Tasmanian Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) Sighting Reports

Reports from other states and countries can be accessed here.

Databases of sightings for Tasmania

Smith (1981) and Rounsevell & Smith (1982) both dealt with sightings in Tasmania to 1978. The latter analysed 104 sightings during the period 1970-1979, and stated that 84 sightings had been reported during the period 1960-1969.

The T.R.U. (Thylacine Research Unit) provides details of reports made directly to them

A whole batch of reports have been officially released by the Tasmanian government

Chris Tangey talked to around 150 witnesses during his 1970's search

A new RTI/FOI (2016-2019) request from Mike Williams was granted. 8 reports are included.

Brook et al. (2023) contains 1237 post-1909 reports

Brook et al. (2024) contains 1223 post-1909 reports

References

Brook, Barry W., Sleightholme, Stephen R., Campbell, Cameron R., Jarić, Ivan and Buettel, Jessie C. (2023). Resolving when (and where) the Thylacine went extinct. Science of The Total Environment 877: 162878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162878

Brook, Barry W., Sleightholme, Stephen R., Campbell, Cameron R., Jarić, Ivan and Buettel, Jessie C. (2024). The Tasmanian Thylacine Sighting Record Database (TTSRD): 1,223 quality-rated and geo-located Thylacine observations from 1910 to 2019. Australian Zoologist 43(3): 419-435. https://doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2023.044

Rounsevell, D. E. and Smith, S. J. (1982). Recent alleged sightings of the Thylacine (Marsupialia, Thylacinidae) in Tasmania, pp. 233-236. In: Archer, Michael (ed.). Carnivorous Marsupials, Volume 1. Sydney, N. S. W.: Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales.

Smith, Steven J. (1981). The Tasmanian Tiger - 1980: A report on an investigation of the current status of thylacine Thylacinus cynocephalus, funded by The World Wildlife Fund Australia. Wildt. Division Tech. Rep. 81/1. Hobart, Australia: National Parks and Wildlife Service. 133 pp.

The Reports

NB: 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.

The last confirmed wild thylacine was caught by the Delphin brothers between 2 and 9 August 1930. Hence the thylacine reports given here will date back to late 1930. Rather than starting after the death of the last known captive animal ("Benjamin") on 7 September, 1936.

TAS.1931.1.15

"Hyena Located:

Mr. J. Foster, of Latrobe, stated last evening that he and a companion, who are employed in the Mersey Valley, near Lovett's Flats, about three miles off the Native Plains road, were startled yesterday morning to find a hyena going along the pathway. The animal was 200 yards away. It did not appear to be at all disturbed by their presence, and slowly disappeared into the dense scrub. Mr. Foster said he intended to take a gun with him this morning in an endeavor to capture it. It is rarely that hyenas are over seen on this part of the Coast."

Source: Anonymous. (1931). Hyena Located (Latrobe). Advocate (Launceston), Friday, 16 January, p. 4.

TAS.1931.8.xx

Lapoinya specimen, caught by J. M. Kaine. Sold to Wynyard animal dealer James Harrison, who sold it to Beaumaris Zoo (Queen's Domain location).

Sources:

Interview with descendents by Dr. Stephen Sleightholme (The Thylacine Museum website)

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1931.9.5

"Hyena Visits Anglers:

A party of anglers, including Messrs. M. Button, A. James, and J. Fawkner, visited a popular fishing resort known as the "Big Bend" of the Mersey during the week-end. About midnight on the Saturday they were attracted by the barking of their dogs. On investigating they discovered that the dogs were having a fierce encounter with a hyena. After some minutes the hyena made a desperate attempt to escape, and was successful. This is the second time during the past few months that a hyena has been noticed in the locality."

Source: Anonymous. (1931). Hyena Visits Anglers (Latrobe). Advocate (Burnie), Tuesday, 8 September, p. 4.

TAS.1931.xx.xx #1

Sex unknown. Snared by Wynyard based animal dealer James Harrison and a friend, in the Tarkine area south of Burnie in 1931. Broke a leg while in the snare, which was later fixed by a doctor friend of Harrison's.

Source: An interview with Neil McCulloch (aged 90 at the time in 2010), grandson of James Harrison, conducted by his granddaughter (i.e. Harrison's great, great granddaughter) "elk" (pseudonym).

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1931.xx.xx #2-3

"Sergt. E. J. Butler, of Burnie. He stated that the last occasion on which he had known a tiger to be shot in the district was in the winter of 1931, when an animal found its way up to Mawbanna in search of food. On another visit to the district in the same year Sergt. Butler stated that he heard noises at night which indicated the presence of tigers. He had been informed that it was not an uncommon occurrence to hear tigers in that area, and that they had been known of for many years."

Source: Anonymous. (1934). Tasmanian Tigers. Examiner, Wednesday, 22 August, p. 3.

TAS.1931.xx.xx #4

Lovelock:

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1931.xx.xx #5

Bell:

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1931.xx.xx #6

Murray and Rist.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1931.xx.xx #7

Trigg, caught and later released, Lake Meeston.

Source: Bailey, Col. (1994). Derwent Valley Gazette, 25 May.

TAS.1931.xx.xx #8

J. M. Kaine.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1931.xx.xx #9-11

Anonymous. (1931). An Unwelcome Visitor (Nabageena). Circular Head Chronicle, Wednesday, 7 October, p. 3.

Anonymous. (1931). An Unwelcome Visitor (Nabageena). Advocate (Burnie), Wednesday, 7 October, p. 6.

TAS.1932.11.xx #1-2

"A sensation was caused last week by a hyena at Mr. A. Willis' farm. Messrs. Jim and Geo. Willis had just finished milking when they saw a wallaby hopping along the road, just about run out, and presently they saw what they thought a dog on the trail of the wallaby, but after it had passed them they realised that it was a tiger, and not one out of the circus. This is the second time lately that a hyena has made its appearance in this vicinity."

Source: Anonymous. (1932). Alcomie. Circular Head Chronicle, Wednesday, 30 November, p. 2.

TAS.1932.12.xx

"NATIVE TIGER REPORTED.

A correspondent states that during the past three weeks the residents of Pelverata district have had several scares owing to the reported presence of a native tiger in the bush adjoining the road between the 3rd and 4th milestones above the Woodstock Estate. The animal has only been seen after sunset, and though it has not actually attacked anyone so far, its habit of stealthily following travellers along the road has been most discomforting. It is said to be larger than the ordinary specimen of its kind, and would make a valuable addition to the museum, if any enterprising sportsman can be induced to secure its pelt."

Source: Anonymous. (1932). Native Tiger Reported. Huon Times, Thursday, 22 December, p. 2.

TAS.1932.xx.xx #1

Collins:

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1932.xx.xx #2

Clark (son of):

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1932.xx.xx #3

Olive Williams, Cape Sorrell lighthouse:

"Olive Williams (10/9/1981) reported successful predation on 'young kids (goats)' at the Cape Sorrell lighthouse in 1932" (Paddle, 2000:83)

Paddle, Robert N. (2000). The Last Tasmanian Tiger: The History and Extinction of the Thylacine. Oakleigh, Victoria: Cambridge University Press. x + 273 pp. [p. 83]

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1931/32.xx.xx

Frankcombe:

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.c1932.xx.xx #1-2

Mr. A. L. Butler:

Anonymous. (1937). Are Tasmanian Tigers Extinct? The Mercury, Wednesday, 10 February, p. 12.

TAS.1933.5.30

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1933.xx.xx #1

The specimen allegedly captured by Elias Churchill in the Florentine Valley and bought by the Beaumaris Zoo (Queen's Domain location). There is no contemporary evidence to confirm the capture, and hence it post-dates the latest confirmed record of a wild individual. That of the Waratah "female" caught by the Delphin Brothers in August 1930.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1933.xx.xx #2

Wynyard Beach carcass:

"Eric Sargent discovered a thylacine washed ashore in 1933, when he was five years old." (Maynard & Gordon, 2014:91)

His father suggested that it might have been one of James Harrison's tigers, however there are no records to suggest that Harrison dealt in thylacines beyond 1930 when he allegedly sold the Mawbanna specimen to the Tasmanian Museum.

Source: Maynard, David and Gordon, Tammy. (2014). Tasmanian Tiger: Precious Little Remains. Launceston: Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. 128 pp. [pp. 91-92]

TAS.1933.xx.xx #3

Rasselas. Snared by E. Bond. Eaten by Tasmanian devils.

Source: Laird Files (see Guiler, Eric Rowland and Godard, Philippe. (1998). Tasmanian Tiger: A Lesson to be Learnt. Perth, Western Australia: Abrolhos Publishing. 256 pp. [p. 136])

TAS.1933.xx.xx #4

Bond.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1933.xx.xx #5

Martin.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1933.xx.xx #6

Harrison:

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1934.xx.xx

Smith.

Guiler, Eric Rowland and Godard, Philippe. (1998). Tasmanian Tiger: A Lesson to be Learnt. Perth, Western Australia: Abrolhos Publishing. 256 pp. [p. 128]

TAS.1935.2/3.xx

Anonymous. (1935). Subsisted On Snake. The Mercury, Wednesday, 13 March, p. 5.

TAS.1935.7.xx

The purchase of a female that originated from Tyenna by Beaumaris Zoo.

Source: Guiler, Eric Rowland. (1986). The Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart. Papers and Proceedings of the Tasmanian Historical Research Association 33(4): 121-171.

TAS.1935.10.xx

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1935.11.23

Mr. Williams:

Anonymous. (1935). Traces of Tasmanian Tiger (Montagu). Advocate (Burnie), Wednesday, 27 November, p. 6.

Anonymous. (1935). Montagu. Circular Head Chronicle, Wednesday, 27 November, p. 2.

TAS.1935.12.xx

"A visitor to Lake St. Clair at the Christmas holidays has written stating that the footprints of a large dog-like animal were seen at different parts on the shores of the lake, suggesting that one or more marsupial wolves inhabited that region. Some of the marks were within 200 yards of the camp. The carcase of a small wallaby, badly mauled, and hidden among some saplings, was regarded as fairly strong evidence of the "tiger's" presence. Not one was seen, probably because the animals were hiding by day."

Source: "Peregrine" [Sharland, Michael S. R.]. (1936). Tasmanian Marsupials. The Mercury, Saturday, 18 January, p. 5. [Lake St. Clair; dog-like tracks and a wallaby kill]

Erroneously given as 1936.12.xx by (Sleightholme & Campbell, 2016):

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1935.xx.xx #1-3+

"While camping on a big plain west of the Arthur River track two years ago, every night I would hear four or five yelping in different directions, and some of them would come very close to my camp fire."

Source: Pax. (1937). Tasmanian Tiger (Letters to the Editor). The Mercury, Thursday, 6 May, p. 8.

TAS.1935.xx.xx #4

Delphin:

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1935.xx.xx #5

Farrow:

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1934/35.xx.xx #1

Gaffney:

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1934/35.xx.xx #2

Woods:

Guiler, Eric Rowland and Godard, Philippe. (1998). Tasmanian Tiger: A Lesson to be Learnt. Perth, Western Australia: Abrolhos Publishing. 256 pp. [p. 148]

TAS.1936.1.xx

Anonymous. (1937). Move To Preserve Tasmanian Tiger. Advocate (Burnie), Wednesday, 21 April, p. 7.

Anonymous. (1937). Search For Native Tigers. The Mercury (Hobart), Wednesday, 21 April, p. 9.

TAS.1936.7/8.xx

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

NB: Sleightholme & Campbell (2016) reference "Examiner, 12/4/1937, p. 3", however I cannot find the report on any page in that issue. It may be in error.

TAS.1936.9.xx

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1936.12.xx #1-2

Roy Marthick, at Lileah & Rogerton:

Source: Anonymous. (1937). Tasmanian Tigers. The Mercury, Wednesday, 17 February, p. 5.

TAS.1936.xx.xx #1

Signs of thylacines found by prospector J. A. Daly in the Jane River region.

Source: Anonymous. (1937). Tasmanian Tigers: Evidence of Existence on West Coast. Examiner (Launceston), Friday 19 February 1937, p. 10.

Listed as TAS.1937.2.xx by:

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1936.xx.xx #2

Dr. J. Pearson passing on his knowledge of most recent report, one trapped at Tarraleah:

Anonymous. (1937). Are Tasmanian Tigers Extinct? The Mercury, Wednesday, 10 February, p. 12.

TAS.1936.xx.xx #2

Thorp.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1936.xx.xx #3

Traveller River, caught and unfortunately suffocated.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1936.xx.xx #4

Williams.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1936.xx.xx #5

Williams.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1936.xx.xx #6

Britton, at Lileah:

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1935/36.xx.xx

Peck:

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1937.1/2.xx

Davis, at Port Davey.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1937.2.xx

Bell:

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1937.2/3.xx #1-2+

Heard howling on different occasions, near Mt. Bischoff Mine:

Anonymous. (1937). Move To Preserve Tasmanian Tiger. Advocate (Burnie), Wednesday, 21 April, p. 7.

Anonymous. (1937). Search For Native Tigers. The Mercury (Hobart), Wednesday, 21 April, p. 9.

TAS.1937.3.11

Mt. Bischoff:

Anonymous. (1937). Move To Preserve Tasmanian Tiger. Advocate (Burnie), Wednesday, 21 April, p. 7.

Anonymous. (1937). Search For Native Tigers. The Mercury (Hobart), Wednesday, 21 April, p. 9.

TAS.1937.4.26

Gonion, Waratah:

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1937.4.xx #1

Engineer Range.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

Anonymous. (1937). Native Tigers. Examiner, Wednesday, 21 April, p. 3.

Anonymous. (1937). Move To Preserve Tasmanian Tiger. Advocate (Burnie), Wednesday, 21 April, p. 7.

TAS.1937.4.xx #2

Eldon Peak:

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

Anonymous. (1937). Native Tigers. Examiner, Wednesday, 21 April, p. 3.

Anonymous. (1937). Move To Preserve Tasmanian Tiger. Advocate (Burnie), Wednesday, 21 April, p. 7.

TAS.1937.5.xx

Roy Marthick:

"In May 1937, Ray Marthick found tracks and briefly saw a group of Thylacines at dusk."

Source: https://www.alpfmedical.info/freshwater-monster/thylacine.html

TAS.1937.7/8.xx #1-2

"Mr. Harry Pearce, of the Gwelph estate, which lies between Gwelph River and Mt. Hobhouse, informs me that a few weeks ago he saw a fine specimen, and when snow was on the ground he saw tracks of several others on the sides of Mt. Hobhouse. Mr. Pearce was surprised to learn that it is feared this animal is becoming extinct, and expresses the opinion that there are still plenty of tigers about."

Source: Dyson, H. J. (1937). Native Tigers. The Mercury, Thursday, 19 August, p. 11.

TAS.1937.xx.xx #1

"A. L. Fleming and Lesley Williams ran across tracks in western Tasmania in 1937 and 1938."

Source: https://www.alpfmedical.info/freshwater-monster/thylacine.html

Anonymous. (1938). Tasmanian Tiger: Traces Seen By Survey Party. The Mercury, Saturday, 5 March, p. 13.

TAS.1937.xx.xx #2

Smith Brothers:

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1937.xx.xx #3

Sandy Cape; lair.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1937.xx.xx #4

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

Pax. (1937). Correspondence: The Thylacine. Circular Head Chronicle, Wednesday, 6 October, p. 3.

TAS.1937.xx.xx #5

Davey; Middletons Creek Gold Mine:

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1937.xx.xx #6

Evans & Oates; Dee River.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1937.xx.xx #7

Banks; Arthur River; killed thylacine.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1937.xx.xx #8

Haywood:

Wildlife, Aug 1946, Vol. 8, (8), p.288

Walkabout, 1/4/1958, pp.15-16

TAS.1937.xx.xx #9

Anderson.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1937.xx.xx #10

Farrow.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1937.xx.xx #11

Franklin River.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

Anonymous. (1937). Move To Preserve Tasmanian Tiger. Advocate (Burnie), Wednesday, 21 April, p. 7.

Anonymous. (1937). Native Tigers. Examiner, Wednesday, 21 April, p. 3.

TAS.1937.xx.xx #12

Kelly Basin.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

Newspaper reference "Mercury, 21/8/1937, p. 13" may be in error as I cannot find the relevant article.

TAS.1937.xx.xx #13

Raglan Range.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

Anonymous. (1937). Native Tigers. Examiner, Wednesday, 21 April, p. 3.

TAS.1937.xx.xx #14

Cooper.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1937.xx.xx #15

Charles.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1937.xx.xx #16

Almost certainly refers to one of the previous entries:

"Then many years later, in 1937, a kangaroo-hunter on the plains lying between the Big Creek and the Dip River, tributaries of the Black River in the north-west of Tasmania, saw four tigers, two mature animals and two half-grown cubs. He wrote to the newspapers of this unusual occurrence: “Almost every night they would visit the place where I stored my skins. Although I set snares round two wallaby carcasses, somehow the tigers always managed to come through the snares and have a feed and get out without springing one. The distance between where I had seen the four tigers and my camp was about fifteen or twenty miles.” "

Source: Graves, Kathleen E. (1958). The Rarest Animal in the World. Walkabout 24(4): 15-16.

TAS.1937.xx.xx #17

Almost certainly refers to one of the previous entries:

"In 1937 a stockman was credited with having observed one on the extensive Arthur River heathlands bordering on the North-West Coast" (p. 7)

Source: Sharland, Michael S. R. (1962). Tasmanian Wild Life: A Popular Account of the Furred Land Mammals, Snakes and Introduced Mammals of Tasmania. Parkerville, Victoria: Melbourne University Press. xiii + 86 pp.

TAS.1937?.xx.xx #1

Port Davey:

Anonymous. (1937). Move To Preserve Tasmanian Tiger. Advocate (Burnie), Wednesday, 21 April, p. 7.

Anonymous. (1937). Native Tigers. Examiner, Wednesday, 21 April, p. 3.

TAS.1937?.xx.xx #2

Near Tarraleah:

Anonymous. (1937). Move To Preserve Tasmanian Tiger. Advocate (Burnie), Wednesday, 21 April, p. 7.

Anonymous. (1937). Native Tigers. Examiner, Wednesday, 21 April, p. 3.

TAS.1936/37.xx.xx

"Last Summer while prospecting along the Black River, I sat down to have a smoke, and a fine specimen came down the bank within a half chain of me. After looking at me for a while he lapped up some water, got on a log and crossed the river, and then walked leisurely up the bank on the other side."

Source: Pax. (1937). Tasmanian Tiger (Letters to the Editor). The Mercury, Thursday, 6 May, p. 8.

TAS.1938.xx.xx #1-?

Anonymous. (1938). Tasmania Has "Tigers"!: Party Finds Tracks. The Argus (Melbourne), Wednesday, 23 November, p. 12.

"Regarding positively as those of a Tiger, the plaster foot impressions now in the museum came from Thirkells Creek in 1938...

An expedition organized by the Animals and Birds Protection Board, and including the present author as an observer, was sent out to the Jane River area in 1938...

On the way south to the Jane River, which was some twenty-five miles from the main Hobart-Queenstown highway, the expedition was about to descend into the valley along Thirkells Creek when it was halted by the sight of definite footprints of some dog-like creature on the track through a grove of beech and sassafras. In the mud on the track the animal had left a perfect impression. The claws and pads of the hand were clearly delineated." (p. 10-11)

"A. L. Fleming and Lesley Williams ran across tracks in western Tasmania in 1937 and 1938."

Source: https://www.alpfmedical.info/freshwater-monster/thylacine.html

TAS.1938.xx.xx #2

"The tracks of a Tasmanian tiger have been seen on the Rufus track, National Park"

Source: Anonymous. (1938d). Tasmanian Tiger. The Mercury, Wednesday, 21 September, p. 13.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129. [they have it as: TAS.1938.9.xx]

TAS.1938.xx.xx #3

Arve Valley.

Anonymous. (1938). Search For Tasmanian Tiger. The Mercury, Friday, 4 November, p. 10.

TAS.c1938.xx.xx #1-?

Kerr, Garry and McDermott, Harry. (1999). The Spero River Venture, pp. 85-95. The Huon Pine Story – A History of the harvest and use of a unique timber. Portland, Victoria: Mainsail Books. [chapter 5]

TAS.1939.4.xx

Stuttard & Nunn

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1939.5.xx

Mr. Albert Jones; Scopus.

Anonymous. (1939). Montagu. Circular Head Chronicle, Wednesday, 24 May, p. 2.

TAS.1939.xx.xx #1

Stacey.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1939.xx.xx #2

Chisholm.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.193X.xx.xx

Batiste.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1940.xx.xx

" In 1940 two bushmen in the Jane River valley at the foot of Frenchman’s Cap saw one"

Source: Graves, Kathleen E. (1958). The Rarest Animal in the World. Walkabout 24(4): 15-16.

TAS.1935/40.xx.xx

Mollison:

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.c1940.xx.xx #1 and #2

"Had my folks staying the other day and they had the book 'King of the Wilderness: The Life of Deny King'. Only had a brief look at it but it has a handy index in the back and had a few references to thylacines. Deny lived down in south west Tassie in the first half of the 20th century. Of most interest was the reference to his dog bailing up a thylacine around 1940, I think there was also mention that another fellow who worked with him saw one around then too."

Source: http://thylacoleo.proboards.com/thread/2860/king-wilderness

TAS.1938/40.xx.xx

Smyth; Irishtown.

Sleightholme, Stephen R. and Campbell, Cameron R. (2016). A retrospective assessment of 20th century thylacine populations. Australian Zoologist 38(1): 102-129.

TAS.1941.10/11?.xx

"Reports of the sight of a large dog-like animal, made by a walking party recently"

Source: Anonymous. (1941). New Hut For Walkers: Lake St. Clair Area. The Mercury, Tuesday, 18 November, p. 4.

TAS.1943.3.xx

Charles Spencer:

"Mr Spencer also states that he saw the tracks of a female tiger with cubs at Adamsfield last March."

Source: Anonymous. (1944). Tasmanian Tiger Seen In Styx River Valley. The Mercury, Friday, 10 March, p. 10.

TAS.1943.8.26

"The ranger at Lake St. Clair (Mr A. D. Fergusson) reported that a Tasmanian native tiger had been seen near his cottage on August 26, and had made off in the direction of Mt. Rufus."

Source: Anonymous. (1943). National Park: Plants To Improve Entrance. The Mercury, Thursday, 16 September, p. 8.

Anonymous. (1943). Where's That Tiger! Army News (Darwin), Thursday, 16 September, p. 3.

"Peregrine" [Sharland, Michael S. R.]. (1943). Tasmanian Tiger Still Roams Mountain Wilderness (Peregrine's Nature Notes). The Mercury, Saturday, 9 October, p. 13.

TAS.1943.8.xx

"Peregrine" [Sharland, Michael S. R.]. (1943). Tasmanian Tiger Still Roams Mountain Wilderness (Peregrine's Nature Notes). The Mercury, Saturday, 9 October, p. 13.

TAS.1944.3.xx #1

Charles Spencer's sighting in the Styx Valley:

"Tasmanian Tiger Seen In Styx River Valley

Mr Charles Spencer, of Fitzgerald, reports having seen a fine specimen of the Tasmanian tiger in the Styx River Valley about five miles from Kalista, at the terminus of the Derwent Valley line.

Mr Spencer says the tiger was beautifully marked and would measure at least 6ft from tip to tip. Mr. Spencer, who is an experienced bushman, was engaged cutting a track from the Styx to the Franklin range, and had a good opportunity of seeing the animal. It was not aware of his presence until he spoke, and then it only went leisurely away.

Mr Spencer also states that he saw the tracks of a female tiger with cubs at Adamsfield last March. In the days when there was a price on the head of the tiger, Mr Spencer had considerable experience in hunting it in the Swansea district. It is now very scarce."

Sources:

Anonymous. (1944). Tasmanian Tiger Seen In Styx River Valley. The Mercury, Friday, 10 March, p. 10.

Anonymous. (1944). Saw Tasmanian Tiger. Army News (Darwin), Saturday, 11 March, p. 2.

Anonymous. (1944). Tas. Tiger Found. Sunday Mail, Sunday, 12 March, p. 3.

Anonymous. (1944). Large Tiger Seen. Guinea Gold, Sunday, 12 March, p. 2.

Anonymous. (1944). Tasmanian Tiger Seen. Tweed Daily, Monday, 13 March, p. 2.

Anonymous. (1944). Tasmanian Tiger Seen At Styx. Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser, Monday, 13 March, p. 3.

Anonymous. (1944). Tasmanian Tiger Is Not Extinct. Daily Examiner, Monday, 13 March, p. 2.

Anonymous. (1944). Tasmanian tiger reappears. The Victorian Naturalist 61: 44.

TAS.1944.xx.xx #2-6

Trooper G. Billing, two sightings and three sets of footprints on different occasions:

Anonymous. (1944). Tasmanian Tiger In Waratah District. The Mercury, Wednesday, 21 June, p. 5.

TAS.1944.xx.xx #7

"a road patrol on the Cardigan River in the west was cutting through a felled tree when a young tiger bounded out of the hollow butt and made off with a hoarse cry."

Source: Graves, Kathleen E. (1958). The Rarest Animal in the World. Walkabout 24(4): 15-16.

TAS.1945.xx.xx

Ian Rist commented the following:

"Uncle Jim saw two half grown thylacine pups run into an old wombat burrow in 1945 out on a place called Romney Marsh on the Hatfield River."

Source: Bailey, Col. (2006). Tiger photos - the real story. Tasmanian Times, 25 April.

TAS.1945/46.xx.xx #1-3

"David Fleay collected some firsthand stories and found tracks on Franklin Hill and Poverty Plain in 1945."

Source: https://www.alpfmedical.info/freshwater-monster/thylacine.html

"Then in 1945 Mr David Fleay of Healesville, Victoria, took a well-equipped party for four months into the west. The sole evidence they brought back was a photograph of the imprint of a paw, considered to be a tiger’s, in a muddy hollow on a button-grass plain between the Loddon River and Lake St Clair, and a report of hearing a hoarse creaking bark in the bush one night. "

Source: Graves, Kathleen E. (1958). The Rarest Animal in the World. Walkabout 24(4): 15-16.

TAS.1946.c7.xx

Tracks found by Mr. Ernest Bond:

"About fourt months ago I saw their tracks"

Source: "Peregrine"'[Sharland, Michael S. R.]. (1946). Tiger tracks in Rasselas. The Mercury (Hobart), Saturday, 16 November, p. 6S.

TAS.1946.11.xx

Tracks found by Mr. Ernest Bond:

"and again last week I saw the track of a fully grown 'tiger' within half a mile of my house ["Gordon Vale", Rasselas Valley]"

Source: "Peregrine"'[Sharland, Michael S. R.]. (1946). Tiger tracks in Rasselas. The Mercury (Hobart), Saturday, 16 November, p. 6S.

TAS.1946.xx.xx #1

David Fleay's thylacine hair from a trap.

Anonymous. (1946). Tasmanian Tiger Expedition Fails. Advocate, Friday, 22 March, p. 2.

Anonymous. (1946). Search for "Tigers". Advocate, Thursday, 28 March, p. 6.

TAS.1946.xx.xx #2

A thylacine stalked Basil Steer's camp.

Source: Steers, Basil. (1991). There was not a hunter has ever lived who has chucked a good possum away, pp. ?-?. What’s the Land For; People’s
Experiences of Tasmania’s Central Plateau. Volume 6. Central Plateau Oral History Project, Hobart.

TAS.1947.4.xx

"WHILE clearing a power-line over the range between the Russell and Denison valleys recently, a Tasmanian "tiger" was seen by Mr A. A. Woolley and Mr B. Thorpe, of Huonville. The men were in lightly scrubbed timber about 7 am when they saw the animal. "We were walking along together," said Mr Woolley, "when we noticed a wallaby apparently being hunted by some animal. "A grizzly-greyish coloured animal with stripes on the hinder part of its back, intent on following its prey, passed within 20 yards of us.""

Source: Anonymous. (1947). Tasmanian Tiger Seen By Two Bushmen. The Mercury, Tuesday, 1 April, p. 2.

Anonymous. (1947). Saw Tasmanian Tiger Hunting A Wallaby. The Herald (Melbourne), Wednesday, 2 April, p. 3.

"The first confirmed report for a long time of the continued existence of a Tasmanian "tiger" comes from two Huonville men, A. A. Woolley and B. Thorpe. They claim that while walking along the range between Russell and Denison Valleys, in the south-west, they noticed excitement among wallabies, which apparently were being hunted by some animal. Soon afterwards the "tiger" passed within 20 yards of them. The marsupial wolf, or thylacine, commonly known as Tasmanian tiger, is almost extinct."

Source: Anonymous. (1947). Tasmanian Tiger Reported Again. Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA), Tuesday, 29 April, p. 7.

“During April 1947, while clearing a power line over the range between the Russell and Dennison valleys, a Tasmanian tiger was claimed to have been seen by Messrs. A. A. Woolley and B. Thorpe, of Huonville. The men were in lightly scrubbed timber about 7 a.m. when they saw it. It was tracking a wallaby, which passed within 20 yards of them.”

Source: Anonymous. (1949). "Phantom" Animal May Be Tasmanian Tiger. Wednesday, 1 June, p. 5.

"In April 1947, while clearing a power line over the rangebetween the Russell and Denison rivers, Messrs A. A. Woolley and B. Thorpe, of Huonville, saw 'a grizzly-grey animal with stripes on the hinder part of its back, intent on following a wallaby'. It passed within twenty yards of them." (p. 7)

May instead of April according to later reports:

Anonymous. (1948). Tiger's Tracks Seen; Devil Trapped.The Mercury, Thursday, 2 December, p. 4.

Anonymous. (1949). Huon Resident Claims To See Tasmanian Tiger. The Mercury, Friday, 18 February, p. 23.

TAS.1947.7.7

Anonymous. (1947). Native Tiger Seen. The Mercury, Saturday, 19 July, p. 10.

Anonymous. (1947). Survey Party Saw Tiger. Advocate, Saturday, 19 July, p. 2.

TAS.c1947.xx.xx

Williams, J. H. (1952). Tasmanian Tiger (letter to the editor). Examiner, Wednesday, 13 August, p. 2.

TAS.1948.10.5

Mr. D. A. Hughes:

Anonymous. (1948). May Mean "Tiger" Not Extinct. Advocate, Friday, 10 September, p. 9.

Anonymous. (1948). Tiger May Not Be Extinct. The Mercury, Friday, 10 September, p. 4.

TAS.1948.11.xx

"Mr and Mrs T. Gregg, of Tunbridge, reported in November 1948 that they saw an animal answering to the description of a Tiger on the Swansea road about twenty-five miles from Campbell Town. They first saw it in the distance crossing the road, and as it could not get through the fence they drove right up alongside it and identified it before it struggled between the wires." (p. 7)

TAS.1948.12.15

Mr. C. W. Lyster:

"Two animals, believed to be the rare Tasmanian tigers, were seen by a Victorian visitor from the Midland Highway near Antill Ponds about dusk last Wednesday.

The visitor, Mr. C. W. Lyster, was riding a bicycle from Launceston to Hobart. He said last night that about 100 or 200 yards beyond the 58-mile peg, and about 100 yards from the road on the left side, he saw the two animals. They were about the size of greyhounds and as soon as they became aware of his presence they made off. Although it was dusk, Mr. Lyster said he could see the stripes on the hind portion of the animals."

Sources:

Anonymous. (1948). Two Tigers Believed Seen In Midlands. The Mercury, Tuesday, 21 December, p. 13.

Barnabas. (1948). The Passing Show. Tweed Daily, Tuesday, 28 December, p. 2.

TAS.1948.xx.xx #1

Mr. H. A. Woolley:

Anonymous. (1948). Tiger's Tracks Seen; Devil Trapped.The Mercury, Thursday, 2 December, p. 4.

Anonymous. (1948). Tracks of rare Tas. tiger seen. News (Adelaide), Thursday, 2 December, p. 3.

December according to: Anonymous. (1949). Huon Resident Claims To See Tasmanian Tiger. The Mercury, Friday, 18 February, p. 23.

TAS.1948.xx.xx #2

"In 1948 a prospector reported that he saw the undoubted tracks of a Thylacine in the Frenchman's Cape-Jane River area of the west coast of Tasmania."

Source: Anonymous. (1953). Will He Become Extinct? Chronicle (Adelaide), Thursday, 29 October, p. 34.

Fleay, David. (1953). Has the remarkable marsupial wolf finally become extinct? The Courier-Mail (Brisbane), Wednesday, 1 July, p. 7.

TAS.1948.xx.xx #3

"About this time [i.e. 1948] Mr Wally Donne reported to the Animals and Birds Protection Board that he had seen a Tiger on the Coles Bay road near Swansea. The Board sent its chief game inspector to investigate but he could obtain no confirmation." (p. 7)

TAS.1948.xx.xx #4

"A survey party working near Derwent Bridge reported having seen one at Laughing Jack Marsh in the same year [i.e. 1948]. It was described as being brownish-grey, but the stripes on the back were not visible at the distance, about two hundred yards. In the snow on the marsh large footprints were observed, while in the water that lay on the marsh a number of wild duck were seen, and it was thought that the Tiger was stalking the birds when disturbed." (p. 7)

TAS.1949.1/2.xx

Mr. J. H. Lovell:

Anonymous. (1949). Huon Resident Claims To See Tasmanian Tiger. The Mercury, Friday, 18 February, p. 23.

Anonymous. (1949). "Strange Animal Making Queer Noises" Eludes Searchers. The Mercury, Wednesday, 23 March, p. 4.

Anonymous. (1949). "Phantom" Animal May Be Tasmanian Tiger. Wednesday, 1 June, p. 5.

TAS.1949.2.15

Trooper Arthur Leonard Fleming:

"Mr. Fleming said it was possible that the 72 sheep drowned on the property of Mr. L. A. Hall on February 15 were stampeded into the Huon River by a tiger."

Source: Anonymous. (1949). "Phantom" Animal May Be Tasmanian Tiger. Wednesday, 1 June, p. 5.

"Residents believe that it recently stampeded 72 sheep into the Huon River."

Source: Anonymous. (1949). Tasmanian tiger seen? News (Adelaide), Thursday, 2 June, p. 20.

TAS.1949.5?.xx

Mr. R. Vince and Mr. F. Woods:

Source: Anonymous. (1949). "Phantom Animal" In Huon Seen Again. The Mercury, Thursday, 26 May, p. 7.

Anonymous. (1949). "Phantom" Animal May Be Tasmanian Tiger. Wednesday, 1 June, p. 5.

TAS.1949.xx.xx #1

Maynard and Gordon writing:

"The following is an extract from a detailed story presented to the QVMAG in 1999 by a lady [Val] who wished to remain anonymous. The full report relates to her father's encounter with a thylacine, and includes a map with the location of the attack and the address where the carcass is buried."

Val writing:

"My father was a bushman. One night he arrived home, he was both upset and excited. He put his sugar bag down on the floor and pulled a dead animal from it. It was still warm. He said 'I have never seen anything like this before'. He then went on to say that as he was on his way home from work, the animal had attacked him and no matter how hard he tried to get away from it, it just would not let him get away, so he was forced to kill it with a piece of wood to save his life. This upset him very much as he did not like to kill animals unless it was for food. However, his excitement grew as we looked and touched this strange animal. It had sloped hindquaters. Although it looked like a dog-type animal it had differences. Its jaw was long instead of round it looked a little squarer; across its body it had stripes. My father had brought home a Tasmanian tiger. It evidently had pups although he searched for two days he could not find them. Its mate could have taken them and hidden them. The Tasmanian tiger was buried in our garden and the year was 1949. The area that was being felled for timber almost to the upper Natone, Hampshire boundary." (p. 98)

Source: Maynard, David and Gordon, Tammy. (2014). Tasmanian Tiger: Precious Little Remains. Launceston: Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. 127 pp.

TAS.1949.xx.xx #2

Mr. Jack Oates, was the first to sight the creature:

Anonymous. (1949). "Strange Animal Making Queer Noises" Eludes Searchers. The Mercury, Wednesday, 23 March, p. 4.

Anonymous. (1949). Further Evidence Of "Phantom" Animal. The Mercury, Monday, 4 April, p. 8.

"Jack Oates, an experienced bushman, was the first to see the animal. It jumped up five feet in front of him. 'It scared me stiff,' he said. 'It had a big head, and a broad, white chest."

Hawker, Denis. (1949). Is "Tiger" On Prowl Again? Chronicle (Adelaide), Thursday, 21 July, p. 20.

TAS.1949.xx.xx #3

Mrs. Lovell heard it:

Anonymous. (1949). "Strange Animal Making Queer Noises" Eludes Searchers. The Mercury, Wednesday, 23 March, p. 4.

TAS.1949.xx.xx #4

"Mrs. E. Bennett also heard the animal after a dog gave two short barks outside her house and ran towards the back door. Mrs. Bennett said she opened the window and heard "a roaring, growling sound." Her husband went outside with a gun and light but found not traces of' the nocturnal intruder."

Source: Anonymous. (1949). "Strange Animal Making Queer Noises" Eludes Searchers. The Mercury, Wednesday, 23 March, p. 4.

TAS.1949.xx.xx #5

Mr. F. M. Knop, orchardist, found the creatures bed:

Anonymous. (1949). Further Evidence Of "Phantom" Animal. The Mercury, Monday, 4 April, p. 8.

TAS.194X?.xx.xx

Williams, J. H. (1952). Tasmanian Tiger (letter to the editor). Examiner, Wednesday, 13 August, p. 2.

TAS.1950.xx.xx #1

"A little less than two years ago one was seen in the headlights of a car on the Corinna-Waratah road."

Source: "Peregrine" [Sharland, Michael S. R.]. (1952). The Search for "Tiger". The Mercury, Saturday, 26 July, p. 15.

TAS.1950.xx.xx #2

"Local bushmen think the rarer Tasmanian tiger may still exist behind Bermuda, as tracks resembling those made by them have been seen by hunters."

Anonymous. (1950). Devils Still Inhabit Upper Huon. The Mercury, Tuesday, 3 October, p. 7.

TAS.1951.xx.xx #1

"Last year, one was recorded out from Ellendale towards the Florentine River"

Source: "Peregrine" [Sharland, Michael S. R.]. (1952). The Search for "Tiger". The Mercury, Saturday, 26 July, p. 15.

"in 1951 two tigers were seen by bushmen camping in the Florentine Valley"

Source: Graves, Kathleen E. (1958). The Rarest Animal in the World. Walkabout 24(4): 15-16.

TAS.1951.xx.xx #2

"another was seen very positively hunting kangaroo in the south-western part of the State."

Source: "Peregrine" [Sharland, Michael S. R.]. (1952). The Search for "Tiger". The Mercury, Saturday, 26 July, p. 15.

Source: Graves, Kathleen E. (1958). The Rarest Animal in the World. Walkabout 24(4): 15-16.

TAS.1951?.xx.xx

"About two years ago, accompanied by Mr. J. Riseley, he saw a Tasmanian tiger just after it had freed itself from a wallaby snare. "It was close enough for us to realise that it was a tiger," he said. "We had a good view of the animal, which had stripes across its hind quarters. "When we arrived at the snare, it was still wet where the animal had chewed it through.""

Source: Anonymous. (1953). Claims Native Tigers Inhabit Glen Huon Bush. The Mercury, Saturday, 7 February, p. 7.

TAS.1952.2/3.xx

"TWO Hamilton residents, Tpr. W. Chequer and the schoolmaster, Mr. M. Dwyer, believe they have discovered the haunt of a rare Tasmanian tiger, which they claim to have seen on Monday.

The men were fishing near the head of the Florentine Valley. When walking along a rough track, through thick bush at the junction of the Repulse and Derwent rivers, they saw an unusual animal ahead. At first the men thought it was a big cat, but when it jumped on a log about 30 yards ahead they had a good view of it. Mr. Dwyer said yesterday he had sent specimens of the tiger in the Tasmanian Museum. Markings on the back of the animal he saw on Monday were similar. The unusual gait of the animal also convinced the men of its identity. Trooper Chequer said he had described the animal to a number of men familiar with the bush. They agreed it was a Tasmanian tiger. He said the animal for some distance kept to the rough track they were following. After it jumped on a log, it disappeared into bush."

Source: Anonymous. (1952). Two Men Claim Sight Of Tiger. The Mercury, Wednesday, 5 March, p. 5.

See also: Anonymous. (1952). Thought they saw a tiger. The Mail (Adelaide), Saturdsay, 8 March, p. 48.

"While fishing near the head of the Florentine River in March 1952, Trooper W. Chequer and Mr M. Dwyer, both of Hamilton, saw an unusual animal, at first thought to be a big cat, but when it jumped on a log about thirty yards ahead they had a good view of it and reported it as being a Tiger." (p. 7)

TAS.1952.6/7.xx #1

"A few weeks ago a tiger was reported to have been seen on the road between Chudleigh and Sheffield, behind Mt. Roland, where it was evidently forced down by snow on the highlands."

Source: "Peregrine" [Sharland, Michael S. R.]. (1952). The Search for "Tiger". The Mercury, Saturday, 26 July, p. 15.

"a motorist on the unfrequented track behind Mount Roland, between Union Bridge and Sheffield, reported that he had seen a tiger crossing the road at night in the glare of his head lights."

Source: Graves, Kathleen E. (1958). The Rarest Animal in the World. Walkabout 24(4): 15-16.

TAS.1952.6/7.xx #2

"The Wild Irishman". (1952). Mole Creek "Wolf" (Public Opinion). Advocate, Monday, 14 July, p. 4.

"NEWS that a Tasmanian wolf, or tiger (or to give it a scientific name, Thylacine), was seen in the Mole Creek district on Magog Mountain, recently, will interest Scientists. Two motorists saw the animal as it stood in the lights of their car."

Anonymous. (1952). Australiana. The World's News (Sydney), Saturday, 13 September, p. 29.

TAS.1952.xx.xx #1-?

"Lately, reports from bushmen and forestry inspectors in the Florentine Valley say that they have caught glimpses of the strange, shy animal."

Source: Anonymous. (1952). Australiana. The World's News (Sydney), Saturday, 13 September, p. 29.\

Bushmen might refer to TAS.1952.2/3.xx, so that glimpses, although plural, might only refer to two sightings. But there is the posibility that more than two events are referred to, hence "#1-?".

TAS.1952.xx.xx #2

"in 1952 two hunters from Mathinna found a savage animal in one of their opossum traps which they described as having “black stripes from about the middle of its back to three inches down its tail”. So savage was it that they had to kill it to release the trap."

Source: Graves, Kathleen E. (1958). The Rarest Animal in the World. Walkabout 24(4): 15-16.

TAS.1953.1.13

"TWO motorists travelling from Hobart to Launceston last Tuesday night claim that a Tasmanian tiger bounded across the road between Tunbridge and Ross, about 30 yards in front of their car, and, in the full glare of their headlights. The motorists were Mr. S. E. Lade, of Launceston, and the chairman of Imperial Chemical industries of Australia (Dr. F. J. Meehan). Mr. Lade said the distinctive stripes of the animal were clearly seen. It had a long body and long tail, and bounded across the road from the east to the west in the direction of Interlaken."

Source: Anonymous. (1953). Tasmanian Tiger On Highway? The Mercury, Tuesday, 20 January, p. 5.

TAS.1953.3.23

Original reporting:

Anonymous. (1953). Tasmanian Tiger Killed at South Springfield. Caught in Rabbit Trap. North-Eastern Advertsier, Friday 27 March, front page.

Anonymous. (1953b). Tasmanian Tiger Caught in Trap. The Mercury, Saturday, 28 March, front page.

Anonymous. (1953c). Rare Tasmanian Tiger Found, Believed Killed. The Sunday Herald (Sydney), Sunday, 29 March, p. 1.

Miles, Geo W. (1953). Public Opinion (Letters to the Editor). Advocated (Tasmania), Thursday, 16 April, p. 4.

Historical perspective:

"Then in August retired trapper Bert Maher, 61, broke a 36-year silence about the day he captured and killed a tiger in 1953, 17 years after the Hobart Zoo tiger had died.

Mr Maher said the incident was hushed up by a fauna board inspector at the time because the officer feared "all the lunatics in the State" would head for the area looking for one.

Mr Maher's trapping was reported in a local newspaper, the North-Eastern Advertiser, but nothing more was written about it because the Tasmanian Animal and Birds Protection Board intervened and confiscated the tiger's skin, claiming the animal was actually a tiger cat."

Source: Mealey, Elisabeth. (1989). New hunt for the [...?]. The Sun-Herald, 22 October, p. 18.

"The former rabbit trapper believes he captured and killed a thylacine in northeastern Tasmanian in 1953.

While authorities told him it was not a thylacine, he wonders why the skin was taken from him and never returned.

Bert Maher was a 28-year-old rabbit trapper in 1953, working at the edge of the forests around South Springfield when an animal started chewing the heads of the rabbits that lay in Mr. Maher’s traps.

Mr. Maher set a special trap for what he expected to be a dog.

Sure enough, one Monday morning before light, he across what sounded like a dog struggling in the trap.

Without a gun, he clubbed the animal over the head with a branch and took it home in a chaff bag before dawn and skinned it."

Source: Konkes, Clarence. (2003). Tiger trail tells tale. Tasmanian Courier, Friday, 23 May, back page.

TAS.1953.xx.xx #1

Sources:

Anonymous. (1953). Thylacine tracks found, cast. The Mercury (Hobart), Monday 12 January, p. 6.

SKYLINE, no 4. Annual Magazine, year 1953, by LAUNCESTON Walking Club

TAS.1953.xx.xx#2

"The e-mail also detailed how the sender had snared a 1m-long thylacine at Nabowla in 1953. "I laid him out with a dropper off a fence and was putting him into a bag when he came to and got away. I had him by the tail, and I lost my grip when he tried to bite me... I was 14 years old.""

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.1953.xx.xx #3

"The discussion arose after Mr. N. E. McIntyre reported on the trapping of an animal on Blue Tier, in the north-east, by Mr. P. Le Fevre. Mr. Le Fevre had said he had snared an animal, a little larger than a sheep dog, with heavily built forelegs and shoulders. It was a mousy colour with darker stripes across the hind-quarters and tail. When the trapped animal was approached it became very ferocious, snapped the snare, and escaped into the heavy bush. Board members said they felt "reasonably sure" that the animal seen by Mr. Le Fevre was a Tasmanian tiger."

Source: Anonymous. (1953). Could Accomodate Tasmn. Tiger In City Park. Examiner, Thursday, 17 September, p. 8.

TAS.1953.xx.xx #4

"Definite tracks of five thylacenes [sic] are said to have been discovered in this district - two of the tracks appearing to be those of large animals. The other three were smaller in size, indicating that they may have been cubs."

Source: Anonymous. (1953). They Looked In Wrong Place For Tas. Tigers. Examiner, Saturday, 19 September, p. 4.

TAS.1953.xx.xx #5-c.20/25

"Trappers in the area are said to set up to 1500 snares at a time and several hundred of baits in them have been taken. Though in most instances these are known to have been taken by other fauna, there is reason to believe that on 15 or 20 occasions a tiger was responsible. This belief is based on the fact that these baits have been taken in one j bite, whereas usually they are gnawed."

Source: Anonymous. (1953). They Looked In Wrong Place For Tas. Tigers. Examiner, Saturday, 19 September, p. 4.

TAS.1954.3/4.xx

Motorist near Sawnsea:

Vigilant. (1954). Interest In Tasmania's Mystery Animal (Day by Day). The Mercury, Friday, 9 April, p. 4.

Anonymous. (1954). Motorist reports Tasmanian tiger. The Herald, Saturday, 10 April, p. 13.

Anonymous. (1954). Tasmanian tiger may still exist. Weekly Times, Wednesday, 14 April, p. 3.

TAS.1954.6.xx

"Mr. Herbert McKinlay, of Hobart, who drives a freighting lorry between Hobart and Queenstown, said he saw a Tasmanian tiger on Mt. Arrowsmith beyond Derwent Bridge in the headlights of his vehicle about 2 a.m. He said the tiger was clearly marked and he was certain it was a true specimen."

Source: Anonymous. (1954). Tiger And White Deer Seen. The Mercury, Wednesday, 9 June, p. 5.

"In June of the same year [i.e. 1954] Herbert McKinlay, driver of a West Coast freighter, travelling between Hobart and Queenstown at night, stated that a Tiger crossed the road in the glare of the headlights close to Mt Arrowsmith—another likely place" (p. 7-8)

TAS.1954.8.xx

"A RARE Tasmanian tiger was sighted in daylight on the road between Corinna and Waratah recently.

The directer of the Tasmanian Museum (Dr. W. Bryden) said yesterday that the almost extinct marsupial had been seen by Mr. and Mrs. Peter Upcher, of Dover. It was the third time in eight months that a tiger had been sighted in that area, Dr. Bryden said. Mr. and Mrs. Upcher were driving along the road shortly before sunset when the tiger crossed the thoroughfare at a slow, ambling pace."

Source: Anonymous. (1954). Tasmanian Tiger Seen In West. The Mercury, Thursday, 19 August, p. 20.

"ALTHOUGH many years have elapsed since a specimen of the rare Tasmanian tiger has been captured, the sighting of one by Esperance's Deputy Warden (Mr. P. R. Upcher) and Mrs. Upcher while motoring between Waratah and Corinna recently revives the question of the possibility of an expedition capturing one of the almost extinct marsupials. A colleague says the Upchers told him that they had an excellent view of the animal, which was ambling around a bend in the road only 15 yds. ahead of them, about sunset. They claim that there was no mistaking the tiger because of its colouring and the well defined stripes on its back. The animal disappeared into thick scrubby country containing no tall trees. Mr. and Mrs. Upcher said they saw a wealth of wild life - and prey for the tiger - including many kangaroo and wallaby, various species of opossum and badgers."

Source: Vigilant. (1954). Tiger (Day by Day). The Mercury, Friday, 20 August, p. 4.

"a motorist on the forest road between Waratah and Corinna late one afternoon saw a tiger so close that he could distinguish the stripes on its back."

Source: Graves, Kathleen E. (1958). The Rarest Animal in the World. Walkabout 24(4): 15-16.

"In August 1954, Mr and Mrs P. Upcher, of Dover, stated they had seen what they believed to be a Tiger on the road between Waratah and Corinna—a likely place. Their description certainly fitted the Tiger." (p. 7)

TAS.1954.xx.xx #1-2

Therefore two previous sightings:

"It was the third time in eight months that a tiger had been sighted in that [Corinna-Waratah] area"

Source: Anonymous. (1954). Tasmanian Tiger Seen In West. The Mercury, Thursday, 19 August, p. 20.

TAS.c1956.xx.xx

Dennis Sayers (then Dimitrio Szyszka) had an encounter with a thylacine in around 1956, as recounted to me by his son John Sayers:

"After World War II, my father emigrated to Australia from Austria. After living in Melbourne for a time we, my father, my mother Eva, brother Peter, sister Anne and I, moved to Upper Castra in the north-west of Tasmania down from the coast, south of Ulverstone. My father was employed by the Forestry Commission to look after a pine plantation. We lived in a little one room shack complete with a chimney. We would sometimes have to use newspapers to plug holes to prevent the wind from coming through. There was only a little track since there were only two other families in the area at the time in around 1956, and even now only 77 people living there today.

One night my father heard a noise outside the shack. Grabbing his shotgun he went outside and says he saw a dog-like animal with stripes, a creature unlike anything he had ever seen then or since. He shot at it but doesn't know whether he hit it, although as he fought in the war he was a pretty good shot so it is very possible that he did. But looking around the next morning he didn't find a body, so perhaps he missed it or it managed to get away before dying somewhere else.

I don't remember the incident at the time, I must have been around 10, but I used to drive him back to the area frequently and on one occasion he told me the story."

TAS.1957.1.2

"THE FIRST LIVE TASMANIAN TIGER to be seen for 27 years has been spotted from a helicopter. It was seen late on Wednesday by Captain Jim Ferguson, co-pilot of the Australian National Airways helicopter, now based at Queenstown, Tasmania. The Tasmanian tiger is one of the most elusive creatures in the animal world, and was thought to have died out. Capt. Ferguson, with his flight engineer Mr. Les Taylor, and Mr. M. Solomon, a geologist with Mount Lyell Mining Company, were flying slowly home along the beach at Birthday Bay, 35 miles south-west of Queenstown, at a height of 30ft., when they saw a tawny, tiger-striped "dog" trotting along the beach. Realising it was no dog, Captain Ferguson whirled round and flew over the animal again - it WAS a Tasmanian tiger. Speaking from Queenstown last night, he said: "We had a very clear view of the tiger for about two minutes. "We have closely examined the natural history books here, and pictures, and we are convinced it was a tiger.""

Source: Anonymous. (1957). ...And Now A Copter Finds Tasmania's "Lost" Tiger. The Argus (Melbourne), Friday, 4 January, p. 1.

See also: Anonymous. (1957). Yes, That Odd Animal Is A Tassie Tiger. The Argus (Melbourne), Saturday, 5 January, p. 5.

TAS.1957.4.xx

North-east of the state, only a few kilometres west from another 1957 sighting (TAS.1957.xx.xx).

"And the last report came in the newspapers in April last year from a man who said that he had seen what he thought was a tiger slip over the sand-dunes at the mouth of the Little Piper River on the north coast. "

Source: Graves, Kathleen E. (1958). The Rarest Animal in the World. Walkabout 24(4): 15-16.

TAS.1957.8/9.xx

Guiler, Eric Rowland and Meldrum, G. K. (1958). Suspected sheep killing by the Thylacine, Thylacinus cynocephalus. Australian Journal of Science 20: 214-215.

Guiler, Eric Rowland and Godard, Philippe. (1998). Tasmanian Tiger: A Lesson to be Learnt. Perth, Western Australia: Abrolhos Publishing. 256 pp.

TAS.1957.xx.xx

A report from the Waterhouse Protected Area (WPA) in the north-east of the state, which extends from Bridport to Tomahwak.

"No previous surveys of mammals in the WPA area are known and only two species of mammal were listed on the TASPAWS Biological Records Scheme as being present in the reserve. One was a record of the Tasmanian devil and the other was an alleged but unconfirmed sighting in 1957 of the now considered extinct Tasmanian thylacine." (p. 24)

Source: Holdsworth, M. C. and Bryant, S. L. (eds.). (1995). A biological survey of the Waterhouse area, northeast Tasmania. Wildlife Branch Report No. 95/5. Parks and Wildlife Service, Tasmania.

TAS.1958.1.xx

"In January 1958, I was fortunate enough to be a member of a small walking party travelling from Port Davey to Maydena in south-western Tasmania... As we passed through one of these areas of rain-forest, about half a day's walk south of the Huon Crossing, our attention was caught by footprints in the mud, which was just the right consistency to hold them nicely. By careful observation we could reconstruct the night's activities. Here and there were tracks of a wallaby passing on to new grass. Later had come a big wombat, her hind feet making tracks absurdly like those of a human toddler. Superimposed on these were the tracks of a tiny little wombat which had had a job to climb up the steep places after its mother. Some time later had come an animal with feet the size of a large dog's, and resembling them, but with decided differences. All four toes pointed forward, and the claws were almost level with each other. The pads also differed in shape from those of a dog, the hind pads being much longer. Nothing had followed in the tracks of this creature. Later we found similar tracks north of the Huon Crossing, also in the rain-forest, only about fourteen miles from Maydena. Now the only way across the Huon is by a tree that has been felled for the purpose, so it seems likely that the tracks we saw were made by two individual animals.

What were they? The tracks were too big for "devils", and the only possibility seemed to be "tigers". I sent a photograph of a print to Dr. Eric Guiler, of the Zoology Department, University of Tasmania. He replied as follows: "It is a thylacine footprint, the arrangement of the toes and pad being quite characteristic. Your photo shows this quite clearly." It is to be regretted that I had no plaster of paris with me to make a cast of a print, and Dr. Guiler has some advice on this: "Scrounge around your dentist's rooms and get some dental impression plaster. This stuff sets in one and a half minutes, even in rain. Ordinary plaster of paris takes twenty minutes or more and can be an absolute pest. But remember, mix and pour the dental plaster quickly and make it fairly sloppy."" (p. 69-70)

Source: Muir, E. Colline. (1961). Tracks of the Thylacine. Victorian Naturalist 78: 69-70.

TAS.1959.6.xx.

"In June 1959 Sergeant McIntyre, a field officer for the Animals and Birds Protection Board, was sent to investigate a 'sighting' in the Trowutta district, on the North-West Coast. Two bushmen had reported seen a Tiger about seven miles south of the Trowutta mill. This was likely country, remote and lightly settled, and what made the report more significant was the fact that the place was only five miles from where the last known Tiger was shot by a Mr Batty in 1930. However, Sergeant McIntyre was unable to confirm the animal's existence. This was not surprising in view of the heavily wooded nature of the country." (p. 8)

TAS.1959.xx.xx

"Eric Guiler leads a search in the far north-west, an area which produced many bounties and finds what appeared to be thylacine footprints."

Source: https://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=4765

TAS.195X.xx.xx #1

A sighting made by Charles Denison 'Deny' King?:

"They say that a Tasmanian tiger was seen in this stand of trees in the 1950s, a couple of decades after the last known example died in captivity. But that, I'm afraid, is another story, for another time."

Source: http://www.storytellerspinks.com/fieldguide/14044806

TAS.195X.xx.xx #2

"Pat Wessing tells Jamie that she saw a thylacine on the Central Plateau in the 1950s; ‘a poor raggedy old thing’ she says."

Source: Kirkpatrick, James "Jamie" Barrie. (2017). Conservation Worrier. Hobart: De Press Inc. 277 pp.

TAS.195X.xx.xx #3

During a press conference pertaining to the Booth Richardson Thylacine Team (BRT Team) alleged thylacine footage (TAS.2016.xx.xx), BRT Team member Joe Booth claimed to have seen a thylacine near Ellendale in the mid-1950's.

TAS.195X.xx.xx #4-6

I take "several" to represent at least three sightings:

"A family in the Raglan Range, on the West Coast, believe they saw tigers on several occasions in the late 1950's."

Source: Terry, Anne. (1968). Extinct or not, interest remains in our tiger. The Weekender, Saturday, 19 October, p. ?.

TAS.195X?.xx.xx #1

"Herb Pearce, a bushman renowned for catching tigers, was interview in the 1950's by Eric Guiler. In one interview, Pearce confided in Guiler that he had flushed a female thylacine and her three pups from a patch of tree ferns "about five years ago". Pearce told Guiler that "he turned his dogs on them", but dodged the issue as to whether the tigers were killed. Guiler suspected that they were. The area where this incident occurred is now flooded as part of Lake King William."

Source: http://www.naturalworlds.org/thylacine/history/extvssurv/extinction_vs_survival_12.htm

TAS.195X?.xx.xx #2

Anne, 9, saw a thylacine half hidden in vegetation and eating something.

Source:

TAS.1960.xx.xx #1

"The e-mail also revealed a sighting on the Bridgenorth Rd in 1960."

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.1960.xx.xx #2

A sighting by the author of the article:

"I clearly saw a thylacine in the bright headlights of my Humber Hawk, on the road between Queenstown and Roseberry at about 1.00am when I was returning home from a dance in 1960"

Source: Woods, Geoff. (1998). Tassie's First Tiger Bar. Western Tiers, Tuesday, 17 February, p. 1-2.

TAS.1961.5.xx

A possible thylacine den in a cave.

Source: Guiler, Eric Rowland and Godard, Philippe. (1998). Tasmanian Tiger: A Lesson to be Learnt. Perth, Western Australia: Abrolhos Publishing. 256 pp. [p. 200]

TAS.1961.8.[12?]

"A more recent story comes from the West Coast near the Arthur River and it has some unusual features. Bill Morrison and Laurie Thompson reported that on 12 August 1961 they were camping in a hut on the coast while fishing. One night they heard a noise as if some animal was trying to reach a bucket of fish bait left outside. Thompson got up and picked up a piece of wood to drive away whatever was there. In the darkness he saw the shape of some animal at the bait. He ran at it and struck it with the baton he carried. It disappeared in the darkness, but next morning the men found what they said was a young male Tiger stretched out dead not far from the hut.

The obvious question was, what did they do with the corpse? An answer found in Fauna Board records is believed to be the true explanation. They reported they had put the corpse in the hut, intending to take it out with them when they had finished their fishing and produce it for examination at a museum; but on returning to their camp from another fishing trip they found the corpse missing. Apparently in their absence some person had entered the hut and stolen it! The men were upset about the disappearance of so valuable a piece of evidence and reported the matter as soon as they got home. Meanwhile, looking for traces round the hut, they found samples of hair and some dry blood in the sand. These they collected carefully and sent them to Hobart for expert analysis. The Fauna Board arranged for the examination to be made and later reported that both hair and blood referred to a Tiger and nothing else. Since then the Board's field officers have turned detectives and are still trying to locate that valuable corpse which they believe is still in existence but being hushed-up." (p. 8-9)

See also: Guiler, Eric Rowland and Godard, Philippe. (1998). Tasmanian Tiger: A Lesson to be Learnt. Perth, Western Australia: Abrolhos Publishing. 256 pp.

TAS.1964.11.6

"A SOUTH FOREST man saw what is believed to have been the elusive Tasmanian Tiger near Sisters Creek early on Friday morning.

It was seen by Mr. Cyril Burns near the Sisters Creek Hall as he was driving home in drizzling rain about 2 a.m. Mr. Burns said last night the animal looked t be a cross between a greyhound and a whippet dog in size and had the characteristic wolf-like head. Its tail, unlike that of ordinary dogs, was extended stick-like from the body. He said the animal was walkign diagonally across the road, facing the car, towards a cleared paddock on the other side. "The beast came into my headlight beam just as I came over a slight hill," Mr. Burns said. "It didn't even look round at the lights and just continued trotting towards the side of the road. I slowed down to about 30 m.p.h. and missed him by about half the road. "That animal I saw on Friday was a Tiger, and I mean it," he said."

Source: Examiner, Tiger sighting?, 9 November, 1964 [text available here]

TAS.1964.xx.xx

Glowie Lowe, commenting on the Tasmanian Tiger Archives Facebook group:

"in 1964, my father (bushman/sawmiller) and my brother saw one cross the road in front of them. dad was very excited when he got home,... Sthn Tasmania somewhere between Dover and Southport

...

when Dad & bro got home he asked me to sketch it as he described... which I did, dog head, broad jaw, front legs that appeared shorter than hind legs that appeared almost kangerooish, and of course that mandatory unusual tail with stripes.... Dad said yep that’s it....
Apparently it stepped onto the road from right to left, saw the vehicle and kicked off with a big leap, down the opposite bank... way back then there was a lot of wild terrain"

Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TasmanianTigerArchives/permalink/2297879843858147/?comment_id=2301389923507139

TAS.1966.1.x

"A COMMERCIAL traveller from Kingston claimed yesterday that he and three companions saw a Tasmanian tiger in the Goulds Country-Ansons Bay district one night last week.

He is Mr. Rex Stephens, who was accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gough, of Leonard Ave., Moonah, and their son, Paul. Mr. Stephens is emphatic that it was a Tasmanian tiger. He said yesterday that the party saw the tiger from a distance of 80 yards, but it was a bright moonlit night, "just like day." He said there could be no mistaking the animal. Although he could not see the tiger's characteristic markings, everything else pointed to it being a tiger similar to the one he had seen in the Launceston Museum. "It had very big hind legs and short front ones, and was the size of a tiger," Mr. Stephens said. "It was stalking a kangaroo. I could have shot it, but did not want to. It would have been a shame to have done so. We stood watching for two or three minutes. Then it seemed to sense us and took off into the bush." Mr. Stephens said he hoped to return to the locality in May in the hope of seeing the tiger again. Mr. Gough said that he lived in that district as a boy and had seen one tiger, about 1928, when only 3ft. away That also was at night. "If this one last week was not a tiger I would eat my hat," he said yesterday. "I knew it by its gait and by the distance it kept behind its prey that it was a tiger. They never get close to their victims until they are about to kill. This one was about a chain behind the kangaroo when we saw it," Mr. Gough added."

Source: The Mercury, Four say they saw a tiger, 22 January, 1966. [text available here]

TAS.1966.6.xx

A possible thylacine den discovered by Reuben Charles in an old boiler on the west coast of Tasmania:

Source: Guiler, Eric Rowland and Godard, Philippe. (1998). Tasmanian Tiger: A Lesson to be Learnt. Perth, Western Australia: Abrolhos Publishing. 256 pp. [p. 203]

"An old boiler on the Whyte River near Luina is found to contain what appears to be a recently used tiger lair. Dr Guiler investigates, collects hair samples which he later identifies as those of a thylacine. However, other samples taken at the same time are examined by Hans Brunner at the Keith Turnbull Research Station in Victoria and found to be inconsistent with those of a tiger." (p. 82)

The same publication (p. 79) contains a photograph of the boiler, with Jeremy Griffiths squatting down in front of it.

Source: Park, Andy. (1986). Tasmanian Tiger: Extinct or Merely Elusive? Australian Geographic 1(3): 66-83.

Also mentioned by: Anonymous. (1967). Alive still—but elusive. The Australian Women's Weekly, Wednesday, 10 May, p. 13.

TAS.1966.10.xx

"The Lower Barrington man who saw what he believed to be a Tasmanian tiger has appealed for it to be left alone. Mr Barry Brooks, a livestock auctioneer, was on a day trip with his wife and interstate relatives when he saw the tiger on the as yet unopened road between Cradle Mountain and the Murchinson Highway. The sighting was made about 10 days ago and has gone unreported since. Mr Brooks, 46, said he and Mrs Margaret Finlay, of South Australia, both saw the animal. Mr Brooks said that they were about 3/4 of the way to the highway when the tiger ran directly across the road in front of them about 200 metres away. He said the tiger appeared not to notice them and quickly disappeared into a thickly wooded area. "I knew it wasn't a dog. It's an earea where dogs aren't likely to be. Mrs Finlay said it was fox-sized with a straight tail," he said. Mr. Brooks also said that he could take experts to the place where he saw the animal, but a spokesman for the Lands, Parks and Wildlife Department said that it would be too late to find any tracks now. "I should have stopped and looked for footprints or something. Thinking back now I regret not stopping and taking a better look," said Mr Brooks. The sighting went unreported for 10 days, even after Mr Brooks mentioned the sighting to the Minister for Main Roads, Mr Ian Braid, who had given him permission to enter the area. ""He asked me a few questions about the area and the sighting. He showed a lot of interest but I left it up to him to tell the right people. I think if they are there they should be left alone. It would be nice to get a positive sighting though," he said. The last Tasmanian tiger held in captivity died at a Hobart zoo in 1936 and possible sightings of the elusive animal have continued ever since."

Source: The Mercury, Tiger spotter kept secret for 10 days, The Mercury, 9 November, 1966. [text available here]

TAS.1966.11.6

"A SOMERSET family believe they saw a young Tasmanian Tiger on Sunday afternoon in an area regarded as a traditional haunt for the almost extinct animal.

The Barnett family, of Simpson St., Somerset, were out for a Sunday afternoon drive and nearing Montagu Sawmp. Mrs. Barnett saw "this strange animal" running across the highway. "At first I thought it was a native cat," Mrs. Barnett said. As Les was talking to a friend I didn't say anything, but just as it was disappearing into the bush on the other side of the road he said, 'There's a tiger'." Mrs. Barnett said the animal was about the size of a cat but it had a straight tail and longer legs than a cat. It also had a pointed snout and moved more stiffly than a native cat. Her husband said he'd seen several tigers before and there was no doubt in his mind that this was one. Mrs. Barnett said the animal appeared on the right hand side of the highway as their car approached the edge of a cleared area. When they got home the family consulted an encyclopaedia. All agreed the animal they'd seen corresponded with the colour illustration of the Tasmanian Tiger."

Source: The Mercury, Young Tiger seen?, 9 November, 1966. [text available here]

TAS.1966.xx.xx

"Two years ago, a Mr. Don Mcl[?] was convinced he had seen one in the Togari district, North - Western Tasmania. He set a trap for it, but unfortunately the occurence gained too much publicity and interest and sightseers disturbed the trap."

Source: Terry, Anne. (1968). Extinct or not, interest remains in our tiger. The Weekender, Saturday, 19 October, p. ?.

TAS.1968.2.xx

"Another tiger was seen in February of this year, by Mr. Don Crowe, near Patersonia, North -Eastern Tasmania. Mr. Crowe said he recognised it because he had often seen tigers on his farm at Togari, 40 years ago. He believes there may be more tigers near Patersonia."

Source: Terry, Anne. (1968). Extinct or not, interest remains in our tiger. The Weekender, Saturday, 19 October, p. ?.

TAS.1968.8.xx

"The latest report is just two months old. Mr. E. Hooper, of Devonport, thinks he had found the lair of a tiger in the Central Highlands. The lair was definitely inhabited by a member of the canine family, but there was no discernible pad marks. Mr. Hooper said it could be a dog, but he thought this unlikely because dogs usually die in the winter snow.

The lair was on a ridge in rocky scrub country, but Mr. Hooper would give the exact location to no-one but the Animals and Birds Protection Board, for fear of "fortune hunters" disturbing the animal. Former chairman of the Animals and Birds Protection Board (Dr. E. R. Guiler), thinks that the inhabitant of the lair may be a dog, or a Tasmanian devil, but it would be worth looking into)."

Source: Terry, Anne. (1968). Extinct or not, interest remains in our tiger. The Weekender, Saturday, 19 October, p. ?.

TAS.c1968.xx.xx

Erwin Boot:

"my experience 50 years ago while living in Burnie. On a trip back from Marrawah and Redpa...The thylacine came from the southern side of the road, and walked into the right front of my car. It showed no sense of danger or peril. I had, at that stage, never seen any photos of the thylacine, but some years later, when the Mercury's the nature editor "Peregrine" published a photo of the last-known thylacine in the Hobart Zoo in a Saturday morning edition, I immediately recognised what I had killed a few years previously."

Source: Boot, Erwin. (2019). Thylacine sighting gives heart. The Mercury, Thursday, 17 October, p. [?].

TAS.196X.xx.xx #1

The following is a transcript of the caller Judith (Battery Point), who rang into the ABC Radio Hobart, during the Evenings program presented by Paul McIntyre, recorded and broadcast on Tuesday, 10 September, 2019. Thylacine researcher Gareth Linnard was being interviewed at the time of the call as part of the anniversary of the death of the last known thylacine (Beaumaris Zoo, Queen's Domain location):

[Paul McIntyre commenting that Judith saw a thylacine in Tasmanian during the early 1960's]

Yes, Paul and Garth (sic). We took, Oklahoma, a musical, that we did in Hobart. We took it up to Devonport. And we had a weekend in between so we had the Sunday off, and some people took a group of us, think there were about three of us, for a drive, on the Sunday. And umm, well, I know it sounds strange, but we all saw this thylacine come out of the, out of the, side of the road. Well out of the trees and so we stopped the car and got out and the person who was driving the car actually went to the back of the car to get a gun to shoot it but we stopped him. And we were making such a commotion of course that jolly thylacine went back into the wood. But we saw it, I mean not just one of us, we all saw it. And it would have been early 1960's I think.

[Paul McIntyre asks if this was outside of Devonport]

Yes.

[Paul McIntyre asks how big she recalls it being]

Oh, umm, a largish dog I would think

[Paul McIntyre asks about locmotion and behaviour]

No, it, it, well it wasn't fast. It just, it just came out slowly. And it didn't go back particularly fast either.

Source: https://www.abc.net.au/radio/hobart/programs/evenings/evenings/11476346 [audio starts at roughly 44:50]

TAS.196X.xx.xx #2

Rusty Morley's first thylacine encounter:

"Aged 15, the first tiger was in a bush and he had the opportunity to shoot it with a shotgun but did not. He approached the bush and the tiger gave what appears to be a threat-yawn before taking off."

Source: http://www.wherelightmeetsdark.com.au/examining-the-evidence/tasmanian-tiger-(thylacine)/adamsfield-thylacines/adamsfield-thylacine-identified/

TAS.1970.12.4

Allegedly there is a verified record of a living thylacine on 4 December 1970 within the Walls of Jerusalem area of central Tasmania. Contained within an official collection of documents relating to some kind of environmental assessment of that area.

Source: https://nre.tas.gov.au/Documents/RTI%20044%20-%202017-18%20-%20Active%20Disclosure%203.pdf#page=91

TAS.1970.xx.xx

"In 1970, a group of 6 well-respected people from a farming community in ther North-East were travelling one night between Launceston and Scottsdale when, at 12:30 am, an animal 'about the size of a sheep dog' loped slowly across the road in the car headlights, 'half trotting and half walking'. There were stripes around the butt of the tail, which 'was very thick at the base and carried straight off the body, unlike the tail of any other animal'. All of the party were familiar with native fauna and felt sure that the animal was not one they had seen before. They felt certain that it was a Tasmanian tiger, but did not report it immediately for fear of ridicule."

Source: Smith, Steven J. (1981). The Tasmanian Tiger - 1980: A report on an investigation of the current status of thylacine Thylacinus cynocephalus, funded by The World Wildlife Fund Australia. Wildt. Division Tech. Rep. 81/1. Hobart, Australia: National Parks and Wildlife Service. 133 pp.

TAS.c1970.xx.xx

Four witnesses, an elderly father (now deceased), two adult sons Bert (53) and Ron (age unknown), and a friend (now deceased). The following witness statements are those of the two brothers.

Bert:

"We were working out in the bush, about 1970, I think. It was when we were getting poles for the Hydro. We had knocked a whole lot of them down and were pulling them out. One of the trees still had its head on. The area had been burnt over some short time before, so there was almost no underbrush. Well, we went over to pull the head off the tree which was laying on the ground, when a Tiger, as slow as you please, just sort of loped, I guess, from under the limbs of the tree. He wasn't in any hurry. But, then, they aren't very fast, anyhow. Two things stood out in my mind when I saw him saunter across the burnt over area. Q. How far did you see him? For about 300 yards we just stood there and watched him, me, my brother, and the two others. The two things I remember so well are those stripes on the back and their whippy tail which comes to a point. When they walk the tail is held straight back. Well, we just stood there and watched him till he disappeared in the bush and then went back to work. There was no doubt in any of our minds that what we saw was a Tiger. My Dad and Old Charlie knew that, too. They had seen many and told us stories about them, like how they can't turn around like a dog because of their back. They are stiff and have to turn around in a circle."

["This person, male, was 53 years old when he sighted the tiger. He is a bushman who has lived in the bush all his life. He has basically been a timber getter and at the time. He is now retired, but still cuts firewood for a hobby and to supplement his income."]

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/files_sighting3.htm

Ron:

"We felled the tree the day before. Hadn't quite cut its head off, so went back to get it. About 9 a.m. we decided to have morning tea. We were getting Hydro poles. It was summer and there were snakes about. Saw a snake and went back over to cut off its (the tree's) head. The animal came out from where the head of the tree was and loped down the track. I guess we must have watched it for 20 seconds or more. It went into a tea tree patch in the gully and disappeared. People thought I was on the hops when I told them. Told a man from the Agriculture Department : David Bruce. He was interested if we could find any footprints some time later. We drove out there but nothing ever came out of it. We saw the animal clear like. Visible. It was in the bush with low bracken fern. Didn't pay any attention to us. No doubt in the minds of any of us that what we saw was a Tiger. Couldn't have been anything else. Me, my brother, Dad, and Charlie all saw it. Still in my eyes."

["This man has lived near Mt. Arthur all his life. At the time of the sighting he was working in the bush with his brother, father and friend (see Sighting #3). The latter two are deceased. Like his brother (viewer #3) this man is a very stable person and well known and respected throughout the community. He owns a large property and lives approximately 5 miles from the Panama Forest."]

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/files_sighting4.htm

TAS.1971.xx.xx

"In 1971, a reliable and experienced hunter was stalking a group of 4 deer in remote 'high country' in Eastern Tasmania. At 4:20 pm as he crawled over a clump of dead wattles, downwind from the deer, a large animal shot out from underneath him, brushing its head against the barrel of his gun. Its build was like a cross between a corgi and a kelpie, about 18 inches high at the shoulder. Its coast was "the colour of yellow beach sand" except for dark brown stripes across its back. The stripes were about 11/2 inches wide and disappeared 2/3 of the way down its sides. It ran, not very fast, with a peculiar swaying, seesaw motion of the back-bone. As the hunter was sure that Tasmanian tigers were extinct, he thought that the animal was 'some kind of cross between a devil and a wild dog', or that if it were a dof then it must have been deformed. The strange animal ran straight towards the deer, which scattered breaking in all directions. A stag lashed out twice at the animal, with its hind legs, and then fled, passing within a metre of the astonished human observer. The animal remained in view for about 150 metres before disappearing into dry sclerophyll forest. The hunter did not believe that he could have seen a thylacine until he later saw a stuffed museum specimen."

See also, Australian Deer magazine 2(5), October 1977.

TAS.1972.xx.xx #1

Steve from Tanilba Bay, NSW:

"I spoke to a respected businessman in Launceston who told me he saw two at once in 1972, in a remote area in northern Tasmania at night in the car lights."

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook.html

TAS.1972.xx.xx #2

"In 1972, a local workman in the North West was driving alone along a remote road at 9 pm. As he rounded a sharp corner he had to swerve and brake to avoid an animal the size of a big dog. It was a 'dirty yellow colour' and had stripes across its back. It had a large ugly dog like head with erect ears. The animal walked stiffly away into the dense rain forest."

TAS.1973.xx.xx

Two witnesses. The following is a summarisation of the report by Nick Mooney:

"The best with which I am familiar include one in 1973 near Ben Nevis (north eastern Tasmania) by perhaps the State’s best naturalist and his companion while driving a truck slowly down a bush track. Two thylacines reportedly ran in the headlights for 50 m just in front of the vehicle."

Source: https://beta.capeia.com/zoology/2016/09/07/thylacine-the-improbable-tiger

TAS.1974.xx.xx #1

"Plaster casts were made and later matched with others found in Tasmania in 1974 whose peculiar paw structure identified them as thylacine."

Source: Gilroy, Rex. (1985). Trailing a Tiger. Australasian Post, 31 January.

TAS.1974.xx.xx #2

"Four hundred plaster casts of Tasmanian tiger prints have been collected by Noel Sutton of Fingal, Tas, in his lengthy study of the animals breeding in local bush.

He has taken night photos of them. Some pictures show two adult animals with six pups, the head of a Tiger with body obscuring, a distant figure exhibiting the classic features of the tiger.

The latter pic was taken in 1974. Mr Sutton believes he could catch one of the animals if the National Parks and Wildlife Service gave him a permit with no strings attached."

Source: Gilroy, Rex. (1977). Whispers and Rumours. Psychic Australian [1977](March): [pagination?].

TAS.c1974.xx.xx

"Mr Geoff Wilson, a Launceston newspaperman said, "...About three years ago a bush artist named Paul Sneider sighted one near Springfield which is in the Cuckoo district. He had been painting in the bush for years and was adamant that he was a full-grown tiger not far from his camp.""

Source: Gilroy, Rex. (1977). Whispers and Rumours. Paranormal and Psychic Australian [1977](October): [pagination?].

TAS.1977.8.19

"Police Spot Tiger

Launceston, Tas-A Tasmanian Tiger was seen at 11pm Friday 19th August by two police officers as they rounded a bend in the Gladstone-Derby road.

Constable John Wilson said, "It was only a small animal about the size of a Corgi. But it had prominent rings around its tail. Iv'e spent along time in the bush and I have no doubt this was a Tasmanian Tiger. It was half way across the road when we made the sighting and we had to brake suddenly."

The other witness was Senior Constable M. Banfield. Constable Wilson's father, Mr Geoff Wilson, a Launceston newspaperman said, "He knows his animals and he was positive that the animal was a tiger. Sightings are Rare but they come up every couple of years.

About three years ago a bush artist named Paul Sneider sighted one near Springfield which is in the Cuckoo district. He had been painting in the bush for years and was adamant that he was a full-grown tiger not far from his camp.""

Source: Gilroy, Rex. (1977). Whispers and Rumours. Paranormal and Psychic Australian [1977](October): [pagination?].

"In 1977, 2 local policeman in the North East were driving home through open dry sclerophyll forest at 10:30 pm, when they had to brake to avoid hitting a light coloured, striped, dog-like animal. The animal was moving at a slow lope or trot and did not change pace. The officers submitted signed statements to the Police Commissioner about the incident, and both felt certain that they had seen a Tasmanian tiger."

TAS.1977?.xx.xx

Source: Serventy, Vincent. (1977). Tasmanian tiger could still be alive. Bulletin, 24 September, p. 68.

TAS.1978.xx.xx

Chris Tangey:

"I photographed some prints of one on the edge of Arthurs' Lake in 1978. When I showed the photo to the then Curator of Zoology at Launceston's Queen Victoria museum, Dr. Bob Green, he said the following: "there are no proper casts of a thylacines' footprints so we can only go on the rather shrivelled up and distorted paws of museum exhibits. But if I was to imagine what one would look like it would look exactly like THAT" as he pointed to the photo."

Source: https://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook4.html

TAS.1978.xx.xx

Source: http://www.thylacineresearchunit.org/sightingreports.htm

TAS.1979.xx.xx

The "Ranger's sighting" was that of Hans Naarding, near Togari.

"One sight report, two kilometres from the Ranger's sighting but three years earlier, was excellent."

Source: Mooney, Nick. (1984). Tasmanian Tiger Sighting Casts Marsupial in New Light. Australian Natural History 21(5): 177-180.

TAS.1977-1979.xx.xx #1

"There had been an amazing sighting nearby [near Reedy Marsh, North of Deloraine] just two days before by a young couple."

Source: https://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook4.html

TAS.1977-1979.xx.xx #2

Chris Tangey:

"I also believe I was followed by one in broad daylight at Reedy Marsh, North of Deloraine, judging by the strange elongated sitting marks (fresh) left by an animal as it waited for me to return from a dead end across a creek."

Source: https://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook4.html

TAS.1979?.xx.xx

"One of our recent visitors to school told us of sighting a Tasmanian Tiger on the East Coast, about a year ago. He and his wife were travelling at about 11.30 p.m. when the tiger crossed in front of their car, slowly enough for both travellers to have a good look. They visited a museum the next day and both are sure of their identification of the Tiger. The sighting was not reported to anyone until now for fear of numerous visitors, destruction of the bush and perhaps also the tiger. The gentleman now carries a camera whenever he passes the area."

Source: Anonymous. (1980). Tiger Sighting (letter to the editor). Western Tiers (Tasmania), Wednesday, 1 October, p. 4.

TAS.197X.xx.xx #1

The false sighting of former Greens leader Dr. Robert "Bob" Brown:

"Driving home to the Launceston suburb of Ravenswood one evening after his GP rounds, Brown saw a 'Thylacine'. So astonished was he that he insisted [Jeremy] Griffith return to the area with him immediately. Together, they found the animal: 'It was a greyhound with four stripes across its back'." (p. 194)

Source: Owen, David. (2003). Thylacine: The Tragic Tale of the Tasmanian Tiger. Crows Nest, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin.

TAS.197X.xx.xx #2

Bill:

TAS.197X?.xx.xx

Sayles, Jim. (1973). Track of the Tiger... Walkabout 39(8): 22-27. [photographed footprint and called up a thylacine]

TAS.197X/8X.xx.xx #1

In the comments section of an article by Col Bailey, T. Hale posted about their sighting of a thylacine:

"My own encounter with a Thylacine at Fern Tree was in no way premeditated but like most sightings late at night - midnight or close to. It was a filthy night and I was returning from an Apex meeting at Kingston via Leslie Vale and Wolfes Road to Neika and then my home further along near the Fern Tree boundary.

I was going quite carefully in my 4x4 into a bend just past the old Neika schoolhouse and saw an animal the size of Border Collie silhouetted against a white sign post on the far side of the road. It was perfectly stationary and seemed not to be phased. I kept going but took in the fact it has stripes on its back and rear quarters, a stiff tail and a quite long muzzle. All in the same second, it realised what I had seen and as soon as safely possible, I turned round and went back. It was gone, probably into the dense rainforest gully on the top side of the road, which eventually leads up the mountain to Snake Plain, a classic tiger habitat with button grass, marsh, light Eucalypt bushland and rain forest along the drainage creeks. I went back and forth several times but didn’t see the animal again and nor did I in the ensuring years of living in the area. However, I have no doubt to this day that I had seen a Thylacine."

Source: Bailey, Col. (2013). Tigers in the Weld: The Sequel. Tasmanian Times, Sunday 7 April.

TAS.197X/8X.xx.xx #2-3

Denny Saltmarsh:

"a sighting by Denny Saltmarsh of Chudleigh. The animal was seen in the area known as the Big Plain. It was at a distance of a couple of chains (40m) and was seen to run off. A den* with fur believed to be from the Thylacine also has been found by Mr Saltmarsh. We have heard that this fur was analysed by the Museum and verified as coming from a Tasmanian tiger*."

*Capitalised in the 1980 original, but lowercase in the later quotation.

Sources:

Anonymous. (1980). Tiger Tiger. Western Tiers, Friday, 1 August, 1(4): 1.

Woods, Geoff. (1998). Tassie's First Tiger Bar. Western Tiers, Tuesday, 17 February, p. 1-2.

TAS.1980.8?.xx

Gavin How, Peter Webb and Kim Aylett:

Anonymous. (1980). Tiger Tiger. Western Tiers, Friday, 1 August, 1(4): 1.

Woods, Geoff. (1998). Tassie's First Tiger Bar. Western Tiers, Tuesday, 17 February, p. 1-2.

TAS.1980.11.xx

One witness, a woman (Janine) aged about 35 at the time of the sighting.

"I got up early that morning as I usually do. It must have been about five o'clock. It was summer and clear. I went onto the landing and looked towards the chicken house. We have since torn it down and built a new one. Q: How far was it from the house? (She said she had difficulty in stating distances but would show us. After the interview she showed us where the shed had been and where she had been standing when she viewed the animal. The distance was 8 - 10 metres.) I sensed there was something around. Something different. You know what I mean? I felt something was looking at me. I looked up and, there, on top of the chicken coop was this animal. It stared at me and I stared at it. It was really quite beautiful. Sort of golden. It had a big head and stripes across the base of its rump. It didn't last long, maybe 5 seconds. We just sort of stared at each other. I retreated a couple of steps to try to get the attention of my husband who was still inside. I stayed within sight of the animal and called softly, but my husband didn't hear. So I called and beckoned and in the meantime the animal disappeared so I went inside to tell him. (At this point her husband interjected to say she was grey and shaking when she came into the house.)"

["Female, married with two children. At the time she held an important job in Launceston with the Government. At the time of the interview was about 35 years old. She has lived on a farm and in the bush all her life."]

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/files_sighting5.htm

TAS.1980.xx.xx

"In 1980, a senior timber worker was walking alone one morning in dense mixed wet sclerophyll rainforest in a remote area in the South. It was windy and light drizzle was falling as he made his way down a steep rocky mountainside, and, at 10 am, he disturbed a striped animal upwind about 20 to 30 metres away. The animal ran from under a large boulder, where it had apparently been lying, across a clearing in front of the observer for about 25 metres, before disappearing. The animal was dog-like, but in an area where a dog would not be expected, and where no dogs had been seen before or after the sighting. It was a light greyish colour with 3 to 5 distinct dark brown stripes down its sides. The stripes extended from the middle of the back to the base of the stiff straight tail."

TAS.1981/82.xx.xx

Two witnesses, D. H. "Buck" Emberg (47) and Joan Emberg (42) (married), respectively:

"I was with my wife in Launceston to see a movie one spring night. I think it was 1982 … it could have been 1981. We left the movie about 10 o'clock and drove home on the Lilydale Road. We were living at Lalla at the time and were in the process of selling our restaurant. The night was very clear but dark. It had rained and the lights of the car shone off the road and bush very brightly.

As we came down the hill just below the Mt. Arthur School, I noticed two animals of medium to largish size standing on the road about 100 metres ahead. I slowed because they looked different for some reason. At first I thought they were two Alsatians but knew almost immediately they were not. One of the animals was standing fully on the left side of the road and the other (a bit smaller) stood on the edge of the road about 10 metres on. They were standing so that we had them both side on in full beam. Both animals were looking into the light but did not seem to be blinded.

First I noted the erect ears and rather large head. Their colour was light brown, just like the dog we had at the time … sort of a light mutt brown. I thought, Oh, my goodness, it's a tiger! By this time I was within about ten metres of the two. Still they had not moved. It was almost as if they were disdainful of the car. If I had not applied the brakes I would have struck the larger of the two. Still they did not move.

It was now I noticed the strange tail which seemed to be too big to be swung. I also noticed the stripes which ran down from the top of the back to the flanks. The tail struck me because of the large hump on the rear. It reminded me of our farm dog which had recently been hit by an auto and the accident resulted in a protruding hip and made our dog a bit crippled. The tiger (that's what I believe they were) moved in much the same way, as if it had something wrong with its back.

By now the smaller animal had disappeared. I swung out to miss the larger animal and stopped about 30 metres along the road. I said to my wife, "Don't say a thing. Think of what you have just seen. Put it in your mind and let it burn there." I paused for about one minute, neither of us saying anything, drove to the Mt. Arthur Road and turned around. The animals were gone when we returned. I drove to the nearest place to turn around again and stopped. "Now," I said to my wife, "what did you see?"

In a very quiet voice (I remember that well) she said, "I just saw a tiger." Then, more loudly and excitedly, she said, "We just saw a tiger!"

I concurred immediately by shouting something like, "Holy smokes, that is just what we saw! We saw a Tasmanian Tiger! We saw TWO Tasmanian Tigers!" I blew the horn and yelled excitedly. I don't know what my wife did.

We did not stop to get out to look. It seemed pointless. Instead, we drove home very quickly and began calling our friends: Dr. Stan Gottschalk, Tony and Sue Walker, Penny and George Richardson and a few I can't remember. We were very excited.

However, our friends, all very sophisticated and well educated, tended to accuse us of 'seeing things' or having been to a party. Our excitement faded quickly to a bit of embarrassment. However, we knew what we had seen.

The following day I called the Parks and Wildlife people. After a bit of umming and ahing, I was able to speak to someone who showed a little interest. I remember him asking a few questions, not particularly scientific, and then he said, "Yes, it looks like you saw what you saw. Now, will you do us a favur and shut up about it? Don't tell anyone." I don't believe he asked me my name and there were no follow up calls by the Parks and Wildlife people.

Since that time we have been reticent about telling others about our sighting."

["a middle-aged man of 47, a resident of the area, publicity officer for the College of Technical and Further Education (TAFE), Launceston."]

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/files_analysis.htm

"Buck (my husband) and I had been to the pictures in Launceston. We were driving back to our home in Lalla. I think it must have been 11 o'clock at night. The night was clear. I think there was a moon. We were between Underwood and Lilydale, just about at the foot of the downhill curve when I saw two animals in the headlights. I could see them very clearly because they were right in front of us on the road and the lights were on full beam. Buck had to brake or he would have hit them, but they just stood there looking towards Brown Mountain. One was bigger then the other. The smaller one of the two was standing slightly behind and to the right. They looked awkward and were unusually shaped with stiff, unwieldy tails. Their heads were large and I could see stripes quite clearly, extending all along the back and getting smaller towards the tail. Buck had to swerve to miss them. He drove on for another couple of hundred metres before stopping. We just sat there for a couple of minutes, not saying anything. Then Buck asked me what I had seen. I told hum 'a Tiger!'. He said 'that's exactly what I saw!' We then compared what we had seen and there was no doubt that we had both seen the same thing. We turned around and drove back, hoping to see them again, but they were gone. Our friends laughed at us when we told them."

["Female. Writer and retired university lecturer. At the time owned and operated the Stuga Restaurant in Lalla Road, Lilydale. She was 42 years old."]

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/files_sighting2.htm

TAS.c1981.xx.xx

One witness, a 25 year old male.

"We had recently bought our property and were in the process of clearing it. I noticed some strange paw marks in the clay by the water hole. The marks were not that of a dog. One night I was out spotlighting and getting close to the house when I spotted it. I thought it might be a wild dog and was going to shoot it. Then I thought, 'no, it's someone's nice Labrador.' It looked right at my light. I had him in my sights (it's a 4X4 scope), then it turned away and then looked back again. I saw its head mainly until it walked away from behind a low bush. It moved sort of fast but not like a dog. It was about 9 p.m. and I was downwind of it. He was sort of like a medium to larger dog and was cream coloured. He seemed dark as he turned. His hind quarters sloped away and he shuffled fast instead of bounding. It was drinking from my waterhole and his front legs were fully extended. He had a big head, not like a dog. He seemed stiff yet walked very fast. I came in and told Aggie (his wife). Haven't told many people. People I told teased me."

["A twenty-five years old male. An electrician in the Lilydale/Underwood area. A keen hunter. Owns a - 22 rifle with 4X4 scope."]

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/files_sighting7.htm

TAS.c1981/82.6/7.xx (Saturday)

Two witnesses, a married couple, ages unknown, Husband named Bob. The testimony is from the wife.

"Me and Bob were going into the bush early in the morning. It was a Saturday in June or July, about 1981 or '82. We were in our car on the track. A Tiger walked slowly across the track, about 8 or 10 feet away. I said, "Oh, look at that funny animal." Q. Can you describe it? It had a whiplike tail and had stripes on it. It looked like a dog but it sure was no dog. Real different, it was. It moved off into the bush quickly, but not quite really, just vanished, disappeared. Bob said to me, "You just saw yourself a Tiger." Then we went on and did what we had to do in the bush."

["Female. She has helped her husband in the bush for many years. She is well acquainted with the Tasmanian bush."]

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/files_sighting6.htm

TAS.<1982.xx.xx

Source: Fox, Allan. (1982). Tiger country. Panorama 5: 36,38,41. [Trove: "Rock painting of thylacine at Obiri in Kakadu National Park; triggers memory of possible encounter with thylacine in Tasmania."]

TAS.1982.3.10

One witness, Hans Naarding, who worked for the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) as a biologist at the time. Given his credentials, the duration of the sighting and his proximity to the animal, his sighting has often been regarded as the best since 1936. It took place on Salmon River road, south of Togari. In his own words:

"I had gone to sleep in the back of my vehicle which was parked at a road junction in a remote forested area in the north-west of the State. It was raining heavily. At 2 a.m. I awoke and, out of habit, scanned the surrounds with a spotlight. As I swept the light-beam around, it came to rest on a large thylacine, standing side-on some six to seven metres distant. My camera bag was out of immediate reach so I decided to examine the animal carefully before risking movement. It was an adult male in excellent condition with 12 black stripes on a sandy coat. Eye reflection was pale yellow. It moved only once, opening its jaws and showing its teeth. After several minutes of observation I attempted to reach my camera bag but in doing so I disturbed the animal and it moved away into the undergrowth. Leaving the vehicle and moving to where the animal disappeared, I noted a strong scent. Despite an intensive search no further trace of the animal could be found." (p. 76)

Sources:

Mooney, Nick. (1984). Tasmanian Tiger Sighting Casts Marsupial in New Light. Australian Natural History 21(5): 177-180.

Park, Andy. (1986). Tasmanian Tiger: Extinct or Merely Elusive? Australian Geographic 1(3): 66-83.

Anonymous. (1984). Ranger reports Tasmanian tiger sighting. The Canberra Times, Friday, 20 January, p. 1.

Subsequent investigation

Nick Mooney was tasked with investigating the sighting while it was kept private (see Mooney, 1984).

Interviews with Hans

Bevilacqua, Simon. (2016). Look a tiger in the eye. The Mercury, 6 September.

TAS.c1983.xx.xx

"We clearly saw a dingo sized animal cross the road left to right in our headlights for about 8 seconds. It was walking briskly and it paused half way and looked at us quickly and continued to walk quickly into the bush. But we both talked immediately that the shape and appearance of the animal was different to a dog/dingo in quite a number of ways. We saw an exhibit the next day on the Thylacine and the differenced we noted the night before matched the characteristics af a Thylacine."

Source: http://www.thylacineawarenessgroup.com/sighting/sighting-near-cradle-mountain-tasmania-australia/

TAS.1984.xx.xx

Rusty Morley's second thylacine encounter, a sighting.

Source: http://www.wherelightmeetsdark.com.au/examining-the-evidence/tasmanian-tiger-(thylacine)/adamsfield-thylacines/adamsfield-thylacine-identified/

TAS.1986.10.xx

Two witnesses, of unknown sex and age.

"I saw an animal in the bush in Tasmania in October 1986 while I was on a military exercise in the Buckland Military Training Area, north of Hobart. It must have been around mid-morning when another soldier and I were patrolling down a small incline in a fairly dense section of bush land towards a gully area during the exercise. We saw an animal bolt from the undergrowth about 3-4 metres to our left front as we were heading down the incline. I remember seeing the animal from behind as it dashed from its cover and ran to the left of where we were heading. It had clear black striped bands across its orange/brown back. Unfortunately, we did not get to see its head to identify it. It scared the hell out of us as it broke and ran. It was gone in a flash, and so were we. Its back appeared quite broad and we just assumed it was a feral pig and said nothing more about it. It has been bugging me for years, so I thought it’s time to say something about it. Although I feel the thylacine is extinct, it was enough to plant a seed of doubt in my mind as to the real identity of the animal we saw. I can’t say categorically that it was or wasn’t a pig as it moved very fast and we only caught a glimpse of it. It could have been a feral dog perhaps. Who knows? Just thought you might be interested in this sighting."

Source: http://members.ii.net/~lawley/thylacine/anecdotes/index.html

TAS.1986.xx.xx #1

"Turk Porteous¹, 72, is one such believer. He lives in a tiny beach shack at Arthur River in the north-western corner of the State with his wife, Midge.

In 1986, he was clearing a walking track and picnic area on the wild Frankland River near his home when he heard an unusual rustling in nearby scrub.

When he turned around he found himself staring at a female tiger in the face.

"She was very close to me, maybe 20 yards," said Turk, a gentle bushman whose word is impossible to doubt.

"She stopped and had a look at me for quite a few seconds then slowly moved back into the scub."

The tiger's pouch was hanging down, indicating the presence of young, and her sleek blue-grey coat revealed 16 distinctive black stripes–the hallmark of the thylacine.

"I knew she had cubs with her because she took so long to move off," Turk said. "If she'd been alone she would have cleared off at the sight of me."

Later, Turk followed the tiger's tracks and found the footprints of two young tigers."

Source: Mealey, Elisabeth. (1989). New hunt for the [...?]. The Sun-Herald, 22 October, p. 18.

¹ 'Porteous' should read 'Porteus'.

TAS.1986.xx.xx #2

"Victorian bushwalkers claimed yesterday to have photographed Tasmanian tigers in the south-east of the State during a camping trip."

Source: Anonymous. (1986). Walkers took photos of Tasmanian tigers. The Canberra Times, Sunday, 9 February, p. 3.

TAS.1987.xx.xx

"Back in 1987, I was working in a mine on the West Coast, I won't say which mine as most concerned would understand.
Anyway one Friday night I worked back for 6 hours and left around 10.00pm and was driving home with my lights on High and My Hella's lighting up the road for flamin' miles. As I came down off the hill onto a straight piece of road(hard to find they are) doing about 100k's, up ahead about 300m I spotted a dog like creature in my lane walking off the road and as I neared to about 50m it was climbing the embankment, I could make out a Tannish, Grey colour but could not distinctively see any stripes as it dissapeared into the scrub. The one thing about it's behaviour that stood out is the fact that it did'nt even look towards the lights, nor did it attempt to speed up as I approached, It was a steady walk all the way, even climbing the embankment. Now this did not take place in an area surrounded by Rainforest it was paddocks of open ground with Wallabies and Rabbits a plenty, I know this as I went and camped there later on but saw or heard nothing. But I know in my heart that what I saw was a Thylacine and I am now planning to return to Tassie to find Proof!"

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607040918/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/forum/Forum3/HTML/000024.html

TAS.1988.1.xx

One witness, a female aged around 65. A second occupant of the car did not see the animal.

"My friend and I were driving along the road from Golconda the summer before last (1988). We were about three kilometres along the road. It was shocking - bumpy and bad. It was dusk and I came up a hill, turned to the right then down a short hill. I was only going about 20 kilometres per hour, the road was so bad. (Q. Was It Dusty? A. No.) I saw this animal eating offal at the side of the road. It didn't rush away. It was on the left side of the road and sort of sauntered to the right side. I was within metres of it. It was sort of like a half grown puppy-like dog. Not as large as a kelpie. Its nose was long, I noticed, and the colour was … well, like my dog there. (Her dog was a light brown.) I noticed it didn't move quickly. Sort of strange. You'd think it would rush away. It had some stripes across the back and they went halfway down its side. Its ears were sticking up and it (I remember now) a long pointed face. I saw him for at least five or more seconds. I wish my friend had seen it, too. I don't tell many people about what I saw."

["Female, approximately 65 years old. Wife of a deceased Midlands grazier. She is owner of a large property in the Cressy area. She also owns a property at Bridport and frequently takes the Ferny Hill Road out of Golconda to the Bridport Road on her way to the beach."]

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/files_sighting8.htm

TAS.1988.xx.xx #1

Seven witnesses in two cars. The following is a summarisation of the report by Nick Mooney:

"Another outstanding report was in 1988 with 7 people in 2 cars, the first car reportedly passing a large thylacine on the side of the road in daylight then stopping some 30 m past, the animal then crossing the road behind in full view of the car’s occupants and those of the following car 40 m away and approaching."

Source: https://beta.capeia.com/zoology/2016/09/07/thylacine-the-improbable-tiger

TAS.1988.xx.xx #2

"I believe they are still here because Eyespied1 about 18 years ago on the west coast ( won't say where ) about 11pm coming home from work in the mines. It walked across the road in front of me, lit with my big spotties and all, it kept on walking up the embankment and into the bush without any fear ( or so it seemed ) of the approaching car."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607053008/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/000036.html

TAS.1989.12.xx

Source: http://www.thylacineresearchunit.org/sightingreports.htm

TAS.1989.xx.xx #1

Two witnesses, a married couple.

"I (the husband) have lived in the bush or near to it all my life except for a short time in Sydney. We saw this animal about the 30th January last year (1989). We were driving home to Lilydale from Bridport on the Ferny Hill Road. It was about dusk - you know, about that time just before you turn your lights on. Things were getting dark but the sky was sort of bright. The road was clear. Q. Was it dusty? A. (from both) No. I came up and around a bend and turned down a small hill. The road was bad so I slowed down to about 45. The sides of the road were grassy, about two feet high. Coming around the corner, we caught sight of the rear half of an animal. I (the man) could guage from the rear half that it was long for its height. We noticed (we talked about this later) that the animal had a curve of its spine that was unusual. I know bush animals and this was no dog or anything I had ever seen. (At this point the lady interjected, 'Yes, that's right. What I thought it was at first was a goat, but as soon as I thought it was a goat I knew it wasn't. It was real different.) The curve of the spine was humped over to the back and centre, a funny sort of curve. Then it moved slowly in a lope or sort of rolling walk and disappeared. The animal seemed serene, and when we were driving home and talking about it we said that if they (the Thylacine) were serene like we saw, no wonder they got killed."

["The female has lived in Tasmania since 1983. Her husband, a man of lifelong bush experience on the mainland, moved to Tasmania in 1989. He has become well acquainted with the local bush and has a good knowledge of native animals. The couple is currently building a home in the bush near Lilydale. The husband is an employed brick layer and the wife is a home-maker. Both are about 25 years old."]

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/files_sighting910.htm

TAS.1989.xx.xx #2

"One of the most recent reported sightings occurred earlier this year when a doctor and wife were driving through the Cradle Mountain National Park in the State's central plateau area.

They claimed they saw an alsatian-sized animal with a tiger's familiar black stripes, long stiff tail and awkward gait running across the road in front of them."

Source: Mealey, Elisabeth. (1989). New hunt for the [...?]. The Sun-Herald, 22 October, p. 18.

TAS.1989.xx.xx #3

From one of Col Bailey's weekly "Tiger Tales" articles in the Derwent Valley Gazette:

"In September 1989, a Victorian couple holidaying in the State were travelling back to Hobart after spending the day at Strathgordon when they came across an unusual animal crossing the Gordon River Road near the Scott's Peak Road turnoff around 9.30pm.
It was drizzling lightly at the time, but both were adamant that they got a good look at the animal.
" It was roughly the size of our Blue Healer dog, only thinner, and its head seemed different," the tourist told me.
"It stood and sniffed at the air for several seconds enabling us to slow right down and get a closer look at it. "The stripes on its coat stood out quite distinctly. "As we rummaged in the glovebox for our camera, it turned and just seem to vanish. "It left us quite bewildered. "We later secured a picture of a Tasmanian tiger from the ranger's office at Mt Field National Park, and we are certain that it was a Tasmanian tiger we seen that night," he added.
I was fortunate to meet up with this couple while on a bushwalk to Lake Webster , and after some
prompting to hear their most interesting story as we trudged along the track. They told me that they were now going to on the lookout for another tiger, but I assured them that they were extremely fortunate to see the elusive animal even once and that to expect to see it a second time would be like winning the lottery."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20030415102010/http://www.maydena.tco.asn.au/Colbail/page5.html

TAS.1989.xx.xx #4

"I only will state that in 1989 I was with a small group of people in the NW area of Tasmania, and believe we saw what may have been the animal described on your website.
I do not remember the exact location. All I can tell you is that I remember that it had been raining (which it did often during our visit) and there was a sort of ground mist. It was quite cold. The sighting took place in the early morning, it was not fully daylight, but we did clearly see this animal.

The best description I could give of the surrounding area is "ferny", as this is what I remember most the ferns and their strong smell, there were many tall trees, also however and some smaller trees. This was not too far from the road, sorry can't say which road. I can say that I don't remember seeing electricity poles (but there may have been some).

It was a long way from "civilization". Anyway, here is what happened:

We were walking along, making quite a bit of noise, chattering and so on. We did not expect to see animals but hoped to maybe see a kangaroo if we were lucky.

We came to a semi-cleared area (with ferns and trees). There was a lot of debris on the ground. We saw an animal but did not realize the significance of this sighting. It looked like a cross between a dog and a kangaroo to us, and we did not know this should be reported or whatever.

It had a kangaroo tail, dog-like body, fox-like ears. Best description of color would be 'chocolate milk'. Stripes were darker but did not look 'solid'.

It kind of paused for a moment like we had caught it in the middle of something it shouldn't have been doing. Then it left the scene.

That's really all that happened. There was a woman with us who had a camera but she did not think to take a picture of the animal until it was too late."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607041014/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/forum/Forum3/HTML/000013.html

TAS.198X.xx.xx #1

David Alford commented the following:

"I have videotaped interviews of two extremely strong sightings way beyond the official 1936 extinction date. One in the mid 1970s in Western Australia and another in the 1980s in Eastern Tasmania. I have other taped interviews, some later and some earlier, but these two sightings were so strong, I’m pretty much convinced the Thylacine held on until at least the 1980s."

Source: https://www.crikey.com.au/2013/11/15/the-truth-will-be-revealed-i-have-seen-the-tassie-tiger/

TAS.198X.xx.xx #2

In the comments section of an article by Col Bailey, T. Hale posted about their sighting of a thylacine (TAS.197X/8X.xx.xx), but also mentioned a further report by a Mrs Goldfinch:

"Several years later in the mid-80s, I was working for National Parks and Wildlife and the then director, Peter Murrell, mentioned in passing that Mrs Goldfinch at Fern Tree had reported that a Tasmanian Tiger had been taking her chickens. The Goldfinch farmlet was located directly below the roadside spot where I had made my sighting. The time frame correlated."

Source: Bailey, Col. (2013). Tigers in the Weld: The Sequel. Tasmanian Times, Sunday 7 April.

TAS.198X.xx.xx #3-4

"In the early 1980s, Christina and Jamie walk into Black Bluff to camp the night, so that Jamie can collect yet some more alpine vegetation data. An unholy and totally unfamiliar ‘yip-yip-yip’ rends the still misty air. Inside the tent, they cling to each other closer than before. This is about the time that a PWS officer gets a clear and prolonged view of a thylacine at his camp site, not far away. Soon afterwards, Christina and Jamie are to get a quick glimpse of a large animal with stripes as they drive down the Hartz Mountains Road."

Source: Kirkpatrick, James "Jamie" Barrie. (2017). Conservation Worrier. Hobart: De Press Inc. 277 pp.

TAS.198X.xx.xx #5

"I still can't bring myself to believe that there are no more of these beautiful creatures around; my husband saw footprints on a beach on the south coast of Tasmania in the 80s which he still believes were made by a Thylacine. I would love to believe he is right as the south west of Tassie is very remote and humans rarely go there, it is a true wilderness!"

Source: http://pub48.bravenet.com/guestbook/4121966821/#bn-guestbook-1-1-4121966821/next/11

TAS.198X.xx.xx #6

David Blackburn, stock and station agent, driving home late at night:

"There's nothing I'd ever seen on the road before or since that even came anywhere close to what I saw. Uh, it was one of amazement really. The animal, was not much bigger than a normal-sized say Labrador dog. But it looked altogether different to a dog. Uh, I've seen dingoes, I've seen foxes, but it didn't even look like that. But the outstanding features withy it were the stripes down the side of it number one, the second thing was the elongated tail that came more or less straight off the backbone of the animal, and then when it started to move off the road, a dingo or a fox or a dog, something like that actually runs. Now this thing gyrated itself off the road, as if it had arthritis in its joints. And y'know, there's nothing I've ever seen walks anything like it, nothing. Once you've seen it, and know that you've seen part of something that's supposed to be extinct, it's just uh, uh, marvelous, its absolutely marvelous."

Source (starts at 5:45):

TAS.c1990.xx.xx #1-#4

"The Franklin River area produced several reports in about 1990, Nick says. “There were four or five on this stretch of road. There was a truckie, a tourist, a guy on a motorbike early in the morning… They didn’t know each other, which adds credibility. One can be sensibly sceptical but I’m always reluctant to dismiss any half-decent report.”"

Source: Meredith, Peter. (2017). An endless quest. Australian Geographic 138(May-June): 74-87.

TAS.1990/91.xx.xx

The Adamsfield thylacine. Rusty Morley discovered a dead small thylacine in the bush and took three photographs of the carcass. The animal was left to either decompose or be scavanged.

Source: http://www.wherelightmeetsdark.com.au/examining-the-evidence/tasmanian-tiger-(thylacine)/adamsfield-thylacines/adamsfield-thylacine-identified/

TAS.1991.6.4

Taxi driver Tony Jarvis:

Source: Anonymous. (1991). Search for the Tasmanian tiger finds no hard evidence. The Canberra Times, Wednesday, 12 June, p. 20.

"And I'd come round the corner nice and easy, oh spun me out, this thing just walked across the road, it was halfway across the road, so I've eased her down nice and steady and stopped. Just looked at me. Oh, I suppose five seconds, justw alked across the road back into the bush. I just went to pieces mate, y'know, come home real steady haha, y'know."

Source (starts 4:39):

TAS.1991.xx.xx #1

Rusty Morley's fourth thylacine encounter:

"1991 sighting at roadside, with plaster cast of a print taken subsequently"

Source: http://www.wherelightmeetsdark.com.au/examining-the-evidence/tasmanian-tiger-(thylacine)/adamsfield-thylacines/adamsfield-thylacine-identified/

TAS.1991.xx.xx #2

"Spotted Tas Tiger just outside of Waratah on the west coast had to slow car to a stop due to smoke from bushfire or burn off crossing the road.The tiger walked out in front of car..about 4feet...would of hit him if i had not have stopped he looked at the two of us in the car and walked slowly away away to the other side of road viewed him up close for atleast 10seconds and disapeared in the smoke and bush..he was sandy yellow in very good condition with very distinctive strip es down his back and rump had a very long straight tail.. we wer both in shock of what we had witnessed...just wished we had a camera...this was in 1991..no matter what people say they are DEFINATELY still there.."

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook.html

TAS.1991.xx.xx #3

"Back in 1991 I was living on the NE of Tasmania in a small rural village. 1 was 16 then and like any other teenager I got bored and was always looking for things to do. I found some old style rabbit traps in a shed at the back of our house and proceeded to set them in dense bushland near our house which as a teenager I did not realise was illegal. It was a sunny but cold frosty morning when I went to check the traps.. the first trap I checked had caught a strange creature which was about 1.5 ft tall and fairly long.. approximately the size of a jack russel terrier but longer in the body. It had stripes from mid back down to the tail and cowered down while pulling on the chain that held the trap where it's foot was caught.. I immediently realised how cruel these traps where (was a bit of joke when I initially set them) did'nt think I would catch anything! anyway, In my teenage mind I had a picture of as much larger animal as the Tasmanian Tiger.. not a smallish long creature that looked like a dog.. I stood and looked at it from about 2 metres away in full morning sun for about 2-3 minutes while contemplating how i was going to release this poor creature.. It was pulling back very hard on the trap trying to get away.. I ran back home to get my dad to help me.. by the time we got back it had struggled free and was nowhere to be seen.. My dad said it could have been a a quall as he said they had stripes on them.. I have just realised when looking at native animals in Tasmania on the internet that it could not have been anything but a Tiger as there are no other native animals that have stripes on them in tasmania.. Please tell me if I am wrong? I am now 95% certain that this was a thylacine and I could be the only person that has actually had one captured live in the past 50 yrs or more.. It only dawned on me the past week as I happened to be looking at native animals in tasmania on the internet.. I know exactly where I caught it and am certain it got away ok.. just minor scratches on it's leg"

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607040621/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/forum/Forum3/HTML/000018.html

TAS.1991.xx.xx #4-14 or 15

"In 1991 as many as thirteen reports were logged, and the Tasmanian Parks Wildlife and Heritage Authority deemed three of them "very good.""

Source: Clark, Jerome. (2013). Thylacines, pp. 198-208. Unexplained!: Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena, third edition. Canton, Michigan: Visible Ink Press.

I have not counted Rusty Morley's sighting as, according to the T.R.U., he was reluctant to talk about his knowedge of the species with them even after building up a personal rapport. I am also unsure whether TAS.1991.xx.xx #2 is included in the 13 or not.

TAS.1993.9/10/11.xx

"At about nine o’clock on a 1993 spring night, a truck was travelling eastwards along the Lyell Highway through the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Half a kilometre past the Franklin River bridge, the driver negotiated a bend and then a rise. At the top of the rise, his headlights lit up the dead-straight roadway as bright as day. That’s when he saw it. As he reported the next day, a dog-like animal was crossing the road about 100m ahead. Coming closer and slowing down, he noticed dark vertical stripes on its brown body. In the driver’s mind there was no doubt: it was a Tasmanian tiger, a thylacine."

Source: Meredith, Peter. (2017). An endless quest. Australian Geographic 138(May-June): 74-87.

TAS.1993.xx.xx

From one of Col Bailey's weekly "Tiger Tales" articles in the Derwent Valley Gazette:

"A Derwent Valley bush worker and his wife were returning from Ouse during the summer of 1993 when they claimed to have seen a Tasmanian tiger crossing the bitumen road in front of their car. It was just on dusk, but not yet dark enough to need their headlights on.
"By the time we reached him, he was getting through a roadside fence and moving into thick bracken",the man told me.

"He was a big one, and I caught a I caught a good look at his back end - the stripes - the stiff, long tail - but it was only briefly; I didn't see his head properly as he moved off into cover pretty quickly as we approached.
" I said to my wife, I've just seen a tiger!, and she wanted to go back and look for him, but I told her that he'd be long gone by the then.
"It was the last thing I expected to see, especially that close to a township. "I'd previously only seen pictures of them and the one in the museum, but I knew straight away what it was - and it definitely wasn't a dog,"
The pair wished to keep both their identity and the location of the sighting confidential, but I can tell you that it happened just outside one of the small townships bordering the Mt Field National Park."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20030415102010/http://www.maydena.tco.asn.au/Colbail/page5.html

TAS.1994.xx.xx

A single witness, an adult man.

"As recently as 1994, an Oatlands’ resident reported startling a large striped animal with a heavy tail in some light bush. He saw it hop a number of times before it took off. When he described the animal to a zoologist, the expert suggested that it might have been a thylacine. Thylacines are known to have occasionally hopped on their hind legs when surprised, before dropping down on all fours and running off."

Source: https://www.southernmidlands.tas.gov.au/shadows-tasmanian-tiger/

TAS.1995.1.25

"Charles Beasley was a summer Interpretative Ranger with the Department of Environment & Land Management based at St Helens on the East COast of Tasmania. On the 25th January 1995, he claims to have seen what he believed to be a juvenile thylacine at a site inland from St Helens in the dry sclerophyll forest in the Pyengana region.

The sighting occurred just before dusk at 20:15 hours. Beasley was alone, sitting, bird watching across a valley using 8 x 40 power binoculars. At 20:15 he noticed an animal standing sniffing the air ona ledge 350 metres away. Beasley was sitting below the ledge and therefore could not see the animal's legs and feet. He described the animal as: "dirty brown in colour with black stripes down its rib cage and about half the size of a full grown Alsatian dog. It had a face like a Staffordshire bull terrier but more elongated. The animal stretched, turned and walked back into dense scrub, the tail was heavy and somewhat like that of a kangaroo and was held out in a gentle curve." Beasley estimates to have viewed the animal for two minutes and there were no further sightings of the animal in the following 15 minutes until he left.

Following the sighting, heavy rains in the area obliterated any possible evidence of tracks. AN officialsearch was carried out, but no evidence was found of the thylacine."

Source: http://www.naturalworlds.org/thylacine/history/extvssurv/extinction_vs_survival_13.htm

TAS.1995.3.xx

Col Bailey's second thylacine encounter, in the Weld Valley (the first: SA.1967.xx.xx; third: TAS.2000.xx.xx):

"Making camp at the edge of a bank of ferns adjoining the river, I bedded down to a cool, clear night. As I lay awake in my swag, that first distinct hunting call came in early morning hours. It was haunting!

Clear as a bell, the unmistakable high pitched double yip was followed some seconds later by a response – a hunting mother thylacine calling her brood to heal as they plied the button grass plains further up river. Some thirty minutes later that same clear resonance came again, only this time from further afield.

What followed shortly after dawn that morning was cause for great jubilation? Until then my quest had been largely unproductive; now I was in no doubt that at least one pocket of thylacine had survived. Coming face to face with the animal as I did later that morning dispelled any reservations I may have had concerning its continued existence. Despite seeing only the one animal, on the strength of what I heard earlier that day, I was in little doubt that there were others of its kind roaming the region."

Source: Bailey, Col. (2013). Tigers in the Weld: The Sequel. Tasmanian Times, Sunday 7 April.

TAS.1995.xx.xx

"At least one of the fishermen admitted having seen a thylacine...at Studland Bay the year before."

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.c1995.xx.xx #1

"This sighting comes from a business man from Bridport, Tasmania. Name: Ron Rice and friend of Buck and Joan.
On a trip back from Launceston (about 75kms to the west) during c.1995...time: about midnight. Ron was approaching the Ferny Hill Road (where many other sightings have taken place) which is approximately 15 kms from Bridport; Ron viewed a large animal walking slowly across the Bridport highway.

"I knew what I was seeing but still found it difficult to believe. But I knew I was watching a Thylacine walking with stiff gait across the road."

"I slowed down and watched the animal disappear into the scrub on the south side of the river.""

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607040802/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/forum/Forum3/HTML/000004.html

TAS.c1995.xx.xx #2

"Another business man from Launceston (accompanied by a friend who also saw the animal) saw a thylacine at the same spot [viz. Ferny Hill Road, approximately 15 kms from Bridport] that same approximate time."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607040802/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/forum/Forum3/HTML/000004.html

TAS.1996.6.xx

"Two fishermen who were anchored off Davidsons Bay on the North-West Coast report seeing an animal with prominent ears and head and straight-out tail, about three-quarters the size of a german shepherd, and resembling a brown hyena, walking along a beach like a crippled dog. It was observed through binoculars for 10 minutes as it walked 330m."

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.1996.xx.xx

Rusty Morley's fifth thylacine encounter:

"tracked a thylacine around a lake then took a plaster cast from the lake-side"

Source: http://www.wherelightmeetsdark.com.au/examining-the-evidence/tasmanian-tiger-(thylacine)/adamsfield-thylacines/adamsfield-thylacine-identified/

TAS.1997.8.xx

"A man patrolling an area of the North-West Coast saw what he first thought was a wild dog, but on looking again he realised it was not a dog. He described the animal as the same build and size as a german shepherd, with a large head and medium-length tail held horizontally. It was brown with distinct chocolate-coloured stripes. It stood for about one minute before turning awkwardly as though it had no spine articulation, dropped its haunches and "rocked away". The man noted a distinct smell. This sighting was rated by authorities as one of the best and most reliable reports in 20 years."

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.1997.xx.xx #1

"A forester reported seeing a thylacine walk out of bushland and along a paddock edge at Mt Hobbs, near Woodsdale in the South. The man said the animal, which he saw from about 150m away, had a funny walk, straight tail and indistinct stripes, and moved differently from a dog."

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.1997.xx.xx #2

"Two "old farmers" had also seen a thylacine walk out of the bush. The person taking the report noted that the sighting, which was not reported until 1998, was similar to another made by a farmer, but could not find out who it was."

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.1998.1.xx

"A bus driver was 100 per cent sure that he saw a thylacine standing still on a roadside between Zeehan and Queenstown about 4pm. It had stripes and a long pointed tail, and was bone-coloured with a pointy head. It was about the size of a medium dog."

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.1998.3.xx

Chris Kling:

Canden, Chas. (2000). Visitor Sees Tiger (My Spot). Western Tiers (Tasmania), Tuesday, 18 January, p. 16.

"A bushwalker at the Walls of Jerusalem saw a creature described as dingo-size and pale brown, with distinct dark brown stripes down its rump that were smaller toward its front. It was seen for about five seconds from 25m away walking smoothly across an open area. The bushwalker knew that there were no dingoes in Tasmania and that thylacines were extinct, and therefore thought it was a prop for brochure pictures. The bushwalker wrote a letter to authorities a month later with a photograph of where the thylacine was seen, stating: "(This) is where I saw with about 100 per cent certainty a thylacine... I certainly do hope that this picture may be of some help to you in the search for thylacines. I know they still exist and hope they will in the future.""

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.1998.7.xx

"Two adults driving in a hire car on the LyeIl Highway between Queenstown and Strahan at night reported almost running over a thylacine when it ran across the road in front of them. It was described as having distinct dark stripes on a lighter-coloured body, with a tail that appeared straight although it was not well seen. The animal also had a fox-like snout, but they said it was definitely not a fox. It was about 35cm taIl, and between 60 and 70cm long, not including the tail, and moved with a pacing gait. It was just 2m from the car when it was seen for two or three seconds. The people making the report had seen a holographic thylacine image at the Lake St Clair National Park Visitors Centre earlier the same day."

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.1998.10.xx

"A man and a woman saw a mysterious animal lope in front of their car at 10am in an unrecorded location. It had a dark brown body with yellow stripes, a small head and a long body and tail, and was definitely not a dog. The animal was seen about 6m from the car for about four seconds. One of the pair thought it was a thylacine, even though the colours appeared to be opposite that of a thylacine. The other did not believe it was a thylacine but had no idea what it was."

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.1998.12.28

A sighting by Martin Corkill and Ralph Grech:

"Two Victorian men were driving 60km east of the Great Lake Hotel at 6pm when a four-legged animal crossed the road 70m ahead of their car, stopped and looked in their direction. It was golden, about knee-high and very long, with a long, straight tail that was thick at the base. Its head was large compared with its body, with small ears and oriental eyes. It left the road and went through a fence into scrub or a clearing, where it was seen jumping a stump. They returned to the location the next day and collected fur from the fence and a fresh dropping, and saw a footprint that one of the men accidentally trod on. A drawing was done of the footprint from memory."

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

A very detailed account, as posted by Martin Corkill to several Facebook pages:

"I am a Life Member of the oldest Anglers Club in not only Melbourne but Victoria. I'm also a hunter and tracker and for many years in my home state of Victoria hunted feral animals that predated on defense less Marsupials and Birds. My twelve or more visits to Tassie have been mainly fishing related and predominantly fishing the lakes of the Central Highlands.

Over the Christmas of 1998 I was invited by a legendary Celebrity Angler and arguably one of the world's best Fly Fisherman in the form of Jim Allen. Some may have heard of him. (Famous for the national Franchise of the Compleat Angler) back in the day, in fact the Lodge in Miena on the way to the Great Lakes Hotel was once his and called the Compleat Angler Lodge.

I had Jim down as a guest speaker to the club during my Presidential years several times including that year and as I know him personally, after his talk, invited me to head over to Tassie later that year and catch up that Christmas and fish the famous, Central Highland Lakes during the Christmas break. The idea was you fish Xmas Eve, Xmas Day, Boxing Day and a few more days till around the 28th up in the central Highlands, as for 5 days or so while the world's calving Turkey, opening Pressies & visiting family and preoccupied with the festive season the Central Highlands of Tasmania become a ghost town.

Brilliant!

Organised two mates, my Hilux and boated over on the evening of the 23rd arriving on the morning of Christmas Eve.

Unbeknownst to us as social media wasn't packing weight back or invented more to the point, and where we stayed wasn't exactly phone tower friendly, but we commenced our trip that saw the worst storm in history. That Xmas of 1998 was the year of the 100 foot waves in Bass Straight the Perfect Storm that tipped the yachts in the Famous Sydney to Hobart Yacht race. Even killed quite a few people.
We were oblivious to that and although I'd fished Tassie many times before, were all frustrated with the powerful high winds, extreme rain, un fishable and to be honest miserable conditions. Finding ourselves as we stayed in the cabins of the Great Lakes Hotel in Miena, spending our days sitting down in the Great Lakes Hotel just drinking each day as there was no way any form of fishing was achievable as Tassie was coping it just as hard as Bass Strait.

By the 28th I said to the boys the weather's died down a bit, still couldn't fish but at least it wasn't raining and needed to get out and suggested we head over and check out the Eastern side of the Highlands, really just wanted to go for a drive and get out do something. Ralph said "I'm in" and our other mate Terry wasn't in the mood to do anything by now and opted to hit the pub again.
So Ralph and I set out from Miena and headed east,

We didn't leave the Highlands and finally got to a point to head left off the road to a country dirt track we thought led to a few lakes out that way, so took off on our exploitative drive.
On heading back from some small Eastern lakes we went out to look at, on the way back about 20klm shy of getting back to the main road which would take us home was where we had our once in a life time experience.
We were heading back through lightly treed farm land like padlocks about to head into the start of a Forested area again. After bursting into the forested area, dense on the left but a bit more open and not so cluttered on the right.

All of a sudden out from the left burst a large beige to light fawny coloured Predator. It was very long, much longer than it was high. As it broke cover and began crossing the road Ralph and I both burst out together with "Look!" I then shouted as a joke, "It's a Tassie Tiger!" As we both continued to yell with excitement like a couple of idiots. (Cabin Fever)

I was moving pretty fast as the track was pretty flat at that point, with no bends in the foreseeable distance, at which point the creature (Sensing, hearing) stopped as it realized we were coming and had what looked like a momentary reaction of panic. It went to go back the way it came, then turned and went to keep going then turned again and back and forth a few times in the end completely stopped the indecisiveness with its body completely broad side (Facing the way it was originally heading) and for a moment stood in the middle of the country dirt road and looked at us. By this stage I'm hitting the breaks as I was about to go down in history as killing one. So as I was breaking it firmly in its stance looked at us. We were now riding right up on it and close, Completely freaked out by the big head and what I referred to as Chinese eyes later acknowledged by renowned Tassie Tiger expert and Forestry guru Nick Mooney confirmed and stated "Yes they do have distinctive Almond Eyes".

Ralph and I both vented just by the way it looked at us, as we reeled back collectively from that look it gave us, venting"Oooorrrrrrrrrrg shit what is it?" Its body was longer than it was high, it's front legs seemed much higher than it's back legs so stood on an angle, higher in the front shoulders so not horizontal like a dog. It's tail came straight out like a continuation of its spine and unlike a dog was long and thick and straight, looked like a Roo's tail. While both reeling from the unusual Armond Eyed, and big headed creature with rounded like ears or as I recalled at the time in my later interview compact in oppose to big and or floppy like ears, ass lower to the ground than it's front legs (Nick Mooney later stating the low hocks on the back legs can have it crouch lower in the rear) by now there was no mistake and had me re yell "It's a Tassie Tiger, It is a Tassie Tiger!" There was no doubt! Ralph's yelling by now as we had a clear view for some time with its indecisive back and forth and then holding it's ground, looking at us in a way which stills gives me goose bumps when I think of that look, and he yelled, "Don't Run it over!!!" But by then I had the car well under control and even if it stayed wouldn't have hit it. The sky was over cast but with very light but thick clouds and with the sun still high as it was Summer and around 6:30pm or possibly later so the sun being dissipated by the thick but light clouds made the lighting perfect.

There was no mistaking what we were looking at now and being an animal unlike other native animals we grew up with to see this creature animated and right in front of us looked unusually surreal as it was almost like it shouldn't be, like we'd come across an Alien.

It finally as from where it come out on our left was far more thick with forest, turned and took off back in the direction it came. As it began to run off Ralph now yelled "Go!" And I re gased it regaining speed to get to it before it got through the country fence and raced back into the forest. I now was Yelling "Where are the stripes, where are the stripes?? I can't see the stripes!" (I remember thinking how can I tell people we saw a Tassie Tiger but couldn't see stripes) To which Ralph concentrating on where it ran back in yelled "There!" Now I thought he meant, There it is, but he meant there meaning the spot it ran back in as he kept his eyes on that spot like a pointer. So I braked and stopped and looked across to where it ran.

To our luck from the fence at that point to the forest was a clear area of grass with the forest between 20m to 40m or so back from the fence from the country slip ringed or barbed wire fence.
As I looked there as that's what I thought he meant, and just before the forest was a giant fallen tree, well dead and greyed and consisting of not just the main large trunk but a few other large limbs lying next to the tree as if pushed up against it to keep the felled tree and limbs contained together.

It was then as this huge old felled tree blocked the path of this perfect clearing from the forest, so as I looked I caught it just as it got to the tree in which it had to climb over to get away and was 20-30m In front of us. "There!" I said, Ralph still looking further forward yelled "Where?" With that it started to hurriedly start climbing the fallen tree to make its escape. It was in such a panic it lost its footing, paused reversing momentum for a second to regain its momentary backward stumble and kept going, it got to the top of the tree and as it started to head over it arch it's back as it went over the top and then when it presented it's rump did I see the stripes. They were on its bum and down onto the thick base of the tail and continued some way down the tail. I yelled "Oh Look at the stripes!" Pointing! it was then Ralph realized where I was pointing and was able to caught that last moment of its escape also seeing the stripes and then the big Kangaroo type tail follow up and over the log.

We had a VHS video on the back seat as well an SLR camera as I was into photography. We both got out and ran so fast we left the car doors open. As we were running towards the fence as I was trying to adjust my aperture and shutter speed, cursing myself for not having a point and click. As we were running I said to Ralph "Did you see the stripes, they were on its ass" he said "Yeah, I think that's where they are". "Really, are you sure?" I replied as when it was on the road I was trying to see them on its side, he said "Yeah pretty sure".

Our switch from stopping the car to running wasted no time, I was running so fast I had to make the decision, stop and climb over the fence or now as time was our enemy and being pretty fit, jump it. I decided the later and leapt like a Kangaroo as I got there. However as I went over one of my feet clipped the top wire that sent me running on the other side when I landed on a 45° angle for the entire lead up to the fallen tree. Thought I was going to face plant for sure. I presented at the top of the tree and stood still and as Tasmanian forest in the Central Highlands are a mix of small bushes and dead looking Gum Tree trunks, possibly being snow burnt in winter. I stopped and looked straight a head and looked and listen as well peripherally, waiting to see where it was as due to the open areas and small shrubs between the grey barked Highlands Gumtree's I should have been able now to see it running. Nothing! I bit the bullet and ran through the forest without concern and remember thinking, I don't care if I'm savaged by it if it means getting a shot.
Gone, couldn't believe it disappeared so quickly. We returned to the car buzzing. When we got back to the road were were a considerable ways up the road, looking back at the car both laughing at our doors still open. But amazed we had come out so far up the road. Pressed the speedometer and headed back.

Spent the whole night trying to convince Terry of what we'd seen. He wasn't buying it.

By morning however he said all right you two (Curious to why we hadn't yielded) said, take me to this alleged sighting, still suspicious we were roasting him but wanted to see the area in question.
We got there, with Ralph and I running immediately to the fence to get over only to see Terry who like myself was also a hunter and tracker and he was back on the road looking at the soft edges of the side of the road.
Dam, hadn't even thought of that the day before, and we had heaps of rain over night, he was looking for sign. I thought shit, and raced back and to my suprise he said, I actually believe you now. Not only had he found its tracks, you could make out the whole story even the hesitant back and forth where it was indecisive. But on the edge of the road were two prints one really complete in the soft edging of the road. He said "I've never seen paw marks like that, it's definetley not a dog. Alright he said I'm on board, you've got something here.

I proceeded to grab a price of paper and pen from the car and drew the paw print without exception. Why didn't I take a Photo? Back at the cabin being so excited Terry wanted to come, we had ran out without it and hadn't even thought at that stage of sign or prints. I was into art at the time and the night before had drawn what I'd seen re the animal. So on getting back to the Cabin I re drew and copied the paw mark onto the same bit of paper I'd drawn the Tiger on the night before.

No social media, no access to anyone and no official bodies open till after the break which was a frustrating couple of weeks waiting till everyone came back.
On the Spirit of Tasmania on the way back in the souvenir shop was a Tassie Tiger video which I bought.

It was on that I saw the legendary Nick Mooney and when back at work contacted him. He didn't dismiss to my suprise in fact the opposite, he loved the sighting and vented his frustrations of such a great sighting but being a specialist searching for them stated how painful it is tracking them for a job and never seeing one, he rang and interviewed Ralph and I on the same day ringing Ralph at his house (Land line days) On finding out I had drew the animal including the paw print which he was esspecially interested in. He asked to fax it to him and stay by the phone. He stated that the paw print was 100% accurate even drilled me pretty hard over the print and if I'd seen one before as he said only a few have prints or casts and he holds his close to his chest.

That lead to Lina Frigo at that point the head of the Mammalian Department of the Melbourne Musium contact me do do a formal sighting report.

Ralph and I were also invited by the Rare Fawna Association as guests and after their meeting got us to tell our story to the group.

Att the Rare Fauna Association night there was a guy their referred to as The Panther Man, who specialized in Pantha sighting in Victoria. He also examined all videos sent in to them for identification, which was an eye opener finding Panther sightings were just as common. Ironically Lina Frigo was there we had done our report with a week or two earlier so got to catch up with her too. I was disappointed when they said a Documentary Crew were looking for my details in regard to taking us back over to Tassie for an all expenses paid trip to do a Doco on our sighting and take them to where we saw it. They said they refused to pass our details on as they didn't want any crowds disturbing the Tigers location. It would have been at least an historical recording with all details of our experience fresh and no doubt littered with bits and pieces now probably forgotten. We could have always requested the exact location be not disclosed though while fresh in our heads as the buzz and hype stayed with us for some time, it would have been a formal recorded document which I'm sure now the RFAA probably would agree was an historical account that now would be amazing to look back on and no doubt studied with great interest being one of the best sightings. But they let us know our sighting was the second best in history with an extremely hight score on their chart system but having a Tassie Wild Life Officer the No.1 sighting with all the factors re his experience, but said ours although second with ours with the close proximity, long visual and close duration, the positive ID re description and the fact two people saw it had it head and shoulders score wise a head of any others with the exception of the Wildlife Officers that was only a couple of points between his and ours.

Last but not least I also met the late great Eric Guiler the world leading Tasmanian Tiger expert. I hadn't heard from him for some time after last speaking with Nick and out of frustration looked him up eventually myself. He said if I had of got that shot I'd be a very rich man. He had an Island put aside off the Eastern Coast of Tasmania with a menagerie of various Fauna that he had incase the capture of a mating pair that they could put on there for safety and allow them to bread. He loved our report and thought it was brilliant and also vented as to why he wasn't informed about it at the time as we were quite a few months into 1999 when I contacted him. Nick was away at that time and he was keen to catch up with him when he could.

The only thing is I've seen heaps of documentaries over the years with lots of people who had sightings and they were all vague in comparison to ours and wonder because we're on the record here and in Tassie, and a top ranking sighting, why I've never been contacted for an interview. Weird, maybe the pre social media days our reports being filed on paper.

Anyway as late as Xmas 1998 there were still Tigers as not only did Ralph and I see one and up close, I nearly killed it.

Hope you enjoyed our close encounter, Ralph and I still from time to time if having a recap are excited in having Ralph remind me of something I'd completely forgotten and vica versa as we re live that journey with a connection that confidently comes with experiencing something like that you both know you don't have to explain to anyone. On several visits back to Tassie Fishing or romantic getaways will often if in the Central Highlands will scoot out for a look. The forest has changed considerably but the old dead tree although smaller is still sitting there where it lay in the mix of that Xmas period and perfect storm of late December 1998."

Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1029408967092030/posts/6447276695305203/

TAS.1998.12.xx #1

"A group reported seeing an animal about the size of a labrador with obvious stripes and a straight tail as they rounded a bend in the road between Pyengana and Weldborough on the Tasman Highway. It was stated that the animal appeared to be preparing to jump up a small embankment on the side of the road, and even though they saw it for just a few seconds, they passed within 2m of it. They did not stop or mark the spot, but drove on in shock."

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.1998.xx.xx

"A person e-mailed a Parks and Wildlife Service officer to say that...[they] knew of a Midlands farmer who supposedly shot a thylacine that he had mistaken for a dog chasing sheep in 1998."

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.1999.10.17

"Here is my diary entry from a few years ago.
Sunday, 17 October 1999, 9.20 AM

I’ve pulled over at the start of the road to Corinna (C249). I feel compelled to write down what happened to me not half an hour ago.

At about 8.55 AM, while driving on the track from Sundowner Point back to the main road (C214), I rounded a bend and saw what I believe was a Thylacine. I only saw it for 2, maybe 3 seconds before it darted off very fast into thick scrub. It was moving across the track when I rounded the bend. I saw the general form of the animal but really only recognised the back half as its head and shoulders were, by then, obscured by undergrowth at the side of the track. It was about 15 – 20 metres away. It stopped briefly, as if it was looking at the car, before moving away. It was definitely the shape of a small dog (similar to perhaps a blue heeler) and moved both hind legs independently (ran away, it did not hop). The colour was that of beach sand perhaps slightly darker and it had 2 or 3 mid to dark brown stripes on its hindquarters, not many and not pronounced. The tail was long (full length) and rigid like that of a wallaby and seemed to be bony towards the end. The end was rounded rather than pointed. There was some hair on the tail, only a little, with a slight bit more at the tip. It was definitely not bushy like that of some dogs. The back legs looked slender and were a different shape to that of a dog. The lower part of the leg, from the ankle joint, was smaller than would be expected.

I stopped the car and got out then ran up to the spot where it entered the scrub. It was impenetrable (coastal Tea-Tree and Banksia) and I could not find any nearby tracks leading off the main track. I did hear it moving away at a fast pace with a fair bit of rustling and a lot of twigs breaking.

I left after a few minutes contemplating what I had just seen.

The weather was fine and sunny. I had a clear view of the road ahead with no glare and the windscreen was clean.

I was travelling slowly, about 20 km/h as the track was narrow. The new car I have, Ford AU Falcon, is very quiet so I may have surprised it."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607040542/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/forum/Forum3/HTML/000025.html

TAS.199X.xx.xx

"saw thylacines several years ago... 3 times to be precise..in the 1990's down around lune river in the south of the state...over the space of about 3 years..i was prospecting at the time..beautiful creature really quiet inquisitive at times..some of my mates who are around my age (70yrs) have seen the odd one down there to..marvelous creatures."

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook.html

TAS.1999/2000.xx.xx

Carol Conolon:

"Many years ago and I am talking 1999-2000 I was in my back yard where I was living in the southern Midlands around the Lower Marshes area, when I saw what appeared to be a cat like image walking through the shrubs of bushland and I got my husband's attention and said to him could he see it and his reply at first was that it looked like a large dog but I said I don't think it's a dog and walked more like a cat but its head was a light tan colour but its back looked darkish from where we were standing. Thinking back the distance would have been around 200-300 meters away from us and I said to him that I thought it was a Tassie tiger, he first said that he wasn't too sure. But after watching it for around 5-8 minutes walking through the shrub I was more convinced that I was seeing was a Tassie Tiger."

Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TasmanianTigerArchives/permalink/2335378923441572/

TAS.2000.3.xx #1

"A person reported seeing an animal that crossed the Lyell Highway near the Wild Rivers National Park that did not look like any type of dog they had seen. It was chocolate brown all over, with a long body, a long tail and a squashed-in type of face. It walked "majestically" across the road 70m away."

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.2000.3.xx #2

"A thylacine was reported to have run across a track ahead of a four-wheel-drive at the southern end of Bronte Lagoon. It was seen for just a second or two. A subsequent check by authorities found no footprints."

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.2000.4.xx

Thylacine researcher "Tigerman" (pseudonym) took photographs of two sheep that he believes display the typical thylacine killing pattern (as reported by Guiler, 1985), with a third carcass nearby:

"While walking through an isolated east coast sheep paddock in April 2000 looking for thylacine evidence, the following carcasses were found 50m apart.

...[E]ach of the victims was killed by what appears to be a single predator. Marks under the adult’s front feet show the sheep was still alive (kicking) for several hours after the attack. Note also that specific places were targeted on both victims; primarily the chest and inside of the back leg, yet there are few visible marks anywhere else, except the top of the adult’s head, where it appears the predator has tried to access the brain. It would take a lot of force to tear a patch of skin from the chest of an adult sheep in such a way.

Most importantly, the close-up of the nose suggests the animal that killed this adult sheep was very vicious, with a mouth full of teeth that cut and slash cleanly; consistent with thylacine dentition, but unlike the bite of a dog. You can even see two v shaped cuts in the upper right of the nose laceration, which appear to have been caused by the distinctive cutting edges of thylacine molars; molars of a dog are similar in shape, but not as sharp. There was another dead sheep about 300m away from these two" (p. 10-11)

Source: http://www.naturalworlds.org/tigerbook/MS_files/Magnificent%20Survivor%202.pdf

TAS.2000.5.xx

"An animal that looked like a hyena was reported to have run across the Cradle Mountain Link Rd at night, but did not move like a dog. It was seen by one person, who stated it had a large head and rounded ears and was light brown around the neck. It was observed in headlights for about 10 seconds."

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.2000.xx.xx #1

Thylacine researcher "Tigerman" (pseudonym) photographically documented tracks, tail marks, scats and a possible nest, that may belong to thylacine, in the five months after his discovery of the sheep carcasses on a property in April 2000 (TAS.2000.4.xx).

Source: http://www.naturalworlds.org/tigerbook/MS_files/Magnificent%20Survivor%202.pdf

TAS.2000.xx.xx #2

Col Bailey's third thylacine encounter (the first: SA.1967.xx.xx; the second: TAS.1995.3.xx):

"I smelt another in the year 2000 in the Sawback Range near Adamsfield, Tasmania"

Source: https://wild.com.au/news/new-thylacine-book-col-bailey/

TAS.2000.xx.xx #3

"An animal came around the campfire while he was asleep. A footprint was seen that he thinks was a thylacince. He also smelt a strange odour."

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.2000.xx.xx #4

"A person e-mailed a Parks and Wildlife Service officer to say that an acquaintance insisted on having seen a thylacine less than a year before in the tiers near Liffey"

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.2001.8.xx

"A mustard-coloured animal about the size of a big spaniel dog was seen walking along a track near the Murchison Highway."

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.2001.9.21

"At about 3-4pm on 21st September we were travelling north from [redacted] in the (North West) in our hire car when an animal ran across the road back into the bush ahead of us (not close enough to have to brake to avoid hitting it). My husband both concur on this description:
It was quite large, say about 50cm high.
Distinctive large white stripes towards the back of the animal, with the rest of the animal being rather dark grey in colour.
It ran quite quickly and looked like a cheetah as it moved with the tail in a 45 degree angle.
The rear of the animal definitely had a feline/grayhound shape to it.
Unfortuneately (sic) it ran so quick that neither of us had a chance to see it's face properly so we have doubts as to what it was.
We live on a property in W.A. with 2000 acres of bush and are aware that feral cats can get very big, so it could have been a cat, but it had destinctive (sic) markings that I haven't seen before on a cat. Are feral cats prevailent (sic) in that area? What do you think based on this description? I've read that the Tiger doesn't/didn't move very quickly and is very shy so it was probably was a cat? Oh well, it certainly added a bit more excitement to our already fantastic holiday!"

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.2001.9.xx

"A man heading home one night saw an animal that he believed was a thylacine on the Sideling between Launceston and Scottsdale. Making the report, the man said the striped animal was about the size of a large cat, and he expected that a thylacine would have been larger."

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.2001.xx.xx

Owen from Melbourne:

"they are still alive... in 2001 on a two day hiking and fishing trip to Black Bluff/Paddys lake my dad and i saw a male Tiger feasting on a Wallaby beside Paddys Lake.. it was about the size of Kelpie. our presence startelled it and it took off towards the eastern side of the lake.
i am looking forward to my next trip to the central highlands this autumn. I'll hopefully see it again and get some photos this time.."

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook.html

TAS.2002.2.3

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.2002.2.6

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.2002.5.22

Thylacine researcher "Tigerman" (pseudonym) details the first of his two thylacine encounters on successive days:

"At 3pm on 22/5/02 I was checking a muddy area beside a forest logging track. The day was windy with patches of cloud. Nothing there but the usual devil and wombat prints, so I climbed back into the car and kept going. The strategy for the prior few days had been to drive as fast as reasonably possible and hope that any animals on the track would be surprised by the speed of the car. This day followed four years of hard tiger searching in all areas of Tasmania, with no irrefutable thylacine evidence in my own mind whatsoever.

So there I was driving fast around a corner a few hundred metres past where I had stopped to look for prints, and rounding a bend I saw an animal on the track. The next few seconds are described as follows.

The animal was walking slowly along the track facing me, and I could see that it was quite slender, but still about the height of a medium sized dog. The colour appeared chocolate brown with golden tinges on hair around the edges of the body. The sun had broken through and was shining in the animal’s face. Its head was down casually sniffing the ground, and it took a second or so to realise I was approaching. As I saw the animal I said to myself “now what’s that?” One of the video cameras was on my lap, but there was no time to pick it up and turn it on. Instead I chose to speed up and get a close look at the animal before it ran away. At the time I had no expectation it was a thylacine.

As I approached at high speed the animal looked up suddenly, then turned, and ran to the side of the track. I clearly saw an unmistakable thylacine shape and loping running style. As it reached the track verge the animal bounded about 3m across a gutter cutting. While it was stretched out in mid air several images were burned in my mind; the sharp back hocks and tail continuous with the body, the large head and round paw-like front feet, the deep chest. The body hair was short and smooth. The animal used its tail as a rudder while in mid air.

Once it reached the bush it was gone. I ground the car to a halt, alighted ASAP and ran after it with the camera going, but there was no further sign of the animal. I hoped that it had gone to ground and was hiding close by, so I was ready to film as it broke and ran away, but that was not to be. Returning to the car I immediately made a drawing of the animal, and a copy of that original is shown below.

I could not see the stripes, but I tell you I did not need to. Tigers in high rainfall areas are said to be darker (Paddle p.45), and while it was running I would not have expected to see the stripes anyway. The closest I got to this animal was about 20m, and the total sighting lasted around six seconds. It was definitely a juvenile thylacine about 18 inches tall.

Written history says the Tasmanian tiger was a slow, clumsy runner, but this one was certainly agile, and I would not say that it was running slowly. I expect the speed of the car, noise of the wind, and the sun shining in its eyes were the reasons why I surprised it. Also the fact I had previously stopped the car meant there was no long lead up of engine/tyre noise as the car approached. In addition to all of that there was a nearby flowing creek to mask the vehicle noise.

Inspecting the ground where it ran I found the footprints and cast them (there were no others to confuse). That night I stayed in a cabin at a caravan park and analysed the prints. They were not clear because the animal was running through stony road base, but some of the substrate had been previously disturbed and was quite loose and deep, allowing usable casts. The prints I cast that day could easily be confused with some casts I had previously made of Tasmanian devil footprints. One reasonably clear, deep front print cast from the disturbed road base appears the same as some casts from a devil front foot, but the fifth toe (thumb) is higher. Sometimes devil fifth toes are pushed higher by uneven substrate, so if I had not seen the tiger I would have said that print was made by a very large devil.

The other prints were not particularly clear, however one back print was obviously not from a devil (see Plates 47 and 48). The print had a far more rounded pad, and the two middle toes were clearly further forward than the others, though loose sand had fallen back into the depressions."

Source: http://www.naturalworlds.org/tigerbook/MS_files/Magnificent%20Survivor%203.pdf

TAS.2002.5.23

Thylacine researcher "Tigerman" (pseudonym) details the second of his two thylacine encounters on successive days:

"At 4:30 that afternoon (23/5/02) I was back at the same spot, parked on the side of the track with the back of the car open before a long straight section; preparing for a long night vision stake-out with an invisible infra-red spotlight. At about 5pm the light was fading so I spread the chicken and cat food along the track. After that I returned to the car, then walked across the track to wash my hands in the same creek which had created noise to muffle sound of the approaching car the day before. I carried a video camera at all times.

After washing my hands I was walking back across the track to the car with video camera in hand, looked down the track and saw a large animal walking across about 150m away. Instantly I recognised it as an adult thylacine.

This second animal was very large, with shape and size similar to a panther; longer in the body than the juvenile seen the day before. It was walking casually across the track apparently unaware that I was there. Its head was held quite low as though it was tired, but its general walking gait was very stealthy; a creepy, flowing, robotic walking style I have certainly never seen before. The back line appeared to stay the same while the legs moved underneath. I immediately made a drawing of the animal on the same page as the juvenile sighted the day before[.]

This animal was the same colour as the smaller one seen the day before; like the colour of a Tasmanian pademelon, but a more solid, intense, velvety brown. I could not see the stripes, which is not surprising from that distance. Again I tell you that I did not need to see the stripes. The shape of this animal was absolutely, unmistakably thylacine, with the longer body of a large adult male. The shape was perfectly silhouetted against the pale road base of the track.

On this second occasion the video camera was in my hand, but the animal was already half way across the track when I saw it, and by the time I gasped at what I was looking at, there was not enough time to raise and start the camera. The video camera I was using had a four second delay before images were actually recorded. It started recording a literal split second after the tail vanished into the ferns. “How convenient” is the return comment, but all I can do is state what happened. The duration of this sighting was around five seconds."

Source: http://www.naturalworlds.org/tigerbook/MS_files/Magnificent%20Survivor%203.pdf

TAS.2002.5.26

Thylacine researcher "Tigerman" (pseudonym) reproduced a photo of a possible thylacine kill in his "book" Magnificent Survivor:

"Wallaby carcass suspected to have been fed upon by a juvenile thylacine 26/5/02." (p. 35)

Source: http://www.naturalworlds.org/tigerbook/MS_files/Magnificent%20Survivor%203.pdf

TAS.2002.6.xx

"ONE of the state's most celebrated Tasmanian tiger hunters yesterday told of a fresh sighting on a bush road this week.

A North-West man said the supposedly extinct predator had stared at him before following two wombats it was hunting on a track near Circular Head.
Tiger hunter James Malley, who has spent almost half a century searching for a thylacine, said he had no reason to doubt the report.

The man who said he saw the tiger is reluctant to go public because of the stigma associated with sightings.

Mr Malley, of Black River near Smithton, said the man phoned him soon after the incident on Tuesday.

"It was definitely a tiger. I get news of sightings like this extremely regularly and it all fits," said Mr Malley, who immediately went to the area of the reported sighting.

"That's not the only one I have heard of in that area.

"Over the last two years I have probably had five [reports] and all fit with a seasonal pattern."

The man who reported the sighting said he had stopped his four-wheel-drive to engage its hubs and had turned the engine off.

"The wombats went past him for about 15 metres, flat out into the bush," said Mr Malley, who has scaled back the time he personally devotes to tiger searches.

"Then in front of him, the tiger was no further than five metres away. He was dumbfounded.

"The tiger stopped. He saw it for more than 10 seconds and it just stopped and stared at him.

"He then got in his four-wheel-drive, knew it was no good chasing it through the bush, and came straight in and called me."

Mr Malley said he had been unable to find tiger footprints in the area.

"A sighting like that is worth three months of searching, to do it well," said the man who has covered some of the state's most rugged terrain in his search.

"I still get calls from all over Tasmania from people wanting me to come and have a look at tracks."

Mr Malley it would be more useful spending millions of dollars on a full-scale search rather trying to clone a tiger.

"If they put the money into rediscovery, there would be a much greater chance of the tiger being seen again," he said. "Put (it)into protecting the tiger and its habitat."

Mr Malley said conditions were ideal for thylacines because there was plenty of game about but, like any animal facing extinction, the tigers were wary"

Source: Sayer, Luke. (2002). Tassie Tiger alert after reported bush sighting. The Mercury, 2 June 2002.

TAS.2002.9.xx

"On this late afternoon...about four days ago...we were out for a ramble in the bush (Americans...we call the woods 'the bush').
We had our dog with us on a leash as we always have her in full control. Patch has a queer yodel which she uses only when we are in the bush on our tiger hunts. She never uses the sound at any other times except when she sees me or Joan leaving her presence. It is always a sound mixed with excitement and what sounds like fear. Of course we are alerted. On this day the wind was up and we were in a heavly bushed and forested area. Patch stopped and made her 'funny sound'. We stopped, I looked up to my right (Joan was looking elsewhere) and there, about 25 metres to my right and behind some tall tussocks a brown and somewhat golden tail flashed past me. It was NOT a kangaroo. When you live in the bush as we do and have for many years you learn that only a kangaroo tail looks like a kangaroo tail. Also kangaroos bound and thump away. One can always hear them as they bound off into the bush...and their bouncing tails have a rhythm.

Could it have been a dog? Because I did not see the whole animal the answer to this has to be, "Possibly". However, I have never seen a dog bound through the bush with its tail quite straight out as this one.

Did I see stripes? No.

Did it make any noise? No. The tail glided quite silently in front of me...almost as if it were disembodied and quickly floating away.

How long did I view this? Only about 3 seconds.

Conclusion: I have to say that what I saw was NOT a kangaroo. I do NOT think it was a dog. There are no other large animals in the bush that could possibly bear any semblance to what I saw.

Was it another sighting of a Tasmanian Tiger?
I do not know for sure. However, we will be visiting that area, with camera in hand, as often as we can."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607040927/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/forum/Forum3/HTML/000011.html

TAS.2002.xx.xx

Thylacine researcher "Tigerman" (pseudonym) reproduced a photograph of a dead sheep that a farmer suspected to have been killed by a thylacine, in his "book" Magnificent Survivor*:

"Farmer suspects this to be a thylacine kill because devils did not touch the carcass for days afterward. Note destruction of the nasal bones."

Source: http://www.naturalworlds.org/tigerbook/MS_files/Magnificent%20Survivor%203.pdf

* Tigerman mentions the photo in Part 2 of the book, as being in Part 4. However, it is actually in Part 3.

TAS.2003.8.30

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.2003.xx.xx

Thylacine researcher "Tigerman" (pseudonym) reproduced a photograph, taken by a landowner, of a potential thylacine kill (sheep). Possibly in May or April:

"The chest is ripped out, which again would require a lot of force (a broken rib can be seen at the top of the chest opening). There was another victim nearby, killed in the same way; both were perfectly healthy the day before. This is not the way dogs kill sheep. According to the land owner, two or three sheep are killed this way each year during March or April, which may indicate seasonal movement of a lone thylacine. "

Source: http://www.naturalworlds.org/tigerbook/MS_files/Magnificent%20Survivor%202.pdf

TAS.2004.2.24

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.2004.10[-11?].xx #1-3

John:

"i have seen 3 tassie tigers in the last few weeks situated in the bush behind my house as i was going for my daily walk upto the risdon caves"

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook4.html

TAS.2004.11.10

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.2004.11.24

"I saw a tasmanian tiger on the 24th of november 2004 615 in the morning at lake king william near derwent bridge while trout fishing it was approximately 20-30 meters away from me and i watched it 4 approximately 5-10 minutes as it walked through the bush. it will live and die with me and is something i think about every day."

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook.html

TAS.2004.xx.xx #1

"Whilst camping on the [redacted]...He heard a 'yip yip' sound from an animal in the bush. He thought it must be a thylacine because he had never heard that sound from any other animal."

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.2004.xx.xx #2

"I saw one of these creatures, camping in the outback of Tasmania, back in 2004. I am 100% sure I saw it outside my tent, but it ran away while I was geting my camera."

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook.html

TAS.c2004.xx.xx

"I watch a tiger hunting a couple of years ago in the Fingal Valley. Probably a little different to most...i spotted the tiger from the air! Let me explain, at the time I was testing a student pilot who was doing his Private Pilot Licence test.Anyway we were in the Fingal Valler about 4500feet above ground when I closed the throttle on the engine to simulate a engine failure. At this point the aircraft becomes a glider and remained so for the next 5-6 minutes while the student went thru his drills.
We were circling (silently) above the river valley when I noticed an animal almost directly below us moving through the gorse.

The animal was a grey/brown colour, a little over 1.2m in length from nose to visible tail (which was carried "down" rather than extended). It was moving along a track through the gorse and appeared to be stalking..ears laidback in a crouching walk.
I am sure it was not a dog or a deer."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607041024/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/forum/Forum3/HTML/000023.html

TAS.2004/05?.xx.xx

"Having visited Tassie recently, driving round a bend on the B34 15 kilometres north west of Swansea and about 50 kilometres south west of Bicheno (on the east coast) last Friday and I noticed what appeared to be a tiger carcas on the side of the road. My partner wouldn't let me stop the car, but it was very suspicious and different from any of the massive amounts of roadkill I had seen on the journey. It had a fawn coloured fur coat and a pointy tail. The animal appeared to be smaller than a dingo and very wolf-like. Because it was on its side to back, I couldn't see any stripes."

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook.html

TAS.2005.2.3

The Klaus Emmerichs photos.

"The tourist took them on February 3 while driving through Tasmania's rugged central highlands with his girlfriend.

As evening approached they turned off the main road, and found somewhere to park for the night. He grabbed a bottle, put his camera bag around his neck, and set out looking for water. Not far into the bush he spotted a striped animal.

As the animal approached, he snapped twice. It then vanished and he he dashed back to tell his girlfriend. They returned to the spot but the creature was nowhere to be found."

Source: Macey, Richard. (2005). A Tassie tiger? It's the $3m question. The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 March.

Sources:

Bailey, Col. (2006). Tiger photos - the real story. Tasmanian Times, 25 April.

Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

Macey, Richard. (2005). A Tassie tiger? It's the $3m question. The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 March.

TAS.2005.2.23/24

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.2005.3.15?

"reported seeing two 'strange' animals, videoing one."

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.<2005.4.xx #5-6

Derrick Lovell:

"In April 2005 l visited Tasmania and took a tour on the then recently refurbished Mt Lyell Railway from Queenstown to Strahan. The tour guide made a comment, "If you dropped your pet dog into the bush it wouldn't have room to wag its tail", The bush was so dense. On the trip l met an old timer who asked me if l had come to claim the prize? Kerry Packer had put up $1,000,000 for a genuine photo of a Thylacine. I told him even if l saw one l wouldn't make it public, prize or no prize. After some discussion about conservation and my interest in it he told me some stories of his camping trips in the Tasmanian bush. He said he had found scat that looked like no other animals he had seen. Also, he was positive he had seen Thylacines, but , given his age and no comprehension of modern telephone technology, together with not having a camera, he wasn't able to prove anything. I believed him. I wish l could have spent more time discussing it as he seemed to have taken me into his confidence but l literally did have to catch a train. I've told the story many times and been accused of being a crackpot, but l seriously believe Thylacines still exist in the wild."

Source: https://www.gofundme.com/eku4u5wc

TAS.2005.6.5

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.2005.12.29? #1

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.2005.12.29 #2?

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

Same as report above?

TAS.2006?. 1.xx

From a newspaper (presumably) that is only quoted, not specifically mentioned:

"It was 3.30am on a mild January morning when North Coast resident Mick Stubbs watched a cat-like creature walk along a roadway near Mullumbimby and then duck under a fence before disappearing into the long grass.
"In the first split second I said 'oh look, there's a fox' and then straight away I realised it was no fox because it had a huge long tail that was thin and even in length. I looked up the body and it was a long body, it looked very cat like, but obviously much larger than a cat, probably 700 millimetres high. The tail was a very long tail, it had a gold-coloured coat, and rounded ears, bright gold eyes in the headlights. It was definitely no canine animal. It was no dingo cross or no wild dog. I suppose I had a three or four seconds look at it. It was something like I have never seen before and it really took me back," Mr Stubbs said.

"It sounds a little bit sensational but I have been racking my brain and talking to people and looking up books, I have got it down to three animals, two of them are marsupial predators, carnivores, and the other is a domesticated cat, but in the gigantic form as big as any other large predatory cat."

Since sighting the animal, Mr Stubbs says he has heard of more than ten other people who have reported a similar sighting on the North Coast.

"The Great Dividing Range has never been totally destroyed and somehow they have managed to extend their range back down to the coast, if they haven't always been here. Being nocturnal and probably very smart and able to range large distances, I don't put it beyond being a Thylacine."

"I have always been interested in the natural world, so that's why when I saw this creature, it was almost unbelievable, and that's is why it has taken me this long to get my own head around what I actually saw."

"It turns out that I am not the only one to see strange looking larger predatory animals. I am a firm believer now, that as wild as it sounds, we have got a so-called extinct species in our midst," Mr Stubbs said."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607040600/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/forum/Forum3/HTML/000021.html

TAS.2006.10.xx

The Chaotika thylacine photo. Taken by a tourist while visiting Tasmania. The banding/striping along the rear of the body does not closely match that of any extant thylacine skin (including "Old Hairy" on the mainland), juvenile or adult. Worse still, the stripes are too few in number.

The photo and wider story have been discussed online several times:

Rehberg, Chris. (n.d.). Where Light Meets Dark. Chaotika thylacine - initial analysis. Available at: http://www.wherelightmeetsdark.com.au/examining-the-evidence/tasmanian-tiger-(thylacine)/chaotika-thylacine/chaotika-thylacine-initial-analysis/ [Accessed 10 June, 2018]

Rehberg, Chris. (n.d.). Where Light Meets Dark. Chaotika thylacine - second analysis. Available at: http://www.wherelightmeetsdark.com.au/examining-the-evidence/tasmanian-tiger-(thylacine)/chaotika-thylacine/chaotika-thylacine-second-analysis/ [Accessed 10 June, 2018]

Woolheater, Craig. (2006, 11 October). Another Thylacine Photo? Cryptomundo, blog post, available at: https://cryptomundo.com/bigfoot-report/thylacine-photo/ [Accessed 10 June, 2018]

TAS.2009.4.10

Source: http://www.thylacineresearchunit.org/sightingreports.htm

TAS.200X.xx.xx

"In the noughties Jamie gets a less reliable glimpse of something thylacine-sized and shaped emerging from forest near a camp on the edge of Paradise Plains at dusk."

Source: Kirkpatrick, James "Jamie" Barrie. (2017). Conservation Worrier. Hobart: De Press Inc. 277 pp.

TAS.2010.5.13

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.2010.xx.xx

A plaster cast of a footprint taken in 2010 by "a highly respected bushman and naturalist". It was in Nick Mooney's possession while he was writing two thylacine-related pieces, which he makes mention of in both writings:

"Loaned to me by a person who claims to have been given the piece by someone who they say cast it near such and such a place (in a large reserve). The reported caster confirms he did make the cast and claims it was from a series of footprints he found in 2010. All I can say is that it is a Thylacine footprint or a hoax" (p. 46)

Source: Mooney, Nick. (2014). So Near and Yet So Far, pp. 37-49. In: Lang, Rebecca (ed.). The Tasmanian Tiger: Extinct or Extant? Hazelbrook, NSW: Strange Nation Publishing. 186 pp.

NB: The first quote is from Mooney's guest article "Thylacine; the Improbable Tiger" on the Capeia blog.

TAS.2011.3.10

"I saw the Tasmanian Tiger at 6.15am on 10th March 2011, the GPS position of the boat I was on at the time [redacted]. My husband [redacted] and I was sailing down the west coast of Tasmania and anchored for the night...

The photos were taken about half hour after I saw the animal and the footprints in the sand were very clear and there were other animal footprints there as well and I believe that he could have been hunting.

I must let you know that I was not on a mission to look for the Tasmanian Tiger but very interested in the bird life in the area and had my binoculars with me in the cockpit of out sailing boatd [redacted] and saw the animal very clearly."

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.2011.11.1-4

"Then in the middle of nowhere, as I worked my way through the ferns and shrubbery, trying to keepon the animal path, I came upon a small patch of open forest soil, and embedded into it a paw impression, alittle indistinct but showing the familiar formation that of a Thylacine! The paw print was barely 2-3 minutes old, so recent was it that I could see fine grains of dirt falling into the impression, and the pungent odour was all about me.

...

The paw impression measured 12cm in length by 12cm width across the four front toes [a fifth digitis rarely impressed] and 8.5cm wide across the three lobe-like pads at the rear."

(A photograph of the paw print can be seen on page 8.)

Source: Gilroy, Rex. (2011). The Search for Living Thylacines – Results of the Gilroy 2011 expedition. Mysterious Australia 1(12): 2-22.

TAS.2011.11.5

"Then Ispotted a dried patch of mud ahead. It was coated in twigs and rotting leaf litter. There were wallaby and wombat paw prints not well defined due to the twigs and leaf litter, but among these were other indistinctmarks and one reasonably defined impression – that of a Thylacine!"

(Photographs of the paw print can be seen on pages 10,11.)

Source: Gilroy, Rex. (2011). The Search for Living Thylacines – Results of the Gilroy 2011 expedition. Mysterious Australia 1(12): 2-22.

TAS.2011.11.19

"along that old trail I came across a leaf and twig littered small mud patch within which I found first a left and right back set of paw prints, and the just beyond these a third, front left paw print. The front track measured 12cm long by 12cm wide. 18cm behind it on its left was the left back paw print measuring 11cm long by 9cm wide, 22cm behind the front paw print was the right rear paw impression, measuring the same as the left impression and separated 10cm from the left rear paw print. Isoon cast these impressions which, although indistinct or distorted amid tiny twig and still wet leaf fragments, were still the best specimens I had so far discovered. I considered myself extremely lucky to have found whatI had on this trip. The paw prints had been made the night before by a ‘tiger’ that was probably still somewhere on the mountain above this fire trail."

(Photographs of the paw print can be seen on pages 19,20.)

Source: Gilroy, Rex. (2011). The Search for Living Thylacines – Results of the Gilroy 2011 expedition. Mysterious Australia 1(12): 2-22.

TAS.2011.12.24

Source: http://www.thylacineresearchunit.org/sightingreports.htm

TAS.2012.3.3

Source: http://www.thylacineresearchunit.org/sightingreports.htm

TAS.2012.xx.xx #1 and #2

In the comments section of an article by Col Bailey, "Troutman" posted about two different occasions on which he (with his wife on the second) heard similar vocalisations to those reported by Bailey:

"Interesting that Col mentions a double yip.
I heard such a noise from near our fairly remote farmhouse last year.
I was new to Taz rural living then and didn’t know if it was a quoll or devil etc.
The sound was unusual enough to make me consider going outside, almost starkers, into the cold night for a look. Sadly, I stayed in bed!
Having read Col’s account, I regret not investigating.
My wife and I heard a similar more distant sound around the same time, also at night, but nothing since.
Our paddocks were empty of stock back then and had been empty for a while before we arrived, but we now have some stock and an active dog, perhaps now a deterrent to our yipping friend.
Do any other Taz animals make a double yip?"

Source: Bailey, Col. (2013). Tigers in the Weld: The Sequel. Tasmanian Times, Sunday 7 April.

TAS.2012.xx.xx #3

A man thinks he saw a thylacine on his Midlands land 7 years ago (reported 15 August 2019).

Source: https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/RTI%20025%20-%202019-20.pdf

TAS.2012.xx.xx #4

Neil Waters' sighting.

Source: https://aussiewildlifeshow.podbean.com/e/neil-water-form-the-thylacine-awareness-group/

TAS.2012.xx.xx #5

A camera trap photo taken by Andrew Orchard in north-east Tasmania shows a thylacine according to him. Neil Waters has also voiced his agreement with the identification, although other researchers are completely unconvinced by the blurry footage. The photo can be seen in (Boscia, 2017).

Source: Boscia, Stefan. (2017). A brief history of Thylacine sightings. The Examiner, 10 September.

TAS.2014.1.xx #1

Title: "Thylacine Tassie Tiger prints"

From the video description:

"This is a clip of Thylacine tracks I found in Tasmania in January this year. Over a hundred metres of clear undisturbed tracks in sand along side a wallaby that it appeared to be in hot pursuit of"

TAS.2014.1.xx #2

Neil Waters sighting.

Source: https://aussiewildlifeshow.podbean.com/e/neil-water-form-the-thylacine-awareness-group/

TAS.2014.8.29

"Date: 29/8/2014 7:00 am

Duration: 3-5 sec

Reported: 12/9/14 (though was in media previously)

Reported by: [redacted]

Location: [redacted]

Small juvenile—no sign of stripes darted across the road right to left. Had his tail straight. It's back was straight and rigid as well. First glimpse was probably about 50 metres distant. He was travelling about 80km/h and he pulled up (a laden truck) and the animal was went off the other side of the road nearly under the truck. He commented on the strange shuffling gait of the animal -very un-dog like. Visibility was apparently good."

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.2015.4.3

During a press conference pertaining to the Booth Richardson Thylacine Team (BRT Team) alleged thylacine footage (TAS.2016.xx.xx), BRT Team member Joe Booth told the press that his son Gregory saw a thylacine in 2015. Thus providing the impetus to put out the camera traps that captured the Booth-Richardson footage.

A redacted version of Joe Booth's written account can be seen at Chris Rehberg's Where Light Meets Dark (WLMD) website.

Thylacine researcher Adrian Richardson has written a 21-page report on the Booth sighting, including photographs of the location and several sketches produced in 2016.

TAS.2015.4.6

Source: http://www.thylacineresearchunit.org/sightingreports.htm

TAS.2015.5.4

"Duration: Unclear but perhaps 1-2 minutes

Reported by: [redacted]...observed by a friend's adult son

Location: Exact location unknown but [redacted]

[redacted] was walking through the bush or along a track, its not yet clear, and disturbed the alleged tiger (a young animal) which was resting under or against a fallen tree. At this point the animal was within a couple of metres of [redacted]. He claimed that the animal moved off in no hurry moving through the bush alternating between walking on the track ([redacted]) and in the bush adjacent the track. All the time [redacted] was following along behind only metres away, with the animal showing no great concern. This went on for some 2-300 metres. Presumably the animal ran off at this point. Neither [redacted] or his dad [redacted] have been able to be contacted so details are sketchy at best. The story appears in the latest edition of the local newsletter "The Highland Digest".

...

they web searched to find people who knew about tas tigers and then went out the next day with at least two of them (some one from the West Coast and another from Tyenna both "knowing a lot about TT and having previously seen them"). They found the spoor of the animal and took video of it...photos were provided."

They also picked up a scat from the location where the animal was seen but this appears to most likely be a cat, possibly quoll. They measured the gait of the tracks at about 30cm."

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.2015.6.16

"Date: 16/6/15 3.30 pm-ish

Duration: 40-50 sec

Reported 16/6/15

Reported by: [redacted]

Animal crossed the road as the observer drove a long the road. Animal was initially about 100 metres away and as they slowed down and drove past it as it reached the other side of the road it was approximately 10 metres away. Visibility was good. There were two other people in the car (not related or friends-there was a vehicle sale in progress!)."

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.2015.8.xx

Source: http://www.thylacineresearchunit.org/sightingreports.htm

TAS.2015.xx.xx

Thylacine Research Unit (T.R.U.) member Bill Flowers heard a strange animal call:

Source:

TAS.2016.6-7.xx

From RTI/FOI document "Thylacine Sighting Reports - 1 September 2016 to 19 September 2019":

"IN the middle of the road when seen, appeared to respond to the sight of the car and ran off the road
into the bush. This is his account of it: "This was around June or maybe July, about 6.00 to 6.30 am on
the Sheffield side of the crest of the hill, because the road was not really windy at the time. It was
dark, as it is in winter at that time.
As I said, the creature looked like a large cat in size – about 14” to 18” high and about 24” to 30” long.
The distinguishing features that stood out were the dark bands on its back running from the spine
down across to its underbelly. These bands seemed wide so there were about 5 of them. The rest of
the fur appeared brown – middle brown, not quite as light as a tan colour.
The other thing was its snout which was not cat like and more like a fox snout. I noticed this as it ran
into the forest off the road. One other thing was, when it ran, (it had longer legs than a bandicoot), it
ran like a cat or dog or fox does. The back end of the body was thinner than the chest. That is to say, it
had a body like a dog sort of. The tail was not bushy.
I had high beam on so it was reasonably lit up.
It was not a dog or cat or fox.""

Source: https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/RTI%20025%20-%202019-20.pdf

TAS.2016.9.xx

User "tasfringedweller" commented the following:

"My wife and i have been doing our own private studies since September when we were camped at a secluded part of tas.
We came across a chase scene on a beach of which appeared to be a wallaby and a thylacine.
(Thylacines have five toes on there front paws and four on their back paws) for those of you that aren't in the know, and their gait is completely different than a dog. (Look up tas parks and wildlife "identification of prints") for their respective prints and gaits. These prints we have are approx 75mm across, and we have multiple vids and pics of them.
We have been back seven times now and got fresh videos and pics of fresh prints five out of the seven times. We erase the prints from the sand each time we are there, but as summer is now upon us, more and more people are visiting the area to camp etc, and so things have gone quiet.
We have showed these prints and vids to two tas parks and wildlife officers just recently who were astounded, and asked,us if we had released,it publicly yet, to which we replied that we haven't."

Source: Hunt, Elle. (2016). Tasmanian tiger sightings: 'I represent 3,000 people who have been told they’re nuts'. The Guardian (Australia), Thursday 1 December.

TAS.2016.11.xx

The Booth Richardson

. Includes two videos from a camera trap, approximately 50km from Maydena, that are alleged to be of a thylacine. The first video is a few seconds long and is of a pink nose, evidently an animal sniffing the camera. The second video is of the whole animal from a considerable distance.

Sources:

Inglis, Rob. (2017). Booth Richardson Tiger Team releases alleged new images of thylacine. The Examiner, 6 September.

http://www.wherelightmeetsdark.com.au/examining-the-evidence/tasmanian-tiger-(thylacine)/booth-richardson-tiger-team-thylacines/

TAS.2016.12.27

From RTI/FOI document "Thylacine Sighting Reports - 1 September 2016 to 19 September 2019":

"Ran across the road in front of the vehicle. The animal was estimated to be 150 metres in front of the
vehicle, crossing the road in a "half trot, half run". The car was travelling at 100km/h and when
questioned [redacted] indicated the distance may have been greater, perhaps 200m. The light wasn't great
due to thevegetation, time of day and the heavy cloud (was about to rain apparently). The tail stood
out as being at least a foot or two foot long and straight out from the body, which was also about two
feet long. The colour wasn't clear, although he did mention it looked sandy (CHECK) and no stripes
were observed, although [redacted] indicated that given the distance he wouldn't really expect to see that
level of detail. Seemed certain that if it was a cat it was a bloody big one - indeed he asked if there
were known to be 'large cats' in that area. He didn't notice anything particularly unusual about the
movement pattern. He thought it looked cat like except for the size - it was too big, and the tail didn't
move arund much (held its line) as the animal ran."

Source: https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/RTI%20025%20-%202019-20.pdf

TAS.2016.xx.xx

The Ellendale hoax, involving the superimposition of an historical (i.e. pre-1936) image of the thylacine on to a contemporary photo of habitat. See here.

TAS.2017.4.23

From RTI/FOI document "Thylacine Sighting Reports - 1 September 2016 to 19 September 2019":

"They were driving along the main highway into Luanceston from Cradle (Bass Hwy I think) in the dark
and the animal ran across the road infront of them and then stopped and turned back which gave
them both a good side on view of the animal. A strongly striped pattern was observed by both of them
and they estimate it was a distance of 20-30 m from the car. He copmmented about the tail not being
fox like, not fluffy, a bit cat like? The conversation was a bit rushed as he was about to jump on a
plane.
The animal I saw was in the process of crossing the road as I came around the corner and it was just in
the middle of the road, it saw me and turned around and headed back to the left hand side of the road
and off into the bush there"

Source: https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/RTI%20025%20-%202019-20.pdf

TAS.2018.1.21

From RTI/FOI document "Thylacine Sighting Reports - 1 September 2016 to 19 September 2019":

"[Redacted] and [redacted] are visiting Tasmania from Western Australia. They are familiar with Australia’s
fauna. On 21st Jan 2018 they loaded their hire car on the Fatman Barge after passing through Corinna.
Very soon after driving off the Barge, at approximately 3:30 pm, they had just passed the end of the
bitumen and were on the gravel road travelling at approx. 60 km per hour. An animal walked out
slowly onto the road. was driving and stopped the vehicle. The animal walked from the right
hand side of the road ([redacted] and [redacted] were heading south to Zeehan and Strahan) three quarters of
the way across the gravel road, turned and looked at the vehicle a couple of times, and then walked
back in the same ‘run’ it had come out of. It was in clear view for 12-15 seconds. The animal had a stiff
and firm tail, that was thick at the base. It had stripes down it’s back. It was the size of a large Kelpie
(bigger than a fox, smaller than a German Shepherd). The animal was calm and did not act scared at
all. Both [redacted] and [redacted] are 100% certain that the animal they saw was a Thylacine. It appeared to
be in good condition. [Redacted] and [redacted] were able to point to the approximate location of the sighting
on a map on Billie’s computer, and the resulting grid reference was:
339747E 5386956N
Prior to the sighting, [redacted] and [redacted] were told by the barge operator that it had been a quiet day
and that only four vehicles had been through so far for the day.
On the day the report was made, [redacted] indicated that he was happy to be contacted on his mobile
phone if there are any further questions (mob. [redacted]) regarding the sighting. "

Source: https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/RTI%20025%20-%202019-20.pdf

TAS.2018.2.18

From RTI/FOI document "Thylacine Sighting Reports - 1 September 2016 to 19 September 2019":

"([Redacted] My recount of the events are as follows,
On Sunday 18th February, midday through our trip of Tasmania , we were riding around in a group of 7
riders, on the Sunday we split into 2 groups , 3 bikes in front and 4 bikes slower riders at the back, I
was leading the front group of 3 , it was a misty / overcast kind of day , once passing Derwent bridge
and climbing down to the National Park , I saw in front of me from a distance , what I categorised as a
large cat like creature.
It didn't really make sense to me as being a typical cat, location wise , behaviour and the way it walked,
it was obvious it wasn't a fox although it was the size of a big fox, not fluffy and hairy like a fox, the way
it was walking across the road was by keeping its body gliding at the same height and not
hopping/walking typical of a fox, it wasn't a sneaky walk of a fox hunting or crouched down to pounce
on prey , thats why i thought at the time it could be a cat , although it didn't make sense to be a cat, it
was way to big to high from the ground and the body proportions were quite wide (stomach to back/
the girth ).
I noticed the creature had markings on the body , these markings were black stripes on the back side
of the body , the fur on the creature was dark brown.
The creature was crossing the road right to left , didn't seem to change pace or behaviour when I
spotted him, the whole picture didn't really make sense to me as far as identifying the animal as any
animal I know , as I live in a rural area of Mudgee, I am accustomed to coming across most animals
working on rural farms etc and I have never come across an animal anything close to what I saw in
Tasmania that day. This siting bothered me for a few minutes and I pushed it aside.
Later in the day my fellow rider brought the subject up of what he believed he had seen , being part of
the following group we were not together at the time both of us sited this animal at different times.
([Redacted] It was around 6.00pm that I saw it on a section of road west of Derwent Bridge where the
wilderness forest was on both sides and overhead.
Things I remember about it:-

It’s body was a darkish brown colour - other pictures I’ve seen of a Tassie Tigers often show them as a
sort of light caramel colour, this was not like that so much.
It had several black stripes starting high at the rear hips and slanting towards its mid section - e.g. head
//// tail
It was slightly higher at the rear legs than the front
It had a long body, this is one aspect that made it look unlike any other animal I have seen before, like
as long as a Labrador but lower and thinner, so it looked stretched in a sense.
I describe its height as something between a household cat and a Labrador dog.
It had a thin tail pointing backwards
As it turned and moved back to the left side of the road it’s movement look kind of cat-like in terms of
how it walked"

Source: https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/RTI%20025%20-%202019-20.pdf

TAS.2018.11.24

From RTI/FOI document "Thylacine Sighting Reports - 1 September 2016 to 19 September 2019":

"Sighting that she believes was of a Tasmanian Tiger and two cubs at Hartz Mountain on Saturday"

Source: https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/RTI%20025%20-%202019-20.pdf

TAS.2019.7?.xx

From RTI/FOI document "Thylacine Sighting Reports - 1 September 2016 to 19 September 2019":

"[redacted] sighted a foot print on the walk up to sleeping beauty (Mountain River side). [redacted] wasn’t able to take a photo however he googled it when he got home and believes it was a Tasmanian Tiger footprint"

Source: https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/RTI%20025%20-%202019-20.pdf

TAS.2019.12.26

"I am a long-time fisherman of the xxxxx although in recent years I tend to fish mid-week and before full-blown tourist season as I find too many fishermen just splodge into the xxxxakicking the fish away from the edges. Last Christmas was perfect for getting away early and I stayed the night at a friend’s shack at xxxxxx. Early hours Boxing day I headed to the xxxxxx and the sun rose as I headed through xxxxx and by the time, I got to xxxxxx it was well daylight. I drove through to the car park at xxxx. To this point from xxxx all the way to xxxxx except for about ten cars parked at the lodge at the xxxx I had not seen another vehicle. At xxxxs there was a camp and I could see two people were already fishing. The sky was bright and the wind had not kicked up so I was still optimistic. It was a great mornings fishing with two in the bag and busted off once. I caught up to the man and woman couple and we chatted as we all walked back to the carpark. After a cuppa and a chin wag I packed up intending to go further west and maybe give another xxxx a shot, but as the water was high and the wind had still not kicked in and my mates would be at xxxx by now (about 10.00 a.m.), I thought I may just stroll around the northern shore of xxxx.

I said my cherios to the Hobart couple and slowly headed back to the xxxx. On the way in there had been a lot of wallaby so I was taking it easy. Since the 2018/2019 fires the scrub was still recovering and I think that maybe there was more food available close to the tracks and the xxxx and that's why there were so many wallabies around. I was only travelling at approx. 40 to 50 klm. Driving parallel to the xxxx I had a clear line of sight all the way to where the road veers a little to the right. On the right there is fairly thick but pretty low growing Tea tree and on the left the same but somewhat sparser. About one hundred meters ahead of me a mob of about six or eight wallaby came out of the scrub on the right and settled on the track slowly hopping along the track as I got to about sixty or so meters they up and went hell for leather along the track then off to the left just about where the scrub thickens on the left. I just thought that even though I was still a distance away from them, that they were getting clear of the car, however an instant later an animal came from the scrub on the right not hopping nor running, but more of a loping gait. At no time could I see both back legs hit the road at the same time as in hopping. At this time, I was about thirty to fifty meters away from the animal. It ran off into the scrub on the left-hand side of the track. I thought I'd lost it when I got a glimpse of it about fifteen meters away on the left running parallel to the track. It was running not hopping. I saw its head, back and its tail. It dived off into the scrub. I tend to believe it was chasing the wallaby not merely following them and that I had in fact disturbed it while stalking them and when they took off, he got his sights on them and was into a run after them."

Source: https://www.thylacineawarenessgroupofaustralia.com.au/read-tagoa-witness-sighting-reports.htm

TAS.XXXX.xx.xx (#1-3)

Col Bailey claims to have heard the thylacine on four different occasions:

"I’ve heard its cry on at least four occasions; in the Vale of Rasselas, along the Snake River in southwestern Tasmania, and also the Jane River on Tassie’s west coast"

The fourth location, not mentioned in the quote, was the Weld Valley in March 1995, where he also had a visual encounter (TAS.1995.3.xx).

Source: https://wild.com.au/news/new-thylacine-book-col-bailey/

TAS.XXXX.xx.xx #4

As a post script to a published description of his extended encounter with a thylacine, Joe Booth mentioned a further sighting by a truck driver near to his own:

"P.S. A truck driver saw one 3 kilometres away. He had to stop to let it pass."

Source: http://www.wherelightmeetsdark.com.au/examining-the-evidence/tasmanian-tiger-(thylacine)/booth-richardson-tiger-team-thylacines/

TAS.XXXX.xx.xx #5

"This report was made to me personally at the Sheffield Visitor Information Centre."

Source: Clarke, Chris. (2016). Tasmanian thylacine witness statements released. The Examiner, 20 December.

TAS.XXXX.xx.xx #6

"A mature age PhD student, who had just migrated from Britain to a job in Launceston, and did not know that thylacines were supposed to be extinct, saw one on a road nearby. He had a camera, but thought to himself: ‘I will see plenty of these’. He hasn’t."

Source: Kirkpatrick, James "Jamie" Barrie. (2017). Conservation Worrier. Hobart: De Press Inc. 277 pp.

TAS.XXXX.xx.xx #7

"Jon Marsden-Smedley, one of the few people who has tarried long on the wild southwest coast, tells Jamie of a chat with fishermen who had come ashore in a dinghy. One fisherman idly inquires whether Jon had seen the tiger with her cubs. Jon, thinking the fisherman is full of shit, replies that he hasn’t. The fisherman then tells Jon that if he goes around the next headland there is a cave with paintings of feet. Jon checks it out and there are the feet."

Source: Kirkpatrick, James "Jamie" Barrie. (2017). Conservation Worrier. Hobart: De Press Inc. 277 pp.

TAS.XXXX.xx.xx #8

Peter from Launceston:

"My wife and I saw one on the side of the road on a heavily wooded section of road near Pyengana. They are rare and ellusive and hence been able to have survive."

His comment is dated "Friday, 18th December 2009", which provides a minimum age.

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook.html

TAS.XXXX.xx.xx #9

"I've been hunting certain areas for nearly 16 yrs and am convinced that a tiger is present in 2 of my hunting spots. My hunting dogs behave strangely and become very nervous.In one area wallabys are very scarce when a year before were plentyful. what I do see are figidy."

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook.html

TAS.XXXX.xx.xx #10

"I have been to Tasmainia and I though i saw one but I wasn't too sure because all i saw was a creamy-brown animal that looked like a dog but it had dark brown stripes on it, the animal (tasmanian tiger)was about ten meters away from me. I got a bit worried but then decided I'd keep what i saw to myself because no one would believe me."

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook.html

TAS.XXXX.xx.xx #11

George Sanzenbacher from Sylvania, Ohio, USA:

"I have been to Tasmania many times(both north and south), i have not seen any thyclines but i found and photographed a few tracks that i believe belong to the thylacine. my description of these tracks are as follows: medium sized dog paw prints with enlongated front pads(these were only found in the northwest corner of Tasmania just north of the river)"

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook.html

TAS.XXXX.xx.xx #12

"Acually(sp) i have seen a tazzy before. when i was 5, i lives in Australia. We, my WHOLE family, pretty much lived on the same lot. We raised tons of sheep like a black faced one and a really wooly one. we kept them seperate right. Well it was my job and my cousins to feed the black faced ones. So we went out there, trudging through the scruby grass... and we saw 3 figures moving around dragging a sheep, now i love tazzys and have nothing agianst them killing my sheep becuase it was their land but my paw hated when they killed his sheep. Back to story. and i cried out in excitment " look emma " as she turned her head the 2 biggest ones (lokked to be a male and female) kinda made a roarish bark. like a tazzy devil. But way shorter. anyway, the biggest was darker, well his head was, and the 2nd to largest had a drooping pouch. she was prabably had pups. Well, she could hardly trot, and her mate (i think) stuck by her side. and the littlest was the funniest and had most character. when he saw that the other 2 had left him with the carcus he kinda pouted and had a hissy fit. 1st he just sat right on the sheep as if saying im not moving. then he started whining or more like chirping. but finally he dragged the carcus away. But i did notice that his striped were um... whats the word... bolder? and stockier. he was a light sandish color two."

Source: http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook.html

TAS.XXXX.xx.xx #13

"At least one of the fishermen admitted having seen a thylacine before in the same place [viz. "anchored off Davidsons Bay on the North-West Coast"]"

Source: Wade, Rohan. (2002). Fresh credibility in claims of thylacine sightings. The Examiner, Sunday, 12 May.

TAS.XXXX.xx.xx #14-18+

Anonymous. (1990). Tasmanian Tiger (Lakeside). Western Tiers (Tasmania), Thursday, 24 May, p. 21.

TAS.XXXX.xx.xx #19

A transcript of a sighting by an unnamed male witness, featured on The X Creatures, season 1, episode 6, "Beyond the Jaws of Extinction" (starts at 9:19 of the below video):

"One morning, about half past 6, its a round about November, I come around the corner and spotted a tiger sitting in the middle of the road doing his business, so, uh, I parked the vehicle up there and watched him, and when he finished he just stood up, looked at me, and just sauntered off down through this side of the creek. It was sandy coloured, not as big as a Labrador dog, and from its flank down its tail they'd thin stripes. Its tail was sticking straight out, when he stood up his tail was sticking straight up in the air a little bit. This is the track he took. I reckon I followed him for about three or four hundred metres, and, uh, it started to get a bit thick so I got out of it. And I sort of didn't wory about it. Forgot about it and kept it as a happy little secret. Yeah."

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