes.I had never seen anything like it before.On returning home I told my family about it and got out a book on Australian animals to show everyone what I had just seen...We were amazed when under the picture it said extinct.
Thirty years passed,I would occasionally tell people about that day....and the reaction was usually the same....
A couple of years ago at a local flea market I came across Col Baileys Tiger Tales book.....imagine how amazed I was to read on page 137 about sightings of the tiger along the Coorong in the late 60's.
To this day I feel privilaged to have seen a Tiger....and I have no doubt about what I saw.Having been an excellent shot with a rifle I feel thankful that I didn't shoot it."
SA.1998.11.xx
One witness, plus a small dog.
Source: http://www.thylacineresearchunit.org/sightingreports.htm
SA.c1998.xx.xx
An anonymous report made by a female witness to REPAD on 25 August 2022:
"About 24 years ago I saw 3 Tasmanian tigers just outside Pimba South Australia.
I was travelling from Alice Springs to Adelaide. At 3am in the morning I left Pimba and a truck in front of me hit a kangaroo. Within minutes, 2 adults and a younger one took the kangaroo from the road. I had no camera at the time but I kow what I saw. My family was sleeping, so I just watched them take the kangaroo off into the bushes. I have told many people but didn't know who to contact at the time.
With all the media around Tasmanian Tiger now, I found it easier to report this now. These animals were definitely not worried that I was parked watching them drag the carcass off the road."
SA.c1999.xx.xx
"I was with my father, driving alongside the pine forests between xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx south east SA. We were driving on the road past farms where the farms border the pine forests and we saw an animal crossing the field and running into the cover of the trees. I pointed it out to my Dad, and he said it was a thylacine and he told me you could know that because of the stripes on his rear end. The animal also seemed to move differently to a dog. My Dad also stated that he had seen many thylacines over the years that he had lived in the area. My Dad was a truck driver and a keen fisherman/outdoors man. He moved to the area in the late 1980's, and lived there up until 2006 when he passed away. I was around 10 years old at the time of the sighting. I have just been watching a documentary on investigating thylacines in the current day, I was not aware that people could register a sighting."
Source: https://www.thylacineawarenessgroupofaustralia.com.au/read-tagoa-witness-sighting-reports.htm
SA.2001.6.xx
A single witness, of unknown sex and age:
"I am an ex-prison officer from South Australia. One night in June 2001 whilst carrying out a patrol at Cadell Training Centre, which is near Morgan on the Murray River in South Australia, I saw a thylacine.
It was just after 2 a.m., and I was doing a patrol of the prison farm. I was driving down a dirt track (leading to the river bank below the cliffs adjacent to Cadell Training Centre at Morgan) in the 4WD when it ran out in front of the vehicle. It was unmistakable. I knew exactly what it was, the kangaroo type legs, long tail, the striped markings, and best of all, … it opened its mouth to an incredible width. I was stunned … it was only about two metres away from me. I went to get out of the car and approach it, but it took off into the bush.
On returning to the office, I told the other officers who laughed at me. In the morning there was an article in the local rag stating that sightings had occurred up and down the river to Waikerie. No-one laughed then!"
Source: http://members.ii.net/~lawley/thylacine/anecdotes/index.html
SA.2005.10.xx
Brett Tester shared his sighting from close to the southernmost part of the SA-Vic border on the "The great search for the thylacine" Facebook group:
"I saw one of these creatures run across the road in south eastern sa near the Vic border,it ran like nothing I've ever seen.I thought it was a dog to start with,but as I got side on with it,as it tried to get into the long green grass on the side of the road,that's when I saw the full striped back.it was a large healthy mainland beast,they are alive.its hair was a rich almost ocre colour with black striped back.that region has endless amounts of old lava tubes.that's where I think you'll find them"
"It was an amazing thing to see.being taught they have been wiped out,well I'm 110% sure of what it was,they aren't gone yet.they've just found a way to avoid us.smart critters"
"very isolated area,lush ,abundant food,and cave systems,many unexplored"
"This creature was as healthy as a wild animal can get,people need to get into the cave systems,years of fun in that part of oz"
"The region I saw the mainland tiger,the trees grow sideways on the coast,its one windy place."
Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/37005777558/permalink/10156153653042559/
SA.2006.9.26
Rod South from Kensington Park, SA, Australia
"September 26 2006 I reckon I saw a thylacene in the drylandsfsouth Australia. I failed to photograph it because It was not a possibility in my mind and I drove on for an hour before I realized what I'd seen. Too long to relate all of the encounter but I am just registeringmy possible sighting."
Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook.html
SA.2006.9.xx
A single witness, of unknown sex and age:
"In late September 2006, I have seen tracks at the Murrawijinie Caves approximately 11 km inland from the Nullarbor roadhouse. I believe these tracks to be of a thylacine since they had the typical 5th toe, and a very broad pad. The tracks that I saw were in soft red dirt ... there were three of them. I know that there are a lot of dingoes around the area, and I saw a couple, but these tracks were definitely different. Ever since my 2001 sighting, I have been on the lookout for any further evidence. I was at the second pothole, and the tracks were on the Eastern side around four metres from the lip of the hole. I attempted a photo with my mobile phone but the tracks were barely recognisable. I would like to add that I grew up roaming the bush around Woomera and am keenly aware of our native fauna."
Source: http://members.ii.net/~lawley/thylacine/anecdotes/index.html
SA.2011.7-8.xx
An anonymous report made to REPAD by an Englishman on a working visa:
"One evening I decided to have a bit of an exploration. I was on a working holiday visa and my year was coming to an end. I had got married a few months before and we had decided to live back in England. My wife was in Thailand so I would say the encounter was around about late July/August time. I was driving around and I decided to drive to Bute. When I got there, I soon realised there was nothing really there so I decided to drive to Port Broughton as I'd never been there. Half way along the upper Yorke road my vehicle cut out, dammit out of fuel! Went to the Jerry can only to find it wasn't there as I'd used the fuel that day! I decided to walk back towards Bute and look for some lights, it was around 8pm and pitch black in darkness. A clear starry night. I walked approx half a mile up a slight incline and found no lights around so decided it would be safer to head back to the car. As I made my way back to the car something was rustling alongside me in the undergrowth to the side of the road (left hand side if travelling to Bute from Port Broughton) I picked up some stones and lobbed them towards the noise, thinking it was probably a rabbit or something. Whatever it was next to me didn't run away as I continued to throw stones. Soon I was back to the car and I jumped in and hit the lights. What stood infront of me 10 meters away was a dog with a stripey back end (I wish I had a camera). I thought it might be a fox at 1st but it looked nothing like a fox, and had a strange gait!! I continued to throw rocks at it, the dog sniffed them but didn't run away. I got back out of the car and whistled at it, I even shouted 'walkies' at it. The dog didn't move. After about 20 mins a car came towards me and I flagged it down. I asked the young lady if she saw the dog and she said no, looked at me like I was insane, and drove off. 10 mins later a nurse working at Port Broughton Hospital picked me up and dropped me in town. I stayed the night in the Port Broughton Hotel and the next day got some fuel off the garage owner and a lift to my car. I got back to work on the Monday and mentioned what had happened to my work mates who didn't really care, said it was probably a dingo or something. So that was that I thought no more of it.
8 years later I saw a picture that I instantly recognised, I said to myself 'that's what I saw', so I looked up the article, it was about the Tasmanian tiger. That's exactly what I saw."
SA.2014.12.31
Title: "Wallaby killed by a Thylacine"
From the video description:
"This is a Red-Neck Wallaby found New Years Eve 2014 in the SE of SA with a very Thylacine type of kill pattern i.e. Brains missing, blood filled organs taken and crushed vertebrae at the base of the skull."
SA.2016.2.xx
Footage taken in the Adelaide hills which shows an animal walking behind a green council rubbish bin. The footage is very pixelated but the animal appears to be either brown, red or orange in colour, with a white tip to the tail. The footage can be seen here:
SA.2017.3.xx
Kat, 28, kindly submitted her report to REPAD:
"I spotted what I think was very likely to have been a thylacine in South Australia, in March 2017.
I had been out driving in rural areas between Victor Harbor & Adelaide, taking photos of the night sky. On my way home, at about 4.00 am, I pulled over along an empty side road somewhere between Willunga & Mt Compass to skol a Red Bull & eat a snack. I turned off my car & headlights to enjoy the still night. When I was about to leave, I turned on my headlights - & less than 10 m away I spotted what I initially thought was a "weird dingo" (despite being well below the dingo-proof fence). The animal was a tan colour & roughly Labrador sized. It looked at the car & yawned & I immediately realised it was a thylacine due to the enormous width of its jaws. I instantly thought of footage I had seen before of the last thylacine with its mouth open. Moments later it turned & skulked into the bushes next to it & I caught a brief glimpse of a stripey rear & stiff tail (a feature I didn't know thylacines had until reading about them after).
Although I had a professional grade camera with me, all the gear was in the boot of my car & the encounter only lasted seconds, so there was no chance to get photos."
SA.2017.6.30
Schoolteacher Paul Day filmed a mystery quadruped against a sunrise background near Moonta, South Australia. While initially unsure as to the identity of the creature, he later came to believe that the animal is a thylacine. He has made the footage available at his YouTube channel:
SA.2018.c4-5.xx
Geraldine "Gerry" Buckley, a retired scientist, kindly submitted her three sightings to REPAD (SA.2018.c4-5.xx; SA.2018.12.xx; SA.2019.1.11):
"I can only be approximate about the other sightings but would say the first was around April/May 2018 as it was close to winter and it was the same as the sighting this January, same time , same place, about 1.45am on the perimeter road in Belair National Park that runs alongside the Blackwood Golf Course. It moved across the road in front of me and into the bush but didn't stop as it did this week."
"I'm a retired scientist, qualified in Zoology and Botany, so very familiar with animals, morphology etc, also have a degree in Clinical Chemistry, and one in Quantitative Biology with a Pharmacology major. Mostly done Medical Research and also worked in the Pharmaceutical Industry in Drug Metabolism so very used to observation."
SA.2018.12.xx
Geraldine "Gerry" Buckley, a retired scientist, kindly submitted her three sightings to REPAD (SA.2018.c4-5.xx; SA.2018.12.xx; SA.2019.1.11):
"The next was a very brief sighting, a road just off the perimeter road, so same area, just the rear end and tail disappearing into bush, in early December 2018, then the sighting this January. Also around the same time."
"I'm a retired scientist, qualified in Zoology and Botany, so very familiar with animals, morphology etc, also have a degree in Clinical Chemistry, and one in Quantitative Biology with a Pharmacology major. Mostly done Medical Research and also worked in the Pharmaceutical Industry in Drug Metabolism so very used to observation."
SA.2018.xx.xx
SA.2019.1.11
Geraldine "Gerry" Buckley, a retired scientist, kindly submitted her three sightings to REPAD (SA.2018.c4-5.xx; SA.2018.12.xx; SA.2019.1.11):
"Several times now I have seen an unusual animal while walking at night in Belair National Park, South Australia. This morning, Jan 11 at approx 1.45am, I was able to see it more clearly as it stopped and turned to watch us.I walk in the park most mornings with my German Shepherd dog. This morning it ran across the road in front of us about 15-20 feet away - same place we have seen it before, and a couple of times in a nearby location. I've never seen any animal this shape and with such a tail. Moved differently to a dog, fast with body lowish to the ground, Not a fox, much bigger, pointy ears and sloping back with long stiff, non bushy tail. We see foxes all the time and it moved nothing like one, very different gait, low back end, wrong shape and bigger. It ran into the bush area off the road, stopped and looked back at us. I have a very strong LED headlight so stopped and shone it on the animal which just looked back so I was able to assess it's size and shape better. I looked it up this morning to see if I could find it as I know no Australian mammal that fitted it and it was the same face and body shape as the thylacine but I couldn't really see any stripes as it's back was in shadow. My dog is a big female German Shepherd and around 29 inches at the shoulder and this animal was smaller by maybe 6 inches with a longish body with sloping hindquarters and very long stiff tail. As far as able to discern in that light it looked a mid beige to brown colour. All our sightings have been in the last year."
"I'm a retired scientist, qualified in Zoology and Botany, so very familiar with animals, morphology etc, also have a degree in Clinical Chemistry, and one in Quantitative Biology with a Pharmacology major. Mostly done Medical Research and also worked in the Pharmaceutical Industry in Drug Metabolism so very used to observation."
SA.2020.6.12
"On June 12th I was heading home down xxxxx and I saw an animal that resembled a hare but much bigger?? It was the same colour as described last time from the 3rd party bike rider near the XXXXXXXXX and it was hopping. It was a fleeting sight and I went back and it had disappeared.
The only reason I’m letting you know is the setting. I stopped and had a look today. What I saw came out of a valley/creek from XXXXXXX and looked to be heading into the park. The park entry (where this occurred) is the head of a valley that connects with XXXXXXX. At the fence there is a low, forced entrance that is quite large (enough for a medium dog). I remember speaking to someone at the Hotel who swore he saw a tiger in Brownhill Creek (a 30 yr old conversation now). Anyway, the Google Maps coordinates are; xxxxxxxxxxxxx
I am doing the rounds regularly and have bought a thermo monocular (only worthwhile to uncover a hidden animal you’ve almost stepped on I’m afraid). I saw some dudes the other night near xxxxxxx and thought it may have been your team? I was on my bike at the time (around 9.30pm) and caught some eye shine but couldn’t track it. It followed the creek east at the xxxxxxxx park. Also, my son and I wandered upon a fresh scat in the same vicinity a few nights earlier. I couldn’t sample it but took a photo (attached). Plenty of foxes around so wasn’t too excited and not usually one to send photos of poo to strangers! "
Source: https://www.thylacineawarenessgroupofaustralia.com.au/read-tagoa-witness-sighting-reports.htm
SA.2022.4.30 (10:18PM)
An anonymous report made to REPAD:
"My friends and I have just sighted a large dog-sized figure on the eastern freeway near Callington at 10:18pm on Saturday 30/4/2022. The animal was large with 4 legs and a stripy tail. We almost hit it because it ran in front of our car."
SA.2022.8.xx
Jessie Milde, her son, and her sister Emma Borgas:
"This month, Jessie Milde was walking in Belair National Park in the Adelaide Hills with her son and sister when they sighted a mysterious creature.
"We saw this thing starting to move across the road, and to start with, it's a bit strange, you sort of go through a bit of a thought process in your head, and it's like, oh, that's a bit of a weird looking kangaroo," she said.
"Then I thought it's a really scraggy looking dog. But then it got a bit closer to us and I thought, no, it's not a dog either.
"It had a really weird gait to it, a sort of lolloping almost movement."
Her sister was convinced it was a Tasmanian tiger.
"That's the closest thing that we could compare it to, and she then she went on to say that there had been reports on the Blackwood community Facebook page of people seeing some strange things in the national park," Ms Milde said.
"It was bigger than a fox, but not as big as a massive dog, but it definitely didn't look like a fox. The tail was completely different, its back was really sloped down and its head was a completely different shape.""
Source: Mason, Olivia. (23 August, 2022). Mystery animal in Belair National Park unlikely to be Tasmanian tiger. ABC News (online). Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-24/possible-tasmanian-tiger-sighting-in-adelaide-hills/101362246
SA.XXXX.xx.xx #1-2
"I was working at a bakery and was heading to work, waiting at the intersection for the lights to change. All of a sudden I saw movement from one of the paddocks and what I assumed at first to be a fox. As it came onto the road under the street light, I noticed it had several dark stripes down its back that travelled down to its tail, which resembled something like a pitbull's undocked tail. The majority of its fur was sandy/brown and its snout was dark. It must have stood about 50 or so centimetres high. It trotted across the road.
The lights changed and I continued to work, where no one believed me.
As unbelievable as it sounds, the very next morning in the exact same place and at the same time, I saw two of them trotting across an intersection.
That was the last time I saw any of them. I figured that the day before the male had been scouting a new area and the next morning he was moving his mate (she was slightly smaller)."
Source: http://www.thylacineawarenessgroup.com/sighting/sighting-near-happy-valley-south-australia/
SA.XXXX.xx.xx #3
"The animal was in a strange looking like creature it looked like it had a tail like a kangaroos and a head looking similar to a wolf's head, the body was looked longer that a dingo's."
Source: http://www.thylacineawarenessgroup.com/sighting/sighting-in-south-australia/
SA.XXXX.xx.xx #4
"I came across an animal standing on the opposite side of the road when driving and I presumed it was a fox but as I got closer it stayed still with its head away from me facing the embankment. Its tail had no fluffiness and the body was stocky and appeared to be a solid dark red colour with a short coat. I thought it was a bit abnormal looking and as I pulled up along side, it turned its head towards my car and it looked similar to a kangaroo shape but had a slightly raised section of a curved nose much like a sheep. I was so taken back by the situation that when I started to get my phone, headlights appeared up the road and with the animal next to my car but on the opposite side of the road I kept the car moving as to not trap it between my car and the embankment. It was a truck that came past so it must of spooked it away as it was gone when the truck had past."
Source: http://www.thylacineawarenessgroup.com/sighting/sighting-in-adelaide-hills-south-australia/
SA.XXXX.xx.xx #5
"Driving east approaching a small cutting on Princes Hwy animal standing on top of cutting and proceeded down it. I slowed to ensure its safety. Halfway across road it stopped and looked at us then walked into low scrub . We stopped to follow it but to no avail."
Source: http://www.thylacineawarenessgroup.com/sighting/sighting-in-the-coorong-south-australia/
Retracted reports
SA. 2021.11.4
An anonymous report made to REPAD by a witness who is not certain that they saw a thylacine, instead referring to the encounter as a "Questionable road kill sighting" that may refer to a thylacine:
"I was driving back from Yorke Peninsula today, about 1km from Mudla Wirra Rd heading to Gawler from Mallala. I spotted an odd shaped object on the side of the road and wish now that I had pulled over or gone back to take a photo. I only didn’t because of the wind and fast pace of the road with danger of passing traffic. It was too large to be a fox, but with a slim build and stripes like a cat with auburn and black markings, is what I imagine a Tasmanian tiger could look like dead on the side of a road. I wish I had stopped to take a photo! Hopefully someone else came past after me and did, it was on my left and I got as good a look as I could have under the circumstances. Either it was a Tasmanian tiger or there was a huge disformed stray cat out there that was the size of a massive dog. I hope it was the first option and I hope someone else had the opportunity to stop and take a photo."
A thylacine researcher subsequently tracked down the road killed animal in question, which turned out to be a very large brindled feral cat.
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