Victorian Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) Sighting Reports

Reports from other states and countries can be accessed here.

Victorian thylacine researchers and reports databases

1. Murray McAllister provides anecdotes and reports sent to him by many different people who claim to have seen the thylacine: http://www.tassietiger.org/index.php/sightings

2. "Freedom of Information requests revealed 63 possible sightings of Tasmanian tigers and big cats in Victoria, including a Parks Victoria report into multiple tiger sightings in the Warrandyte State Park, in Melbourne's north-east."

Source: Anonymous. (2003). Tassie tigers on the loose near Melbourne. The Age, 18 August.

3. Journalist Colin Coomber recounts his dealings with a man known only as 'M':

"Contacted by M who claimed Thylacine sightings were common in Loch Sport, a town on a thin neck of land in the Gippsland Lakes, wedged between Lake Victoria and the mostly dry Lake Reeve...He had plotted 22 sightings he had heard about in Loch Sport and while most were on the Lake Reeve side of town, a recent one was on the Lake Victoria side."

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/16-thylacine-reports [now a deadlink]

4. "John from Dalgety, a former ranger with the National Parks, said they used to keep a file of Thylacine spottings at the ranger station at Thredbo."

Source: Smith, Katie. (2004). Who's seen a thylacine? ABC South East NSW, Friday, 19 March.

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.

VIC.1868?.xx.xx

This is not a sighting report as such, but its discovery by me on Trove (26 April 2019) is very significant because it implies that there are possibly even earlier encounters with the animal by sheep farmers:

"We are informed that the tiger cat of the stations in the interior is twice the size of the specimen in question, and striped like the largest variety of the feline race. The striped tiger cat is said to be a formidable enemy to sheep."

Source: Anonymous. (1868). ['A fine specimen of the native tiger cat...']. The Herald (Melbourne), Tuesday, 16 June, p. 2. [top of last column]

VIC.1892.xx.xx

"A similar animal was seen...also by Mr. Gibson, in Strathbogie in 1892."

Source: Anonymous. (1906). Tantanoola tiger. Euroa Advertiser, Friday, 16 February, p. 4.

"Mr L. D. Gibson, of Victoria (writes the editor of "Nature Study Notes'' in "The Argus") is convinced that the Tasmanian tiger, and possibly the Tasmanian devil, are indigenous to Victoria, and still extant. In the early nineties he was in the Strathbogie Ranges to visit the Golden Mountain mine near Bonnie Doon. He had sauntered but along the ridge over-looking the valley, and while sitting there a full grown marsupial wolf came down with the wind towards him, and trotted across the Clearing about a chain away.... Mr Gibson, on his next visit to Melbourne, called on Mr. Le Souef, who showed him a half-grown Tasmanian tiger which he had in the Cages, and at his request took a photograph of it. It was the same animal that he had seen many years before"

Sources:

MacDonald, Donald. (1919). Nature Notes and Queries. The Argus, Friday, 8 August, p. 4.

Anonymous. (1919). Tasmanian wild animals. Daily Telegraph, Tuesday, 12 August, p. 4.

"I saw a similar animal in the Strathbogie Ranges in the nineties. I had been inspecting a gold mine of the Golden Mountain, above Bonnie Doon. I had gone for a walk in the early morning, and had sat on the lop edge of an old clearing, and was watching the mists rolling from the Mansfield Valley, when a huge beast trotted into the clearing not two chains from me and on the windward side, I kept perfectly still, and he trotted leisurely across and into the bush on the far side. I had perhaps half a minute's look at him. He was a powerful beast, low set, about the size of a big Alsatian, with powerful limbs and quarters and a strong jaw, ears pricked like an Alsatian's. His coat was short and grey in color with black vertical Stripes from the shoulders backwards, and along the tapering tail, the stripes extending across the haunches."

Source: Gibson, L. D. (1935). Saw Tasmanian Tiger In Strathbogie Ranges (Letters to the Editor). The Herald (Melbourne), Tuesday, 27 August, p. 12.

VIC.1895?.xx.xx

"No action has been takes with reference to Mr. M. J. Hannagan's discovery of a tiger near Nelson "of the size of a small grey-hound dog," and it is not likely that any will be taken (says the South-Eastern Star)"

Source: Anonymous. (1895). The Tantanoola "Tiger". The Advertiser (Adelaide), Monday, 22 July, p. 5.

VIC.c1895.xx.xx #1

"About 1895 one of my brothers saw in wattle scrub near Bald Hill, Strathbogie, what he thought was a strange dog. It was striped and about the size of an Alsation. Suddenly it disappeared, probably into a wombat burrow."

Source: Vroland, Anton William Rutherford. (1953). Tasmanian tiger. The Herald (Melbourne), Friday, 31 July, p. 4.

VIC.c1895.xx.xx #2

"Nearly 20 years ago, a letter in a Melbourne paper, referring to talk about a striped animal in the bush, told of one having been seen about 1895 between Bonnie Doon and the Golden Mountain, within 15 miles of Strathbogie."

Source: Vroland, Anton William Rutherford. (1953). Tasmanian tiger. The Herald (Melbourne), Friday, 31 July, p. 4.

VIC.c1896.xx.xx

"A similar animal was seen by Mr. Harry White, of Tolmie, some ten years ago"

Source: Anonymous. (1906). Tantanoola tiger. Euroa Advertiser, Friday, 16 February, p. 4.

VIC.18XX.xx.xx

Mr. L. D. Gibson:

"I met a Sergeant Greaves who told me that when a young man in the police force in the early days he had three shots at a Tasmanian tiger just after daybreak in the Dandenong police paddock."

Sources:

MacDonald, Donald. (1919). Nature Notes and Queries. The Argus, Friday, 8 August, p. 4.

Anonymous. (1919). Tasmanian wild animals. Daily Telegraph, Tuesday, 12 August, p. 4.

VIC.1902.xx.xx

"At Benala, in 1902, the local "Standard" had an acount of a woman, who, being roused out of bed by a noise in her yard at night, saw in the clear moonlight a striped beast carrying her pet lamb over the stub fence."

Sources:

MacDonald, Donald. (1919). Nature Notes and Queries. The Argus, Friday, 8 August, p. 4.

Anonymous. (1919). Tasmanian wild animals. Daily Telegraph, Tuesday, 12 August, p. 4.

VIC.c1902.xx.xx #1

"About the same time [as VIC.1902.xx.xx] a report appeared in a Wangaratta paper that a similar animal had been seen in the Warby Range."

Sources:

MacDonald, Donald. (1919). Nature Notes and Queries. The Argus, Friday, 8 August, p. 4.

Anonymous. (1919). Tasmanian wild animals. Daily Telegraph, Tuesday, 12 August, p. 4.

VIC.c1902.xx.xx #2

"About 1902 my family went to live in the then thriving mining town of Berringa—about 25 miles from Ballarat. Early one morning, while searching for our cow, I saw on the bank of a mining dam a dainty creature lapping up water. As it did not see me I had ample time to note its striking appearance. It was not as large as a full-grown Alsatian dog and could not have been mistaken for either an outsize cat or dog. The creamy satin coat which shone in the morning light was banded with black stripes quite half an inch wide. But what intrigued me most was a number of pink spots about the size of a sixpence on the neck and fore-shoulders. It was the prettiest creature I've ever seen and must have had a burrow, or lair, nearby, for it disappeared in a flash."

Source: Sullivan, E. L. (1953). Tasmanian tiger? The Herald (Melbourne), Saturday, 8 August, p. 4.

VIC.1906.2.14

"The Tantanoola tiger has been identified at last. Mr. Sam Wilson, of Middle Creek diggings, Toombullup, saw the animal on Wednesday last, and had a good look at it unobserved."

Source: Anonymous. (1906). Tantanoola tiger. Euroa Advertiser, Friday, 16 February, p. 4.

"In 1909, or thereabouts, Mr Gibson was at Tolmie, on the Occasion of a banquet given to the late Sir Thomas Bent, and the guests were discussing a queer beast seen by two miners, who were ground-sluicing at Hooligan's Gully. Being interested in the story, Mr Gibson, on his next visit to Melbourne, called on Mr. Le Souef, who showed him a half-grown Tasmanian tiger which he had in the Cages, and at his request took a photograph of it. It was the same animal that he had seen many years before, and when he showed the photograph to Samuel Wilson, one of the miners referred to, without any Explanation, he at once remarked, "Where did you get that ? That is the beast I saw in the mountains." Both Wilson and Cardiff are still in Toombullup, and can verify these statements."

Sources:

MacDonald, Donald. (1919). Nature Notes and Queries. The Argus, Friday, 8 August, p. 4.

Anonymous. (1919). Tasmanian wild animals. Daily Telegraph, Tuesday, 12 August, p. 4.

VIC.1906.2.14/16

"It was subsequently seen by a miner named Cardiff, who running down a bush track to his hut, almost fell over it as it leapt across the track out of the brushwood. The beast showed its teeth at him, snarled, and bounded away."

Source: Anonymous. (1906). Tantanoola tiger. Euroa Advertiser, Friday, 16 February, p. 4.

Sources:

MacDonald, Donald. (1919). Nature Notes and Queries. The Argus, Friday, 8 August, p. 4.

Anonymous. (1919). Tasmanian wild animals. Daily Telegraph, Tuesday, 12 August, p. 4.

VIC.1916.xx.xx #1-?

Source: Anonymous. (1916). Is it the Morwell Lion? Gippslander and Mirboo Times, Thursday, 22 June 1916, p. 2.

VIC.1916.xx.xx #1-?

Anonymous. (1935). Tiger at Large? Mysterious Killer of Sheep and Game. The Telegraph (Brisbane), Saturday, 24 August, p. 8.

VIC.191X/2X.xx.xx #1-3

"Writing on the question of whether or not this animal had been seen in Victoria, "G.A.G." (in the "Argus") says:

In conversation about it, Mr. Tilley, of Ivanhoe, assured him that he had on three separate occasions seen the animal in the Otways. He was certain as to its identity, because he was within six yards of it, and had seen the animal in Tasmania."

Source: Sherrie, W. M. (1921). Nature Studies. The Land (Sydney), Friday, 30 September, p. 7.

VIC.1933.12.xx

Mr. C. F. Robertson:

Anonymous. (1933). Gippsland "Tiger": Seen Again. Townsville Daily Bulletin, Thursday, 28 December, p. 5.

Anonymous. (1933). Rabbit-Shooter Surprised: Gippsland Tiger Seen Again. Tweed Daily, Thursday, 28 December, p. 4.

Anonymous. (1934). Gippsland "Tiger": Seen At Kilmany. Recorder (South Australia), Tuesday, 2 January, p. 4.

VIC.1935.xx.xx

"SIR,— I was Interested to read the account of the "Gippsland Tiger" In your Saturday's issue. Without doubt this is none other than the Tasmanian Marsupial Tiger; not the Tasmanian Zebra Wolf (of which I saw a pack in the Hobart Zoo last time I was there). which is a small edition of the other animal and about the size of a Jackal; but the fearsome beast, which I saw many years ago in Hobart at old Mrs Roberts's Zoo (afterwards the nucleus of the Public Zoo). This animal, when it stood on its hind legs against the railings of its pen to be fed, was over five feet high.

I saw a similar animal in the Strathbogie Ranges in the nineties. [see VIC.1892.xx.xx]"

Source: Gibson, L. D. (1935). Saw Tasmanian Tiger In Strathbogie Ranges (Letters to the Editor). The Herald (Melbourne), Tuesday, 27 August, p. 12.

VIC.1953.6/7.xx

"Mrs Olive M. Freeman, of Goongerah, near Orbost, had seen a strange dog-like animal, with broad stripes and a thick tail...She was sure it was not a dingo or fox."

Source: Anonymous. (1953e). Tasmanian tiger in our highlands? The Herald (Melbourne), Tuesday, 28 July, p. 3.

VIC.1953.7.xx

"Recently, her son had seen it in an orchard"

Source: Anonymous. (1953e). Tasmanian tiger in our highlands? The Herald (Melbourne), Tuesday, 28 July, p. 3.

VIC.1958.xx.xx

"Allan from Potato Point said he and his wife were driving along the Grand Ridge in the Strezlecki Ranges in Victoria's Gippsland in 1958 when a Thylacine ran onto the road.

"It appeared in the headlights of the car," he told Tim Holt, "It ambled across the road and about three parts across the road it sprang up a very steep bank … about 4 metres high … in one bound from the road without a run."

"Both my wife and I immediately identified it."

He said he's confident it was definitely a Thylacine because of its distinctive shape, stripes and it's movement.

"Subsequently, talking to people who know the structure and ability of the Tiger, they mentioned that that was a classic move.""

Source: Smith, Katie. (2004). Who's seen a thylacine? ABC South East NSW, Friday, 19 March.

VIC.195X.xx.xx

"I consequently met Maureen Thomas who related the following encounter from the late 1950s:

We had been visiting family in Lang Lang and we were returning late one night to our farm in Kongwak. My uncle decided not to take the South Gippsland Highway home but instead took the back roads through the areas of Kernot and Burndale. We were travelling in a utility and that night was one of the worst storms I have ever encountered. Lightning was everywhere and the trees were being buffeted almost to breaking. I vividly recall the night because as we drove along I recall looking out the window and seeing a bolt of lightning strike a large tree and utterly blew it to pieces, a sight I will never forget.

Shortly after this we rounded a corner into a slight clearing of the bush, only to be confronted by a large animal on the road. In my mind I instantly thought I was looking at a very large dog about the size of an Alsatian. My uncle bought the ute to dead stop because the animal was so close - about two metres in front of the ute. The animal had stopped in the middle of the road, possibly stunned by the lights and it was in full view for about one minute. It was very large, fawn in colour with distinct stripes all along its body and tail.

I recall that it was a male because I could clearly see large testicles. The body sloped down from front to back, being higher and more muscular at the head and less defined at the rump. When the animal turned and looked at us I was able to clearly see its face. It had a shortish snout and what I can only describe as a very angular or rectangular head. The animal then continued on its path across the road and into the surrounding scrub.

At no stage did it appear fearful of us; actually to the contrary, it seemed full of confidence and in no hurry to get out of our way. Years later I saw footage of the last Thylacines in captivity and realised that this was what I had seen, but with one exception - the animal we saw that night was twice the size and clearly a very healthy and strong male."

Source: Robinson, Grant. (2013). 1955 - 1995: the Legend of the Wonthaggi Monster. The Great Southern Star, Tuesday, 19 March, p. 31.

VIC.1962.12.1

"Five people have seen a strange animal on the outskirts of Wonthaggi in the space of seven days. Mrs. Ron Williamson, of West Creek, saw it on her husband's farm on December 1. Two days later Mr. G. Mabila, of Kilcunda, saw it 500 yards from Mrs Williamson's sighting. Last Friday night three youths saw it three miles [5 km] away at East Wonthaggi. All describe it as a Tasmanian Tiger. The Tiger, almost extinct, was known to inhabit Australia.

...

I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING QUITE LIKE IT. I was fascinated by its tail, which was long and fluffy at the end. The animal was no bigger than a fox, though it certainly was NOT a fox. It was brown in color and had yellow stripes around its body."

Source: Wonthaggi Express, Tuesday, 18 December 1962 [text]

VIC.1962.12.3

Source: Wonthaggi Express, Tuesday, 18 December 1962 [text]

VIC.1962.12.7

The boys, John Chisholm, 18; his brother, Darryl, 15; and Bill Coulton, 18, were driving along Berry's Rd. at 8.15 p.m. when the animal crossed 20 yards ahead. John Chisholm said: "I braked and swung the headlights towards it. It had a rabbit or a piglet in its mouth. It turned and raced back across the road. Its body was brown and striped. It was smaller than a cattle dog and had a very long tail which was bushy at the end."

...

The boys later checked an encyclopædia, and were convinced that they had seen a Tasmanian Tiger."

Source: Wonthaggi Express, Tuesday, 18 December 1962 [text]

VIC.1963.xx.xx

A comment by Victorian thylacine researcher Michael Moss on an online news story, regarding a call he received:

"a geelong resident who claimed in 1963 that a tasmanian tiger was photographed in aireys inlet by a 13 year old girl a friend of his.The sepia colored photo clearly showed a tasmanian tiger.She was testing her new camera a browning camera in nearby bush when she captured the photo."

Source: Murphy, Noel. (2013). More tiger reports: ‘Sightings’ on coast. Geelong Indy, Friday, 8 November, p. 12. [comment posted on online version by Michael Moss]

VIC.1964.xx.xx

"A photograph taken by Rilla Martin near Goroke, Victoria, in 1964 shows a striped animal partially hidden by vegetation. The stripes seem to cover its neck and shoulders, which is uncharacteristic, but in general, it looks much like a Thylacine."

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

10 years later a film crew returned to the scene to interview Graeme Martin, with whom Rilla Martin was staying at the time:

VIC.1965.xx.xx

"Mrs. Olive Cadwallender and Mrs Rae Haines, who were driving home to Wonthaggi, and happened to see it near Grantville about 10 pm, when visibility was further reduced by a light misty rain."

Source: http://malcolmscryptids.blogspot.com/2014/11/thylacine-fever-in-wonthaggi-district.html

"It was an animal as large as a dog, but with the characteristics of a cat. The two most striking features were its ambling gait, and its long, thick, striped tail. . . . The tail intrigued me: it appeared to be almost the same size all of its full length. Rain on its fur made it difficult to distinguish, but the tail definitely carried stripes of a darker color than the rest of the body."

Source: The Wonthaggi Sentinel, A Tasmanian tiger, they say, 2 December 1965 [text here]

VIC.1967.12.xx #1

Eric Juckert:

""It was abreast with the car. When it noticed the car it turned with feline agility back into the scrub. That was when I noticed the tail - long, thick and bushy. The animal was the size of a small leopard, had a round face, stubby snout, pointed ears and, in the early morning light, appeared dark grey. The back legs were bigger than the front. It is a member of the cat family, though I have never seen anything like it previously.[...?] From drawings I'd say it could be a Tasmanian Tiger"."

Source: The Wonthaggi Sentinel, 21 December, 1967 [text here]

VIC.1967.12.xx #2

"He's Back - again seen at Grantville

The Tasmanian tiger like animal known as The Wonthaggi Monster has been seen again. Near Grantville, where five motorists saw it in November and December '68, and two in December '67.

"If I hadn't been driving along the Bass Highway I'd have reckoned it was a tiger," Mrs Elsie Farr, 39, Houewife, of Latrobe Street, Waragul, said. "I was alone; it scared me. It was about 9.30 at night in a storm. Opposite the GMH proving ground I saw two big orange eyes a hundred yards ahead on the right hand side, in the scrub. Then it crossed 20 yards ahead. It was about two feet high, a fawny grey with a tail, striped, unusually long and thick at the butt. It had an ugly head and a most peculiar gait. The gait was more feline than dog like. Its hair was medium length - neither short nor long.""

Source: The Wonthaggi Sentinel, 4 February, 1971 [text here]

VIC.1968.11.xx

"He's Back - again seen at Grantville

The Tasmanian tiger like animal known as The Wonthaggi Monster has been seen again. Near Grantville, where five motorists saw it in November and December '68, and two in December '67.

Source: The Wonthaggi Sentinel, 4 February, 1971 [text here]

VIC.1968.12.xx

"He's Back - again seen at Grantville

The Tasmanian tiger like animal known as The Wonthaggi Monster has been seen again. Near Grantville, where five motorists saw it in November and December '68, and two in December '67.

Source: The Wonthaggi Sentinel, 4 February, 1971 [text here]

VIC.19XX/6X?.xx.xx #1-?

""They'll never be able to get one", says country veteran, F. L. Oliver, now of Adelaide, who spent a large part of his 60-odd years living in Natimuk, just over the Victorian border. From the many thylacines he declares that he has seen in that time, he has discovered much of their habits. "They live in burrows mainly", he said; "you can stake them out for days, but the animals can smell danger, and you won't see them. They are very cunning. I never managed to get one, even when I took out large search parties. Nor did I ever find any remains. But I think they may eat the remains of their dead; for one thing I noticed was that they seemed very fond of bones. A dead 'roo or sheep would have all its bones eaten away in no time.""

Source: Harris, Samela. (1968). Hold that tiger! Walkabout 34(6): 28-31.

VIC.1971.6.7

"Everybody's seeing it!

Mr and Mrs Norm Avage, of Turner Street, North Wonthaggi, saw The Wonthaggi Monster on the Bass Highway near Grantville at 11 pm last Monday. "He's no monster; he's a Tasmanian tiger," Mrs Avage said. "He was eating a dead rabbit, and Norm drove around him to avoid him. He just ambled away, unconcerned. It was a tiger all right - bigger than a fox, striped, dirty coloured coat and long, pointed tail."

There have been several sightings in recent years of a Tasmanian tiger like animal where the Avages saw it - half a mile the Bass side of the Corinella turn-off."

Source: The Wonthaggi Sentinel, 10 June, 1971 [text here]

VIC.<1973.xx.xx

Journalist Colin Coomber:

"as a young journalist I visited Culloden north of Briagolong in 1972 to do a story for The Gippsland Times on what a woman believed was an area frequented by Black Panthers. This woman was an amateur naturalist who regularly camped in her vehicle in the bush. She casually mentioned that she had once seen as Tasmania Tiger at Cape Conron in far East Gippsland."

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/15-thylacines [now a deadlink]

VIC.1973.xx.xx #1

"ARFRA secretary Dorothy Williams says a quick search brings up reports from Crib Point (1973), Warneet (1997) and Tooradin (2000)."

Source: Watson, Catherine. (2012). Tasmanian Tiger: The ghost of a chance. Casey Weekly Cranbourne, 5 August.

VIC.1973.xx.xx #2

"Hampton Park reader David Chinn rang the Weekly to say he saw a dead Tasmanian tiger in 1973 when he was a lighthouse keeper at Cape Otway.

"My colleague saw an animal in the chicken run and shot it. He dragged it out to the watchroom so I could see it.

"I knew what it was - it looked exactly like the photo in your story, with stripes from the middle of his back down to his mid-legs."

Mr Chinn said they buried the animal. He said he told several people about the animal over the years but no one ever believed him.

"Whenever I told someone about it they thought I was crazy.""

Source: Watson, Catherine. (2012b). Tasmanian tiger: Glimpses of a beast. Casey Weekly Cranbourne, 13 August.

Cryptozoologist Chris Rehberg, who featured on the Monster Quest epsiode 'Isle of the Lost Tiger' about the thylacine, then contacted Mr. Chinn:

"I managed to contact Mr Chinn today and we spoke on the phone for about ten minutes...A key difference he pointed out to what the article says is that he does not know if the body was buried.

The account he gave was that he had arrived in Australia 2 and a half years prior, and had spent that time working at the Cape Otway Lightstation as a grounds keeper, through until 1974. His main duty was cutting crass and occasionally doing odd jobs such as painting.

Mr Chinn his boss Mr Ernie Jones, who was fond of his home brew beer, was the one to discover the Tasmanian tiger. They kept a pet rabbit and chickens at the lightstation. One morning they discovered the rabbit dead in the garden and Ernie found the thylacine inside the chook pen. He said the thylacine probably got in by climbing under the wire mesh but when Mr Jones arrived it tried frantically to escape. Nevertheless Mr Jones took his gun and shot the animal.

Mr Jones then brought the dead animal into the workplace to show Mr Chinn. Mr Chinn said he didn't know what the animal was but when he saw the photograph accompanying the first newspaper article this month he recognised it. He said he was certain it had dark stripes from mid body to its rump - just as reported in the second article.

According to Mr Chinn, Mr Jones said he would dispose of the body and Mr Chinn is not sure how the animal was disposed of - he reasoned it might have been buried, or just as easily thrown into the sea. He says that in 1974 he contacted the relevant government department to report the case but he felt like they considered him a nutcase, so he decided to leave his report at that.

When I asked Mr Chinn if he had ever seen a photograph of a spotted-tailed quoll he said he didn't know that animal. I then asked about the size of the animal he saw and he said it was the size of a large greyhound dog ruling out, in my opinion, a spotted-tailed quoll.

He mentioned the animal was "pretty healthy" and I asked whether it might have been a dog with poor fur condition that made it appear as if it was striped. He repeated again that the animal was "pretty healthy", that it "wasn't skin and bones" and said its fur condition was good.

I asked what colour it was and he said "tan beige" and that the stripes were "dark". I let him know that thylacines have been variously reported as choclatey-brown through grey like an Eastern grey kangaroo through to tan and beige and I asked whether he noticed if it was male or female. He replied that he didn't take note and when I mentioned thylacines having a pouch he said that he didn't know that.

Finally, Mr Chinn reported that Mr Jones is now deceased."

Source: https://www.facebook.com/notes/where-light-meets-dark/cape-otway-thylacine-body-1973-victoria/492059894154685

VIC.1974.xx.xx

At least one witness, although multiple people were in the car.

"In late 1974, my family had been to Wilson's Promontory National Park for a long weekend. As we were leaving the Park area and heading back to Melbourne, about 10 km from the Park boundary in the area known as Yanakie, I was looking out the car window and saw the rear of an animal in thick brush. I think it was either disappearing into the scrub or had paused to note the car going past. I did only glimpse the animal but I knew what it was. I had not long before read about the Tiger for a school project, so I knew what one looked like. The most distinctive feature was the angular back leg and a glimpse of stripe. I said nothing at the time because I knew they were meant to be extinct, and thought my sighting would be explained as auto-suggestion because of the project etc. I also did not know that thylacines were noted in Victoria. I even doubted what I'd seen myself…. I didn't see how it could have been real.

About 5 years later, when staying with relatives in south Gippsland, one of whom worked in the Wilson's Prom Park, the subject came up in discussion and it was made clear that there had been a number of sightings in the area. I shared my story and people said it was probably real. That’s 42 years ago now.

I have heard from very credible witnesses (three at the same time) of a sighting in south-west Victoria also, not far from the SA border. They all described a strange loping gait, faint striping and unusual head. This was accompanied by a description of an adult koala kill in that vicinity where the heart had been eaten out, which I have heard is a thylacine way of eating. Foxes can't kill adult koalas; it would have to have been a large and strong dog. It was not a human kill.

I think thylacines have lasted longer than people realise. I hope these accounts are of interest to you. And I hope the real thing is still out there. If you are pursuing or collecting data on the thylacine, I wish you every success."

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

VIC.1975.11.6

"Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Thorpe, who on the afternoon of November 6, 1975, saw one pass in front of their car as they were driving in the Promontory's National Park. At one point it hesitated briefly before resuming its trek across the road. According to Mr. Thorpe:

We ... were not moving fast, probably about 40 km/h [25 mph]... It was taller than my Labrador but was lower in the hindquarters. It moved with a peculiar hopping gait. The tail was very thick at the base and longer than a dog's, tapering to a point. It appeared to be a dark to light gray in colour and had distinct darker bands around its hindquarters. The stripes did not appear to be black but were a darker gray than the rest of the body."

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

VIC.1976/77.xx.xx

User "Siameez" commented the following:

"In 1976 or 1977, I was on a road trip from SA to Sydney, on a mountain road north of Wulgumerang, Victoria, after dark and looking out for a place to pull off the road and sleep in the back of my station wagon. Suddenly, a very strange animal ran across the road in front of the car. In 3 seconds, it had come and gone. It was the size, build and appearance of a thylacine, with the same stripes.

I had an SLR camera with me but by the time I stopped the car, got it out of the case, pointed and focused it and taken a photo, it was long gone into the forest. Not even a mobile phone with a camera in those days. Let alone a dashcam which would have been the perfect way to get a photo.

Was it a thylacine? I really don't know for sure, though it's nice to think there might still be some around somewhere (that area is, or was, pretty wild and woolly, and heavily forested with a very sparse human population). It wasn't a fox, though it could have been a weirdly marked dog or dingo. Who knows?"

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.

VIC/NSW.1977.xx.xx

Source: Author?. (year?). Fortean Times 25: 36. [a pack of thylacine-like animals seen on the Vic/NSW border in 1977]

VIC.1978.7.31

Bob Phillips (painter), 36, and his wife, Nola Phillips:

"Mr. and Mrs. Phillips were driving from Wonthaggi to Inverloch about 2 p.m. They went via The Cape [Paterson] because their son Brad, 3, likes to look at the sea.

Mr. Phillips said: "About 150 metres past the turn-off to Inverloch, the animal came trotting towards us, on the same side as us, 50 metres away. Nola said: 'Is that a fox?' Head-on it looked like a fox, but it was the wrong color; it was tawny. It saw the car and turned off to the left when we were 20 metres away. That was when we noticed the long tail, stiff like a stick. It had dark stripes over its rump, and a graceful gait.""

Source: The Wonthaggi Sentinel, 3 August, 1978 [text here]

VIC.1978.9?.xx

Mary Mabila, 50, and her daughter, Irene Walsh:

Mrs Mabila: "It had dark stripes and a long, thick, stiff tail"

Source: The Wonthaggi Sentinel, Monday, 21 September, 1978 [text here]

VIC.1978.6-8.xx

An anonymous report made to REPAD by a middle-aged woman:

"It was around midnight driving north of Fish Creek in the winter of 1978 I had to slow for a creature crossing the highway. It was the loping gait, not at all zoomy like a fox, the long bony tail, the boxy head and stripes. I was convinced it was a Thylacine but never reported it. I'd moved from the UK not long before and imagined people would think I was crazy. There was a Tassie Tiger Cafe in Foster or Fish Creek at the time I noted later."

VIC.1979.10?.xx

"The men had kept quiet for fear of being ridiculed. When they eventually told workmates of the sightings, which had occurred on November 26 and 27, another man said he had seen the animal but had kept quiet for the same reason."

Source: Anonymous. (1979). "Tasmanian-tiger' sightings. The Canberra Times, Friday, 28 December, p. 3.

VIC.1979.10.26

"Three Victorian men say they have seen the supposedly extinct Tasmanian tiger twice within three days in the south-east of Victoria.

The sightings were near General Motors-Holden's proving ground at Lang Lang, south-east of Melbourne, and were three kilometres apart. Both happened at 5.40am when the men, members of a road gang, were on their way to work. Mr Ian Garry, 37, of Kernot, said that both times the tiger was crossing the road 50 metres ahead of them and moved with a loping gait. In the car with him were Mr Ernie Hade, 30, of Bass, and Mr Slim Holland, 22, of Wonthaggi. "We looked at each other with disbelief", Mr Garry said. "It had a long tail. Its back sloped away to its hind quarters. It was thick set with stripes and it had a square head like a pig's snout. "It just looked at the car without being disturbed and kept crossing at its own pace. It didn't run like a dog or fox. "The first time we saw it we thought we were seeing things, but the second time we knew we weren't".

The men had kept quiet for fear of being ridiculed. When they eventually told workmates of the sightings, which had occurred on November 26 and 27, another man said he had seen the animal but had kept quiet for the same reason."

Source: Anonymous. (1979). "Tasmanian-tiger' sightings. The Canberra Times, Friday, 28 December, p. 3.

Presumably refers either to 26 or 27 October:

"In 1979, there was a much reported report of a Tasmanian tiger by fencing workers at Lang Lang early one morning. This is one of the few daytime reports, it was seen by several people and - very importantly - they hadn't been drinking."

Source: Watson, Catherine. (2012). Tasmanian Tiger: The ghost of a chance. Casey Weekly Cranbourne, 5 August.

Erroneously given as December because that was when the original articles were written, months after the sightings themselves: Anonymous. (1981). Tasmanian tigers 'seen'. The Canberra Times, Wednesday, 14 January, p. 7.

VIC.1979.10.27

"Three Victorian men say they have seen the supposedly extinct Tasmanian tiger twice within three days in the south-east of Victoria.

Source: Anonymous. (1979). "Tasmanian-tiger' sightings. The Canberra Times, Friday, 28 December, p. 3.

Presumably refers either to 26 or 27 October:

Source: Watson, Catherine. (2012). Tasmanian Tiger: The ghost of a chance. Casey Weekly Cranbourne, 5 August.

VIC.197X.xx.xx #1

At least two witnesess.

"My sighting occurred over 30 years ago in western Victoria. I know it sounds impossible, but that is what we think it was.

The animal had the striped tail and a walk that was not like a dogs. It had a funny walk as it crossed the road in front of our car. We turned the car around to have another look and it re-crossed the road again.

The area that it was near was a skin shed where sheep skins were hung up to dry out. I imagine it was after scraps of meat or fat to eat. The skin shed was just north of Heywood which is a small farming community. There were quite a few forest areas around Heywood that would hide something like this and there are not a lot of people wandering around the bush."

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

VIC.197X.xx.xx #2

Marc Joshmar commented on a YouTube video by the Thylacine Research Unit:

"just thought I'd let you know as a matter of interest my mum had a sighting in the mid 70's in the region of 90 mile Beach brushland [Victoria]...She had a clear view bc the creature was walking, it looked old, raggedy and perhaps sick she said. The animal caught her attention bc it looked strange, she was confused and thought it was a dog at first, she had never heard of the Thalacine at that time. She saw the stripes clearly, tail and a hunched kind of back."

Source:

VIC.197X/198X.xx.xx

"a Gippsland TV report of two Forest Commission workers seeing one on a track near Orbost"

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/15-thylacines [now a deadlink]

VIC.1980.1.3

"Tiger' seen again at proving ground

A Tasmanian tiger has been again seen outside the GMH proving ground near Lang Lang. It was seen at 7.30 a.m. on January 3 by Mrs. Jim Brewster of Grantville. Mrs. Brewster, cook at a youth camp in Almurta-rd, was driving to Melbourne alone.

Mrs. Brewster said she was only 20-30 yards from the animal. "It was bigger than a fox, heavier than a dingo, had stripes on its back. The tail was thick at the butt and tapered. The hind legs were like a roo's."

Source: The Wonthaggi Sentinel, 23 January, 1980 [text here]

VIC.1980.3.27

"Another Tasmanian tiger seen locally

Three young Meeniyan men saw an animal they believe to be a Tasmanian tiger, about a kilometre north of Foster township last Thursday night. The men saw the animal cross the highway just above Mr. Hamish Garrow's farmhouse, at about midnight. The men, Phil and Ian Benson, and Garry Gillett, were returning from basketball finals at Foster. The Benson brothers had been umpiring some of the matches.

Mr. Phil Benson told The Mirror, "We saw the animal in the big cutting just past Mr. Garrow's house. At first I thought it was a fox, but its eyes did not glow red in the lights, and I knew then it wasn't a fox. We got a good look at the animal as we got closer. It was grey in colour, had a head like a hyena, the hind legs sloped back, and the thick tail tapered to a point. The hips and tail had darker bands with the grey colouring."

Source: Foster Mirror, 2 April, 1980 [text here]

VIC.1980?.7.2

Don Nolte, storekeeper:

"He said he stopped his car [on Eden's road] and watched it for 10 minutes, between 10.45 and 11.55. "I was within 20 feet of him, and too close to have made a mistake," Mr Nolte said. He described the animal as having distinct stripes and a stiff, stick-like tail. "It wasn't fully grown and it did not move until I got out of the car to try and get an even closer look," he said."

Source: The Sentinel Times, 7 July, [1980?] [text here]

VIC.1981.1.9-11

Anonymous. (1981). Tasmanian tigers 'seen'. The Canberra Times, Wednesday, 14 January, p. 7.

VIC.1982.xx.xx

One witness, ranger Peter Simon. The sighting occurred on the NSW/Vic border, and so is listed twice in the respective state databases. The following quote is taken from a book, and does not include any direct quotes from the witness:

"Among those who say they have seen thylacines in the mountainous wilderness of the Namadgi-Kosciusco National Park along the New South Wales-Victorian border is ranger Peter Simon, who saw one for several seconds in broad daylight in 1982, from a distance of 100 feet." (p. 205)

VIC.1984.6-8.xx

Darren Johannesen shared his sighting with the "The great search for the thylacine" Facebook group:

"I saw one in the dandenongs in the 80's"

"It was walking up our drive in kalulu rd belgrave"

"for the record it wasnt a Fox Gait - or a dog - the gait was awkward. Tail unusual. Never seen it again"

Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/37005777558/permalink/10156153653042559/

VIC.1984/86.xx.xx

"I heard by a friend that there was someone in the Gippsland region that have had a tassie tiger as a pet. This person had found the tiger as a young. It had fell out of the pouch and couldnt get back or something.
He took the animal home and fed it and it stayed at his place as a "pet" This person also made a LP record and its said you actually hear the tassie do its "couch bark" in one song.

The person was very alone, had no TV, telephone or newspaper, because he hated being with people. He lived for the animals, helping alot of kangaroos also. It was a close friend to him that made the LP aviable and sold.

This was supposed to happen in the middle of the 80īs. (1984-86)

Notice: I dont know how true this story are. I heard it last year by an old man, when we were visiting someone that lives in this area."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607033521/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/forum/Forum5/HTML/000004.html

He took the animal home and fed it and it stayed at his place as a "pet" This person also made a LP record and its said you actually hear the tassie do its "couch bark" in one song.

This was supposed to happen in the middle of the 80īs. (1984-86)

Notice: I dont know how true this story are. I heard it last year by an old man, when we were visiting someone that lives in this area."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607053148/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/000048.html

VIC.c1985.xx.xx

Journalist Colin Coomber:

"Circa 1985 - Loch Sport

Publicity on the Thylacine sightings described by M in 1996 brought in several supporting reports. One of the more interesting was from an acquaintance N, who was a Canadian-born woman in her 70s. She called by to ask me what these Thylacine creatures were which I had written about. I grabbed a book from the shelf behind me, opened it at the famous Hobart Zoo photo of a Thylacine with its mouth wide open and she said “That’s what I saw!” N recounted how early one winter morning as she was driving from Loch Sport to Sale where she worked (a distance of about 40km) she had come across a striped animal crossing the road at the eastern end of Loch Sport. It stopped in the middle of the road and opened its mouth “widely and threateningly” before slowly moving into the thriptomene scrub. She said the rear half of the body was striped like the Thylacine pictured in my book and she remembered it had a long, thick tail and an unusual trot. She had reported her sighting to the local ranger’s office but when we contacted him he said they used to record Thylacine sightings in a book but had stopped doing so on instructions from above. He thought the book had been thrown out."

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/16-thylacine-reports [now a deadlink]

VIC.1985.12.19

"It walked across the road in front of the vehicle of Cr. Jan Mildenall and Mark Nicholls about 7.40 am the previous Friday."

Source: http://malcolmscryptids.blogspot.com/2014/11/thylacine-fever-in-wonthaggi-district.html

Cr. Mildenhall:

"It was about the size of a fox, but had a long tail sticking straight out behind it, with a lean body and what appeared to be ginger and darker stripes on the body.""

Source: The Mirror (Foster), Tasmanian Tiger seen at Hedley, 23 December, 1986 [text here]

VIC.1986.xx.xx

"I have been reading about various sighting and they confirm what my late husband saw in 1986.
It was on Blanket Hill between Heyfield and Licola, [south east Gippsland] Victoria.
John was a log truck driver and on this day about 8.30am I think he said, he was bringing a load down to Heyfield. He saw the animal very clearly and actually slowed down and stopped to watch it.
The Thylacine was standing at the side of the road very calmly.
For quite a while they just watched one another and then it slowly turned and moved off into the bush. He described it perfectly and said it did not seem at all disturbed by him. I just thought that you may be interested in this sighting. I had just been reading an article in March copy of Readers Digest and it prompted my memory.
I hope they never catch one let them live in peace in the bush. "

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

VIC.1987.3.4

"Strange animal seen at Woolamai

A mail contractor watched a strange animal, 10 metres away, for 2½ minutes at Woolamai last Wednesday. Rose Bristow, of Broome crescent, Wonthaggi, said she had never seen anything like it. "Because it was so unusual, I took great care to note that it was too big for a fox and smaller than a kelpie, it had a peculiar head, dark stripes from the shoulder to the loin, and was a sandy sable color. The tail was thick, heavy and unfurred. 'Canine'. Its movement s were feline, but it was a member of the dog family. It was in excellent condition, and young. I did not notice whether it was a dog or a bitch"
Mrs Bristow has bred and shown dogs for 40 years. Shown a photograph of a Tasmanian tiger, she said: "That's what it was."
Mrs Bristow saw the animal cross Trew's road ahead of her car at 11 am. Stood still. She slowed to a stop, and studied the animal as it stood on the other side of the road.
"Its ears were erect and it was sniffing the air. After watching it for a while I got out of the car. It got scent of me, and hurried back to the scrub near Pomfret's road, from which it had come. I saw something similar in the same place 2-3 months ago, but it was not a very good."

"The locality is a square kilometre of trees and scrub in cleared dairying country."

Source: South Gippsland Sentinel Times, Strange animal seen at Woolamai, Wednesday, 11 March, 1987 [partial text here]

"Rose Bristow watched a striped, doglike animal at a range of only 30 feet near Woolmai [sic] in March 1987."

Source: Eberhart, George M. (2002). Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology. Santa Barbara, California: Abc-Clio Incorporated. [pp. 547-550]

VIC.1988.xx.xx

"Interestingly enough, something similar turned up in the same locality a year later, for on 1st March 1988 the same newspaper carried a report about a farmer's wife of Woolamai, Ann Francis, aged 40 seeing a strange animal cross the road in the township itself from the church to the pine plantation."

Source: http://malcolmscryptids.blogspot.com/2014/11/thylacine-fever-in-wonthaggi-district.html

"I particularly noticed the dark stripes on the ginger coat. The stripes lengthened as they reached its rump. When it took off it carried its very long tail stiffly."

Source: South Gippsland Sentinel Times, 1 March, 1988 [text here]

VIC.1990?.xx.xx #1-2

The Star (Leongatha), 4 December, 1990

VIC.1990.12.5

"a short report of a "thylacine" seen by a Mr. Colin Watson near Leongatha the previous Wednesday at 5.45 pm."

Source: http://malcolmscryptids.blogspot.com/2014/11/thylacine-fever-in-wonthaggi-district.html

""The animal had yellow stripes right down its back and it was far too long in the body to be a domestic animal," he said."

Source: The Star (Leongatha), 11 December, 1990

VIC.1991.2.xx

Journalist Colin Coomber:

"In February 1991, the issue became a local one when a RAAF officer from the East Sale base claimed to have seen a Thylacine near Blue Pools north of Briagolong. By this time I was editor of the paper [i.e. The Gippsland Times] and the Thylacine story was covered by one of my senior journalists. The officer and his wife both claimed to have had a good look at the animal and were certain. The paper published the story on Page 1 on February 22 and included a photograph of the officer’s 21 year old daughter who took the reporter and photographer back to the spot. Much to my regret, we published the officer’s name and I believe this stopped others coming forward. The officer is said to have missed a promotion because there were doubts within the RAAF hierarchy of the mental condition of a person who was claiming to see Tasmanian Tigers on mainland Australia."

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/15-thylacines [now a deadlink]

"February 1991 - Culloden

This sighting was the first which really drew attention to the fact that people were seeing Thylacines in the central Gippsland area. An officer from the RAAF Base at East Sale contacted us to report a "horrible looking animal" which he and his wife saw while returning in his car from the popular picnic area of Blue Pools which is at Culloden, just north of Briagolong. He had no doubts it was a Tasmanian Tiger. His wife was the first to see the striped animal as it came up from Freestone Creek to cross the road in front of them and disappear in the bush. He said it had a "huge, horrible head, long snout and tiger stripes on its back" and he estimated it was higher than a German Shepherd dog. The animal appeared to have very powerful front quarters tapering towards its rear. When reaching a small embankment it rose onto its back legs and sprang powerfully over the embankment and into the bush. (Gippsland Times, February 22, 1991)"

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/16-thylacine-reports [now a deadlink]

VIC.1991?.xx.xx

Journalist Colin Coomber:

"A month later I took a call from a forest worker who claimed to have seen a Thylacine drinking from a puddle at Stockdale"

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/15-thylacines [now a deadlink]

VIC.c1991.xx.xx

Ben Duflou:

"Roughly 20 years ago, when I lived in country victoria, (Golden Plains Shire), I saw what I believe was a tasmanian tiger. In the 15 years that I lived in the area, that was my only sighting. I lived on a 40 acre property surrounded by mostly larger farms on a dead end dirt road. I saw it standing in a paddock approx 30 metres away, then it walked towards the creek that runs through our property, it never saw me. From memory, this animal only had about three stripes, unlike the pictures I have seen. In every other way it resembled a tasmanian tiger. Its gait was unlike a domestic dog. Was it a tasmanian tiger? I can't say for sure but I am 90% sure it was."

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

VIC.1992.3.xx

Journalist Colin Coomber:

"March 1992 - Bushy Park

A Briagolong woman on her way to Maffra to shop saw what she thought was a Thylacine in long grass beside the road at Bushy Park at about 10am. She described it as a muddy, grey-brown color with several pronounced dark brown stripes on the rump. It had rounded ears set to the side of the head and a heavy face. It was larger than a fox but smaller than a medium dog. The woman stopped her car and watched as the animal strutted onto the road but when she started backing up to get a better view the animal disappeared into the long grass. (Gippsland Times, March 31, 1992)"

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/16-thylacine-reports [now a deadlink]

VIC.1992.5.xx

Journalist Colin Coomber:

"May 1992 - Bushy Park

I was contacted by a Briagolong woman who said she had seen a Thylacine on the Maffra side of the Avon River bridge at 11.40 the previous night. The animal had distinctive stripes on its hindquarters and base of the tail, was too big for a fox and “too grotesque” for a dog. She described it as cantering across the road but it did not quicken pace as she neared. (Gippsland Times, May 19, 1996). This and the previous sighting were just two of six sightings in the Bushy Park area in a few months which led locals to speculate that the Thylacine might have been old or sick and had moved out of its normal territory in the Briagolong foothills."

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/16-thylacine-reports [now a deadlink]

VIC.1992?.xx.xx #1+

Journalist Colin Coomber:

"in early 1992 I received several reports of sighting near the Avon River at Bushy Park."

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/15-thylacines [now a deadlink]

Two of these reports, VIC.1992.3.xx and VIC.1992.5.xx, have specific details. Several implies three or more, hence at least one other report was made besides the two catalogues already.

VIC.1992.11.2

"Lou Caille, 61 was drivng down the Inverloch-Leongatha about 8.15 a.m. on Melbourne Cup day, when it crossed the road 200 metres ahead of them."

Source: http://malcolmscryptids.blogspot.com/2014/11/thylacine-fever-in-wonthaggi-district.html

"It was dark tan, a member of the dog family, but not like any dog I have ever seen. It was a bit like a fox with the mange, but taller, and had a sloping back. I was taken by its unusual gait ... and then its long, pig-like snout."

The female front seat passenger said: " . . . It was brown, very thin, had short hair, and a very long, stiff tail."

Source: Gannon, Tom. (1993). Strange animal seen; like Tasmanian tiger. South Gippsland Sentinel Times, Tuesday, 9 November. [text here]

VIC.1993.11.12

"two women had been driving along the Leongatha-Wonthaggi Rd the previous Friday in the early afternoon when they passed by the side of the road an animal which they at first thought was a mangy fox. However, when they got closer, it was noticed that it was a healthy-looking animal about the height of a blue heeler, with tan coloured short hair. However, there were black markings, or stripes, among the tan hair towards the back, and it sloped down at the tail. As they passed it, she watched it through the rear vision mirror, and noted that the stripes were present on the other side as well. For that reason, she did not think it was a mangy fox. The second woman saw the animal head-on, and so missed the stripes, but she did notice a thin, stiff tail sticking out straight behind.
The two women were happy to provide their names for publication, until they were told of another sighting. Mrs Irene Taylor had been travelling down the same road about 5.45 pm that same day, when she saw a thylacine-like creature walk across the road into long grass. However, she backed the car up and happened to find the animal lying in the grass. It was obviously a sick fox, with all the hair missing from the rear half of its body, and with its tail long, skinny, and hairless. She said that if she hadn't stopped, she would have gone home convinced she had seen something exotic.
In the face of this, the two women decided to remain anonymous, but they stuck to their guns. They had seen a photo of a stuffed thylacine in the South Australian Museum, and it was identical to what they had seen."

Source: http://malcolmscryptids.blogspot.com/2014/11/thylacine-fever-in-wonthaggi-district.html

Original newspaper article: South Gippsland Sentinel Times, Lair of a Thylacine?, Tuesday, 16 November, 1993

VIC.1993.xx.xx

"In 1996, Victorian National Party environment spokesman Peter Hall asked then state conservation minister Marie Tehan to investigate a reported thylacine sighting at Wilsons Promontory in 1993.

"I have no reason to doubt (this) account of the sighting as I believe (the person making the report) to be a very rational and responsible member of society," he wrote."

Source: Anonymous. (2003). Tassie tigers on the loose near Melbourne. The Age, 18 August.

VIC.1992/93.xx.xx

A Poowong resident watched it through his binoculars in an adjacent paddock about 8 a.m.

""It was certainly not a dog or a fox. It was grey, brown in color, more grey than brown, and had a long thin tail, thick at the butt and tapering to a point," the man said. He said its ears were similar in shape to a dingo's."

Source: South Gippsland Sentinel Times, 5 January, 1993 [text here]

VIC.1994.6.xx

Journalist Colin Coomber recounts his dealings with a man known only as 'M':

"Contacted by M who claimed Thylacine sightings were common in Loch Sport, a town on a thin neck of land in the Gippsland Lakes, wedged between Lake Victoria and the mostly dry Lake Reeve. He claimed to have seen a Thylacine six times since June 1994 on land behind his house which backed onto the ti-tree area bordering Lake Reeve...He believed that he had seen three different animals. One was tall and thin, another much stockier, and recently he had seen a juvenile animal. The ears on the animals were small and did not stand up like a dog and he described their stripes as being light fawn on a mousy colored background...M said he had taken to wearing a camera around his neck whenever he went for walks and had twice seen a Thylacine but these glimpses were fleeting and he had been unable to take a snap. An interesting addendum to this story was that in 1997 M came to see me in my office when I was out. My staff said he was excited and said he had a film in his 35mm camera he wanted me to develop because it contained something I would be interested in. He said he would return later but never did. Sadly, I found out later he had collapsed down the street and died of a heart attack. His camera and film were never found. (Gippsland Times, November 29, 1996)"

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/16-thylacine-reports [now a deadlink]

VIC.1996.10.24

Journalist Colin Coomber recounts his dealings with a man known only as 'M':

"M said that on the night of October 24, 1996 four people had seen a Thylacine come up behind a house after a barbecue, presumably scavenging for chop bones. The animal had run away when he went to get his camera."

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/16-thylacine-reports [now a deadlink]

VIC.c1996.xx.xx

Two witnesses, presumably an older couple. Reported by their child (son?).

"We drove that road alot in the 70s when i was a kid, camping on the snowy near willis. I shat myself the whole way along that road..... FWIW my parents are convinced they saw a thylacine along there near suggan buggan about 10 years ago....."

Source: https://www.ski.com.au/xf/threads/thylacines-on-the-mainland.5777/

VIC.1996/1997.xx.xx

"One woman, who saw the animal "for a good 30 seconds," said, "It was about the size of a cattle dog, dark gray with tan and dark brown stripes and a greyhound-like face.""

VIC.1997.2.xx

Journalist Colin Coomber:

"February 1997 - Golden Beach

A Stratford woman was driving towards Golden Beach, part of the Ninety Mile Beach, when she spotted a striped animal sniffing beside the road between the Loch Sport turn-off and Lake Reeve. She had to slow the vehicle to avoid hitting it. She said it was a dark grey color with dark tan to brown stripes on the rear section and with a long thick tail. The face was "raw-boned" and the body was thin like a whippet. She believed it was about the height of her cattle dog. She said she expected the animal to run off like a dog but when it moved, it surprised her. The animal went forward on its front legs like a kangaroo, then the rear legs propelled it forward quickly in a couple of bounds. The hindquarters had a definite up and down movement but the front legs moved like a cantering horse."

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/16-thylacine-reports [now a deadlink]

VIC.1997.9.6

"A Past Sighting from Victoria

This report was sent in to MARCA from Nola who lives in Wonthaggi, Victoria.

Nola says, I was one of a group of eight women (aged 26-55) taking part in a bush walk last Saturday (6-9-1997) to Bald Hill's Wetland Reserve.

At about 2.00 p.m. we stopped for drinks when we saw an unusual animal cross the road and disappear into a patch of ti-tree about 75 metres away. No-one could identify it, but most of the group agreed that the tail was unusually long and straight.

Most of the walkers moved on, but three of us, two armed with bird watching binoculars, followed the animal to the fence dividing roadside from farmland.

After searching for 1 or 2 minutes, we again sighted the animal in a sunlit clearing about 200-300 metres away. Using our binoculars we were able to watch the animal for some time.

It was short-haired and the colour of dry bracken fern with a different shade across the rump and the tail being quite dark. It was about the height of a Labrador dog, but longer in the body so that it looked badly proportioned and its forehead quite broad. The ears were upright but rounded which gave it a lioness look. It sat on its haunches and scratched behind its ear, and then sniffed around the ground.

Several times it disappeared from view, but would then reappear. Initially the black and white cattle in the paddock looked at it, but then resumed eating. We watched for approximately 6-10 minutes until it loped into the scrub.

Fortunately we were all able to compare notes as we watched and were able to agree about the above description.

Thank you to Nola for sharing her exciting sighting with us all. Thank you to Meryl for her help also. I have re-written the report as Nola has written it. Except for adding the date."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20020220025923/http://www.webace.com.au/~pwest/marca/index.html

VIC.1997.9.8

Jillian or Gillian Sandra-Seger's report at Wilson's Promontory, as featured on The X Creatures, season 1, episode 6, "Beyond the Jaws of Extinction" (starts at 5:19 of the video below):

"This is the animal I saw on September the 8th, '97. Uh, its head was sharp, a bit like my whippets, and I thought at first perhaps its some sort of a greyhound. And then that just didn't make sense, because it was very stretched out sort of a greyhound, and perhaps not as tall. And then of course what I'd been seeing at the same time were these amazing stripes that, six or seven, just sort of jumped out at me. They were very dark and they were the most amazing, um, just came to this tapered point like blades of grass. But I've got no recollection of seeing any on the tail. And that's really the drawing completed. And that's a coloured illustration I've done"

VIC.1997.xx.xx

"ARFRA secretary Dorothy Williams says a quick search brings up reports from Crib Point (1973), Warneet (1997) and Tooradin (2000)."

Source: Watson, Catherine. (2012). Tasmanian Tiger: The ghost of a chance. Casey Weekly Cranbourne, 5 August.

VIC.1998.11.xx

Michael Moss's film of what he purports to be a thylacine:

"I filmed one in an open paddock near Foster in November 1998, the first and only time I have seen one."

Source: Watson, Catherine. (2012). Tasmanian Tiger: The ghost of a chance. Casey Weekly Cranbourne, 5 August.

From his now defunct website:

"During the past nine years I have launched dozens of searches for the Tasmanian Tiger on mainland Australia, even searching in Queensland's Buderim Catchment. Then on November 16th 1998 at approx 8pm I hit paydirt. I saw a Tasmanian Tiger for the first and last time, and I video taped it.
This rediscovery of the Tasmanian Tiger took place in the Mt Best catchment north of Foster/Toora in South Gippsland Victoria. After a number of sightings in this area by locals in broad daylight, I conducted interviews and on a topographic map I pinpointed which gully system I believed the Thylacine would temporarily be residing in. Locals had seen tigers whilst on their tractors, in their back yards and whilst driving. I spent days waiting, with my video camera, for this historic zoological moment. That evening on Nov 16th 1998 at one time or another that evening every animal in the area I saw out in the open eg. wombat, wallaby, fox, rabbit. This was unusual. Then the moment I will never forget I saw a Tasmainian Tiger come out of the scrub on the adjacent hillside. It was moving rapidly but I noticed the feline suppleness in its movements that Moeller the German Thyacine expert identified when he studied the movements of the last Tylacine in Tasmania. The Thyacine moved into and through some scrub and out into the open.
I still don't know how I did it but I managed to turn the video camera on/pick it up and hold it to my face in one movement and swing it right onto the moving Thyacine. It all happened from start to end of sighting in less than ten seconds. The Tasmanian Tiger stopped briefly sensing my presence, it appeared to have something in its mouth – a rabbit? It is an honour and a priviledge to have rediscovered the Tasmanian Tiger."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20040701013410/http://www.tastigervideo.com/page4.html

The footage

The Animal X: Natural History Unit episode on the thylacine contains part of the footage Michael Moss took:

VIC.199X.xx.xx #1

User "Keith53" commented the following:

"My wife claims to have seen one in the Evansford area back in the late 1990s."

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.

VIC.199X.xx.xx #2

Journalist Colin Coomber recounts his dealings with a man known only as 'M':

"Contacted by M who claimed Thylacine sightings were common in Loch Sport, a town on a thin neck of land in the Gippsland Lakes, wedged between Lake Victoria and the mostly dry Lake Reeve...He claimed to have seen a Thylacine six times since June 1994 on land behind his house which backed onto the ti-tree area bordering Lake Reeve. M said that on one occasion he was walking his dog and had seen a Thylacine coming from 300m away as it skirted the edge of the lake. It got to within 25m before it stopped and headed away into the scrub. He described the animal as having a tail about 6.5cm thick, tapering slightly. The tail hung low near the ground as the Thylacine was coming towards him but when it loped off, the tail stood straight out behind. M described the gait of the animal as if it was lame in the hindquarters with the rear end moving up and down. Interestingly after this incident his dog refused to accompany him on walks until it was carried by his grandson, after which the dog again resumed walking through the scrub. He believed that he had seen three different animals. One was tall and thin, another much stockier, and recently he had seen a juvenile animal. The ears on the animals were small and did not stand up like a dog and he described their stripes as being light fawn on a mousy colored background."

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/16-thylacine-reports [now a deadlink]

VIC.199X.xx.xx #3-6

Journalist Colin Coomber recounts his dealings with a man known only as 'M':

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/16-thylacine-reports [now a deadlink]

* VIC.1994.6.xx and VIC.199X.xx.xx#2 each have separate entries due to individual details of these sightings. The other four (this entry, i.e. '#3-6') are grouped together for lack of detail.

VIC.199X.xx.xx #7-12

Journalist Colin Coomber recounts his dealings with a man known only as 'M':

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/16-thylacine-reports [now a deadlink]

VIC.199X/200X.xx.xx #1-4 or 5

Journal Colin Coomber:

"Interestingly, this area [i.e.Golden Beach] produced perhaps 4-5 other fleeting sightings of striped Thylacine-like animals between 1997 and 2004."

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/16-thylacine-reports [now a deadlink]

VIC.2000.xx.xx

"Another Cranbourne resident claimed to have seen a tiger in Tooradin in 2000."

Source: Watson, Catherine. (2012). Tasmanian Tiger: The ghost of a chance. Casey Weekly Cranbourne, 5 August.

VIC.2001.xx.xx

"In June 2009, the Cranbourne Journal (predecessor of the Casey Weekly) ran an article on a possible sighting of a Tasmanian tiger crossing Chevron Avenue, Cranbourne South, in 2001."

Source: Watson, Catherine. (2012). Tasmanian Tiger: The ghost of a chance. Casey Weekly Cranbourne, 5 August.

VIC.2002.xx.xx

"I was fishing the cobungra river in 2002 when i was greated by a thylacine on the other side of the river. Angus(friend) and i gazed at what we thort was a deadly wild dog but when we were confident that it was not going to kill us we knew it was a shy, dazzeled and tired Tazzie Tiger. We told parks but they didnt believe us they just said it was probly a wild dog. i feel so bad that i could not get a photo of the wonderfull creature."

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

VIC.2003.1.xx

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20030621223343/http://romeo.pembrokesc.vic.edu.au/home/tiger/Stories2003.html

VIC.c2003.xx.xx

"I have a mate who told me he and his daughter sighted on on the great ocean road, in roughly the same area about 10 years ago."

Source: https://www.facebook.com/notes/where-light-meets-dark/cape-otway-thylacine-body-1973-victoria/492059894154685

VIC.2004.1.1

Tracy Bawden and Chrisopher Langman. The sighting occurred on 1 January according to the earlier reportage but on the 3rd going by the later second report. I take the earlier (1 January) report to more likely to be accurate regarding the date:

"Below is a message we sent to Andy's website and he put us onto this site......I have not been able to get this out of my mind, and I am the last person to believe in flying saucers or any such ......It was not a dog, too big to be a fox, and I'm almost sure that amongst its injured back and mange, it had the tell tale stripes!!!
> Dear Andy,
>
> Crazy as it may sound we are becoming more and more convinced that we may
> have sighted a Tasmanian Tiger.
> We are not the kind of people to romanticise such a notion.
> January 1st saw us driving from Mt Beauty to Myrtleford via "Tunnel Gap"
in
> North Eastern Victoria.
> As we turned a corner we came across a mangy creature who showed no regard
> for our presence. Indeed it seemed stunned and in dire condition. At first
> we thought it was a fox missing its fur and proceeded 100m up the road
until
> we looked at each other with the same incredulous thought. May I stress
> again we are not "conspiracy theorists" in any way.
> We backed up and the animal still showed no concern for us and limped into
> the bushes.
>
> Upon reaching Myrtleford we had occasion to visit the vet and mentioned
the
> incident. She passed it off as possibly being a wild dog. "There are a lot
> of strange looking dogs around here."
> We left it at that.
> After having the creature play on both of our minds for the past few days
we
> decided to look the Tasmanian Tiger up on the net and came across your
site.
> We think there may be something in this as all it's features fit. Is this
> possible?
>
> Kind Regards
>
>
> Tracy Bawden and Chris Langman"

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607040937/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/forum/Forum3/HTML/000014.html

"January 2004 Saturday 3rd. Rounding a corner in NE Victoria, my friend and I saw a mangy animal in the middle of the road. I said "Thylacine", and she said "Tasmanian Tiger" at the same time... we overlapped.

I was driving and a little slow on the uptake, but pulled to a stop and reversed up. It was gone. I'm not easily persuaded in these things, and we decided it was worth reporting to the National Parks people in Myrtleford, who couldn't have been less interested. I got onto the Tasmanian Tiger Forum immediately... I think the link is now abandoned, but little interest was shown at the time. I kept checking the sight for a few years... not much activity.

Some years later I was speaking to someone in charge of sightings for the Premier's Dept in Hobart. He said that funds were set aside should a positive piece of concrete evidence emerge, but that they had long given up. I remain convinced that they are around.

Christopher L"

Source: https://www.thylacineawarenessgroupofaustralia.com.au/read-tagoa-witness-sighting-reports.htm

VIC.2004.2.xx

Journalist Colin Coomber:

"February 2004 - Golden Beach

Although I had left the newspaper seven years before I was contacted mid-afternoon by a couple who 20 years earlier used to provide me with reports for a weekly fishing column I wrote. I regard the couple as reliable witnesses. The husband said he and his wife had just seen a Thylacine feeding on a road-kill kangaroo carcass on the Longford-Lett's Beach Rd., midway between the Loch Sport turn-off and Lake Reeve. (Exact area as the 1997 sighting above). They had been returning home from surf fishing and had seen the animal clearly as they passed. He had turned his vehicle around and had driven back to the spot and it was only then that the striped animal moved off into the scrub. He placed a bucket on the closest white post to direct me to the site. I immediately drove to inspect the area which is about 30 minutes from Sale. I located the kangaroo carcass and carefully inspected the ground around it for footprints. It was lying on hard gravel and there was no spoor that I could detect. I inspected the sandy bank about two metres away and I could see animal tracks but the sand was so fine that there was nothing which could be identified. Afterwards I spoke to both my informants who firmly declared that the animal could be nothing other than a Thylacine. When they first drove past they were travelling about 80kmh but when they returned the husband had driven slowly, perhaps 20kmh, and they had been able to get quite close before the animal moved off."

Source: http://coombermedia.com/13-articles/cryptozoology/16-thylacine-reports [now a deadlink]

VIC.2004.xx.xx

"I belive there is some on mainland oz as I seen one at Beenack near Yellingbow in victoria mid April 2004"

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

VIC.2005.12.20

According to Michael Moss:

"two women travelling near Anglesea reported seeing a thylacine on December 20."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607040851/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/forum/Forum3/HTML/000020.html

VIC.2006.1.9

Presumably quoting from a newspaper article:

"A tasmanian tiger or thylacine ran across a road north of Colac about 12.50am last Monday, according to Warrion man Steven Bennett. Mr Bennett said he was driving between Cressy and Warrion when he spotted the animal, believed to have been extinct since 1936. "It ran across the road in front of me (and) paused before it went into the bushes and long grass (on the side of the road),'' he said. The 24-year-old said the animal's stripes, tail and hind legs convinced him it was not a dog, feral cat or fox.A Tasmanian tiger ``is pretty much the only thing I can think of to explain it,'' Mr Bennett said.``It was a fawnish colour and it didn't have a bushy tail _ it's tail went straight out behind it. You always see foxes out here and normally they move low to the ground this was more like a horse in the way it trotted across the road.``I didn't get that much of a look at its head but it was a little bit taller than a bull mastiff and quite slim.''The sighting has excited researcher Michael Moss, who has been searching for the animals for about a decade. Mr Moss has been using a body-heat activated camera in the Otways and Gippsland for the past 18 months in the hopes ofcapturing evidence of the Tasmanian tigers and panthers rumoured to live in the forests."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607040851/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/forum/Forum3/HTML/000020.html

VIC.2006.6.xx

One witness, aged 44, of unknown sex.

"Just letting you know that I might have seen one. I was driving down the road from my house (just on the outskirts of Portland, Western Victoria) and saw it running across the road in front of me. I can tell you that it was not a large cat, fox or a domesticated dog. I am 44 years old and in that time I have seen nothing like it before."

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

VIC.2006.7.8

At least two witnesses, of unknown sex and age.

"We think we saw a thylacine this morning, and wanted to write to notify someone, and also check on the likelihood that this could happen. It was about 10 am on farmland near Greens Bush and National parklands in Main Ridge on the Mornington Peninsula. We were herding some cattle and we noticed what we first thought was a fox coming towards us, then it crossed into the next paddock. It did not seem to be too timid of the cattle. It did not run like a fox, but loped. It had a big head, it looked like there was no fur on its back and tail, instead it had dark colouring (black/charcoal) in a saw tooth shape, the front chest and head were solid and the back was a bit lower to the ground. It stopped to sniff the air and then went up to a dead animal and tore at the flesh. I went over to get a closer look, when it sensed me it looked up - the shape of its head was not like a fox or any other animal I had seen. It then loped off over the paddocks."

...

"After I had emailed you, I called Parks Victoria, and got a very helpful man, who was open to the possibility that I had sighted a thylacine. He suggested I locate foot prints, and to keep the remains of the dead calf that “the animal” had been feasting on, with the possibility that they test it. After discussing with him the features of a thylacine, I have decided that I most likely saw a mangy feral dog. (Funny that I should immediately consider an animal that is thought to be extinct before considering a feral dog!). I include that information about keeping records such as foot prints or faeces, in case any of your readers has a sighting."

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

VIC.2007.6-8.xx

An anonymous report made to REPAD:

"In winter 2007, about 10.30 or 11pm at night, I was driving to pick up my teenage daughter from a party, and my 11 year-old daughter was asleep in the passenger seat beside me. This was at McKenzie-King Drive, Millgrove, Victoria, below Mt Donna Buang, beside the upper Yarra River. When you come down to the bottom of the hill on that road you have to do two 90-degree turns in close succession, around a play-park, and the road runs briefly parallel to the river, in order to then go across the bridge. I was going slowly, 30-40kph. Numerous mature gum trees grow on both sides of the bridge, and black and silver wattles, shrubs etc, a good patch of bush. An animal suddenly ran across the road at the bridge, coming in my direction, then kept running along on the ‘footpath’ beside and past my car (there’s no actual walking path), adjacent to the river, a few metres away. I stopped the car, to watch it going for several seconds, and think about what I’d seen. At first I had thought it was a dog, then thought it was a dingo, then a fox, then some strange crossbreed of dog-dingo. It was quite a bit larger than a domestic cat, also taller than a fox, with longer legs than foxes (foxes are also visible on/beside roads near here late at night). It was a pale fawn colour, perhaps slightly golden fawn, maybe like a classic dingo colour, not at all russet like a fox, with about 6 partially defined darkish stripes across its lower back and upper part of its tail. It had pointed ears, a smallish ‘face’ a bit like a fox, but very solid, biggish square-looking jaws giving a boxy impression (I was thinking that could be explained by a bull terrier cross or something like that). However it had a very slim-built lean body, unlike a bull terrier or even a dingo. It appeared a very active ‘fit’ animal, probably able to run long distances. It had a smooth straight tale, sticking out behind, decidedly unlike the bushy tail of a fox. It was running along quickly and steadily, like a ‘trot’, where they use one foot at a time. It was rectangular-shaped overall, but slender. I believed it was a young animal, not fully grown, about 35cm tall and 45cm long in the body excluding head and tail. Are juveniles a lighter colour than older ones? It kept running along beside that short section of road until near the turn it continued into the bush beside the river, behind the last house in that row, and disappeared from view. I realised it would have to cross a creek further along, to keep going in that direction, and was thinking about its habitat and range. I decided it must be a Thylacine and looked up various types of animals on the internet. Nothing else I could find was anything like it. I reported it to NPWS over the phone. The guy I spoke to basically insinuated he didn’t believe me and asked if I could have instead seen a quoll or something like that. I don’t think he even recorded my sighting. It was nothing like a quoll, that’s for sure. I’m utterly convinced it was a Thylacine."

VIC.2007.7.xx

3 witnesses.

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

VIC.2007.xx.xx

"Id just like to report a possible sighting I had in late Feb 2007 along the Great Ocean Road
It was a sunny clear evening around 8pm and my sighting lasted for only about 5 sec. We came around a sharp corner and caught a short glimps of a larger animal very sleek and slender but fit looking rather than skinny and frail. I was only able to catch sight of the overall colour which was tan and a marking to the tip of the tail. I cannot confirm any other body markings due to the fact it was over so quickly. It moved very fast and nimbly off the road and down the steep ocean side with great ease and skill."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607040944/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/forum/Forum3/HTML/000028.html

VIC.2008.11.3

Nick from Tarneit:

"i have seen an tasmanin tiger just yesterday near kororoit creek laverton it is not extinct"

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

VIC.c2008.xx.xx

"Another mate sighted one about 5 years ago on the Murray river approx 50km east of Mildura."

Source: https://www.facebook.com/notes/where-light-meets-dark/cape-otway-thylacine-body-1973-victoria/492059894154685

VIC.2009.1/2.xx

Two witnesses, a 52-year-old man and his 28-year-old son. The account comes from a friend of theirs, reported on 23 February and thus putting the sighting at the end of January or start of February.

"On recent trips home, I have been travelling via the Omeo to Corriyong mountain road to there and back working on a house. My close friend (52-year-old, like me, and his son 28) S&ML were following me coming back from up there recently. There is a dirt section approximately 65 km long on the north side of Benambra that finishes the other side of the range at the Nariel Valley. A few weeks ago S&M were following me a few km behind because of the dust.

Near the Benambra side almost at the end of the dirt road, an animal with stripes ran across in front of them a few hundred metres away (mid morning, perfect visibility). As they approached, the animal panicked and scrambled up a steep bank. It fell back and knocked the wind out of itself. They pulled up next to it thinking it was a dog. For approximately two minutes they watched from the car about five metres away while it struggled to get up and move off. ML identified it immediately. When they arrived at home later that day, SL’s wife logged onto the computer to confirm what they had seen. They have no doubt at all it was a Tassie Tiger. The only mistake they made was not recording it on the cell phone camera."

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

VIC.200X.xx.xx

"Over a decade ago Mr Moss was alerted to a sighting in Clematis near the Cardinia Reservoir."

Source: Westgarth, Georgia. (2015). How to know you've got a tiger - by the tale. Berwick News, Thursday, 16 July, p. 4.

Westgarth, Georgia. (2015). A tiger by the tale. Cranbourne News, Thursday, 16 July, p. 4.

VIC.2011.10.21

Col Prafulla Kumar Mohanta, retired Colonel of the Indian army:

"On 21 Oct 2011, I along with my family was driving down from Sydney to Melbourne. At about 9.30 PM (Sydney time), on Hume Highway, while coming to Melbourne, approximately 40 to 50 KM short of Melbourne, we saw an animal crossing the Hume Highway from left to right, at about 50 to 60 yards in front of us. Initially I thought it to be a big stray dog commonly found in India. But my son said that, there are no stray dogs in Australia. The animal was slowly galloping. It had an abnormally elongated mouth. The tail was pretty thick at the starting then tapering down. I could see the vertical black stripes to the hind portion of the animal probably because the car was being driven on low beam. As an animal lover, I knew little bit about the Tasmanian tiger. After reaching home we searched Google as to what we had seen. And I do not have any ambiguity in mind that it was a Tasmanian tiger."

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

VIC.2012.1.10 #1-3*

Three sightings by Andrew Calleja within the span of around 10 minutes (pers. comm., 29 August 2023), including numerous photos of the animal (at least one of which will shortly be added here).

Andrew made a report of his sightings on 29 March 2012 on the now defunct tasmanian-tiger.com website of Joan and Buck Emberg:

"Just wanted to say i went camping in the grampions national park on January 12-15 and seen a thylacine i got out my car and took 12 photos with my iphone about 6 of which are good. the department of sustainability and environment have been debating about my photos this has been going on for a while
they have tried to say its a red mangy fox with stripes how ever they cant provide photos of this. this creature definatly exists on the mainland"

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20140918002501/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/guestbook.html

Andrew reported his sightings to me on 29 August 2023 in much more detail:

Sighting 1

I saw a thylacine on the edge of the road at 3:00 pm on January 10th 2012 when driving down a road in the Grampians National Park Victoria Australia. Seen the thylacine waiting for traffic to pass. I noticed its stripes and immediately knew what it was, I did a U-turn and came back about 30 seconds later with my iPhone camera ready. (later research into metadata of iPhone 4 photos showed sighting date to be 10th Jan 2012)

Sighting 2

As I pulled off the road towards it. It ran off the way it came down into the creek. It jumped on top of a large log that had fallen over the creek and walked back and forth on the log looking at me. I could clearly see its tail was like a kangaroo. The log was about 2-3 meters off the ground suspended over the creek. It looked at me and we stared at each other for a few minutes.

I took a few photos with an iPhone 4 but it was about 20 meters away. I'm not sure if iPhone 4 had zoom but I didn’t use it if it did. I backed off slowly and went downwind from it and circled wide and placed myself further down creek from it to try to get better photos.

Sighting 3

I crept back up creek along the river banks edge looking down over the edge as I stalked the banks edge making my way back upstream towards it to place myself a stone’s throw away from the fallen over tree it was seeking refuge in. Last place it saw me was up creek where the water passed under the road. I knew when I threw the stones into the canopy of trees above it wasn’t going to run up creek towards the last place it had just seen me, it was going to run the opposite direction where I had now just placed myself. The banks of the river bed were steep on both sides so its best option was to run down the dry creek bed rather than trying to scale the steep banks. As the stones fell through the canopy above landing a few meters up creek from the fallen over tree it was on, It came running down stream towards me and I stepped up over the river banks edge and ran parallel to it taking a few more photos and when it seen me it got up on two legs and started bouncing like a kangaroo at full speed.

The photos are a little blurry but can make out the stripes.

VIC.2012.3.24

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

VIC.2012.5.8

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

VIC.2012.7.24

"A 42-year-old Cranbourne resident contacted researcher Michael Moss to say he and an adult friend saw a many-striped animal bigger than a German shepherd dog while driving towards Cranbourne about 11pm on Monday, July 24.

Mr Moss said the driver told him they were on the South Gippsland Highway about five kilometres from the Warneet roundabout when the animal looked up and then crossed the road so close they almost hit it.

"The car had 150-watt spotlights and both witnesses claim to have got a good look at the animal. The tail was thinner at the bottom and thicker at the top.

"He is adamant it is the same animal as the photo in your article.""

Source: Watson, Catherine. (2012b). Tasmanian tiger: Glimpses of a beast. Casey Weekly Cranbourne, 13 August.

VIC.2012.12.8

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

VIC.2012?.xx.xx #1

"A TASMANIAN tiger sighting has been reported at Apollo Bay, bolstering investigators’ claims the thylacine has escaped extinction and is living in the Otway Ranges.
Big Cats Victoria’s John Turner said the claim by three girls holidaying on Apollo Bay’s western edge helped corroborate other sightings of a striped, wolf-like creature in the district.
“It came out of the scrub where a bush track was going into the bush,” Mr Turner told the Independent.
“It just came out and casually walked across the road. They watched it from a second-storey window for about a minute – all the girls had a good look at it.’’
Mr Turner said the sighting was reported last summer to his Big Cats Victoria website but was in line with recent sightings at Freshwater Creek."

Source: Murphy, Noel. (2013). More tiger reports: ‘Sightings’ on coast. Geelong Indy, Friday, 8 November, p. 12.

VIC.2012?.xx.xx #2

"Berwick resident, Rob Taylor who believes he spotted a Tassie tiger about three years ago on his way to Buxton.

"It was dawn and I was on a regular drive on Wellington Road near Emerald when I saw this shape on the road in front of me - it was sitting on the road and got up as I started to approach it and then wandered off into the scrub," Mr Taylor said.

It was dark when he noticed the slender figure but Mr Taylor said he still got within about 20 metres of the animal, with his headlights shining right at the stripes.

"I was on my own and I noticed the distinctive rear stripes across its back which sloped toward its rear, with quite a long tail which wasn't fluffy.

"I could see the cross markings darker and lighter and I said to myself; that's a Tasmanian tiger!" he said.

Mr Taylor sighted the 'long and lean' animal as he was driving next to the Cardinia Reservoir.

"When it slowly stood up and wandered into the scrub I could see its distinctive stripes and its back sloping downwards, greyhound-like in appearance - and I had had a good sleep and hadn't been drinking," Mr Taylor laughed.

Having grown up on a farm in the Otways. Mr Taylor said he knew the bush well and could recognise things pretty quickly.

"It looked exactly like the pictures I've seen of Tassie tigers but I haven't seen anything like it again - I'm lucky to have seen it once," he exlained."

Source: Westgarth, Georgia. (2015). How to know you've got a tiger - by the tale. Berwick News, Thursday, 16 July, p. 4.

Westgarth, Georgia. (2015). A tiger by the tale. Cranbourne News, Thursday, 16 July, p. 4.

VIC.2013.10?.xx #1

"The Independent last month reported that an Ocean Grove couple claimed to have seen a large animal with a hyena gait, wolfish head and strange colouring on Anglesea Rd close to Blackgate Rd a fortnight ago."

Source: Murphy, Noel. (2013). More tiger reports: ‘Sightings’ on coast. Geelong Indy, Friday, 8 November, p. 12.

VIC.2013.10?.xx #2

"Freshwater Creek farmer Harry Cook has claimed sighting Tasmanian tigers several times, including in the past month."

Source: Murphy, Noel. (2013). More tiger reports: ‘Sightings’ on coast. Geelong Indy, Friday, 8 November, p. 12.

VIC.2013?.xx.xx #1

"Melbourne woman Amanda Ketteridge has since reported seeing a similar animal near Anglesea.
“If it wasn’t for the fact Tasmanian tigers are extinct I’d think I just saw one,” Ms Ketteridge wrote to the Independent."

Source: Murphy, Noel. (2013). More tiger reports: ‘Sightings’ on coast. Geelong Indy, Friday, 8 November, p. 12.

VIC.2013?.xx.xx #2

"A Mount Moriac farming couple last week reported strange sheep killings, with heads mauled and tongues eaten."

Source: Murphy, Noel. (2013). More tiger reports: ‘Sightings’ on coast. Geelong Indy, Friday, 8 November, p. 12.

VIC.2013?.xx.xx #3

"Pearcedale resident of 36 years Brian Morris is 99 per cent sure he saw a Tasmanian tiger about two years ago on Thompson’s Road in Lyndhurst.
“I noticed the stripes and was fascinated. At the time I didn’t know what it was,” Mr Morris said.

Mr Morris travels along Thompson’s Road every Monday 5.20am to get leftover bread for his cows and one morning he noticed the stripy animal as he slowed down to the enter the roundabout.

“It walked across the road and entered a drive way, I had a fairly good look at it with my headlights on – it looked like a fox and seemed well fed.
“By the time I got a good look at it I was about 10 metres away,” he said.

Mr Morris hasn’t seen the stripy animal since and said it’s not something that is seen every day.

“I’ve never seen anything like it in my life – I’m lucky to have seen it once,” he said."

Sources:

Westgarth, Georgia. (2015). Mystery of animal’s fate comes to life. Star News - Cranbourne, Hampton Park, Clyde, 7 July.

Westgarth, Georgia. (2015). Eyes of the tiger shine by night. Cranbourne News, Thursday, 9 July, p. 5.

Westgarth, Georgia. (2015). Eyes are still set on the Tassie Tiger mystery. Journal News, Monday, 13 July, p. 45.

VIC.2013?.xx.xx #3

"Mr Turner [i.e. Big Cats Victoria’s John Turner] said thylacine sightings had been reported across the state.

“Thylacines exist, they certainly exist,” he said.

“We had a recent report from the Pyrenees where a farmer rang me and said he’d seen the weirdest thing – a dog with stripes and two tails.

“This was really interesting because a thylacine is the only marsupial with a rear-facing pouch. It obviously had a pup in the pouch head-down with its tail sticking out.”

Source: Murphy, Noel. (2013). More tiger reports: ‘Sightings’ on coast. Geelong Indy, Friday, 8 November, p. 12.

VIC.2014.11.7

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

VIC.2014.11.23

"On Sunday 23 November, 2014 he [Michael Moss] says a Casey resident revealed sighting an animal - a cross between a small greyhound and a wallaby "but not either one" on FUltons Road between Baxter and Langwarrin when the animal ran across the road about 15-20 metres in front of their car."

Source: Rees, Brendan. (2017). Tiger burning bright again. Berwick News, Thursday, 5 October, p. 18.

VIC.2015?.xx.xx #1

"The [Venus Bay Caravan] park's cleaner Kylie Anderson had previously reported seeing a Tasmanian tiger in the grounds near a tent. He description of the animal matched what Tony saw back in December [i.e. TAS.2015.12.xx]."

Source: West, Chris. (2016). Tiger watch. Gippsland The Lifestyle Autumn 2016: 112-114.

VIC.2015.11/12.xx

"An overseas guest staying at the park had also made a similar observation in the weeks before Tony's sighting [i.e. TAS.2015.12.xx]."

Source: West, Chris. (2016). Tiger watch. Gippsland The Lifestyle Autumn 2016: 112-114.

VIC.2015.12.xx

"Venus Bay Caravan Park owner Tony Holgate came across a tiger at the park in December"

Source: Brad. (2016). Tasmanian Tiger sighted at Inverloch. The Star (Great Southern), 22 March.

"What started as a typical early December morning for Venus Bay Caravan Park proprietor, Tony Holgate soon became far from routine. Rising around dawn, Tony began his work duties in preparation for the day ahead. Sometime between 5.15am and 5.30am, while driving slowly around the grounds of the park, his eyes turned to a group of animals that caught his attention on a vacant grass site near the toiulet block.

In the clear mornign light, Tony instantly comprehended that there was something unusual about the small mob of kangaroos that had come into his vision. "There was another animal with the that I had never seen before. The kangaroos didn't seem threatened by it in any way and it was as if they were all together," Tony explains.

"At first I thought it was a fox but I soon realised it wasn't that. I knew it wasn't a dog or a cat either, so then I began to try to figure out exactly what it was. We get a lot of animals roaming here in the park, including kangaroos, foxes, wombats and possums, but this was different," he insists. Tony describes the animal's height as similar to a medium size dog, but with a distinctive feature beign several stripes on its back.

"It also had a strange walk, more of a lope which was quite unusual and different," he recalls. Tony was able to observe the animals from his vehicle but did not have a camera handy and does not own a mobile phone, which would have enabled him to capture the moment on film. "I was just watching them. The kangaroos looked at me. The other animal, which I couldn't identify looked at me. I was about twenty metres away and reckon I would have watched them for about thirty seconds. As I tried to drive closer, they all ran a little way up the hill and stopped there," he says.

Having moved to safer ground, the mysterious animal turned and stared back at Tony. As he again attempted to drive closer, it and the kangaroos ran off and disappeared from sight."

Source: West, Chris. (2016). Tiger watch. Gippsland The Lifestyle Autumn 2016: 112-114.

Interview:

VIC.2016.3.16

"Barrie Murphy reported a sighting at Inverloch last Wednesday.

The Inverloch resident said he was positive he caught a glimpse of the nocturnal marsupial and added jokingly he had just one glass of wine for the whole night.

“Last Wednesday at about 10.30pm, I was driving along Ullathorne Road when it crossed the road in front of me,” he said.

“First of all, I thought it was a fox or a cat, but as it moved off the bitumen on to the green verge, I realised it was dog sized, about the same as an Alsatian.”

Mr Murphy said as he got closer to the animal, its tail captured his attention.

“It was the long, straight tail, which could have been a metre long. It was straight out, white and strong looking,” he said.

Because he was in his car, Mr Murphy was unable to see the creature’s head, but he did recognise one of the Tasmanian tiger’s most distinctive traits.

“The thing that really made me twig was, as I drove past it, I saw the stripes down its side and onto its flank,” he said.

“I thought to myself, I have seen something exceptional here, so I turned around and went back, but it had disappeared.”

Mr Murphy said in the past, he has heard two accounts of Tasmanian tiger sightings, both from reliable sources.

“After seeing one myself, I thought I would report it so other people can keep a lookout,” he said."

Source: Brad. (2016). Tasmanian Tiger sighted at Inverloch. The Star (Great Southern), 22 March.

VIC.2016.5.17

Phil Zuppardo:

"Tuesday 17th May 2016, coming home around 6:00 pm, spotted a "dog" with stripes resembling one of your website photos."

Source: http://pub48.bravenet.com/guestbook/4121966821/#bn-guestbook-1-1-4121966821/next/2

VIC.2017.9.29

"The resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, says he had driven barely 300 metres south along West Road, Langwarrin South on Friday 29 September at 6.30pm when the marsupial "strolled across the road like it owned the joint".

"It wasn't moving quickly. It was casually strolling across the street," he said.

"I cringe everytime I say this but I don't think - I know. I'm 100 percent."

He said he was driving home with his eight-year-old son, seven-year-old daughter and their eight-year-old friend, Jet after attending the PARC recreation centre in Frankston when they got a "20 to 12 second look" at the animal.

"This thing came out of a bit of a cleared area or must have. It's gone straight inf ront of us across the road to the big dam there and it crossed into there and disappeared."

He says the kids saw "tiger stripes" on the animal's back. "I've gone 'Okay'. I didn't really see. It just looked like grey patches to me."

"It originally looked like a big greyhound. We got closer and I though 'Ok, that's a really long head.' But it wasn't a long head. It was a long neck with a largish head."

"We just thought wow, that was freaky."

"The main thing that got us was its tail was a long rod. It was like a stick. That's when we went 'Okay, what the hell was that'," he said.

"It was crystal clear except for a little bit of darkness. All I cans ay is wow - these things are supposed to be gond and there they are."

He says he got home not even within a minute "all excited" before he asked his partner to Google a picture of the Tasmanian tiger. "That's exactly what we just saw," he said.

He said it was slightly dark at the time when they spotted the dog-like animal, adding "It crossed straight in front of our vehicle - 10 metres ahead of our vehicle. We were that close we know we saw one."

It It was its long rod tail that stood out, he said. "Near its rear end it seemed to be like a marsupial, a similar shape to a kangaroo's bum."

He said it was the first time he had seen one: "They're supposed to be extinct, aren't they?"

But to his dismay, his mobile phone was flat and he didn't have a camera or a charger at the time to capture the animal.

"Pretty cool stuff it was. We'll keep our eyes open. If we see it again this time we'll have our phone ready to capture it.""

Source: Rees, Brendan. (2017). Tiger burning bright again. Berwick News, Thursday, 5 October, p. 18.

VIC.2017.9.xx

"Bernie Sampson said [he] was walking along Centre Break at the Fauna and Flora Reserve in Langwarrin South at about 11am one morning in late September, when the supposedly extinct creature "came from the right-hand side of the path."

"I had walked about 150 metres and about 50 back towards me I saw this - it wasn't a dog or a fox. All I saw was black.

"I would say I was at least 200 metres from it."

He said the animal ran across from the Long Crescent South to the Long Crescent North side within two seconds.

"It was obviously chasing a rabbit or something, a prey, and in a couple of seconds it jumped from the right-hand side where all the bushes are across the path to the left-hand side."

"It reminded me of a film of cheetahs in the way it raced."

Mr Sampson said it was the first time in 25 years walking in the reserve that he had seen the animal - which is the third apparent public sighting in the past two months.

He admits he wasn't wearing his glasses at the time, adding the animal was "much bigger than a dog. All I could see was black because it was over in a quick time."

Asked if it the creature had distinguishable features, he said "No, I can't to be honest", adding "I haven't seen it before.""

Source: Rees, Brendan. (2017). 'Tiger' land. Cranbourne Star News, Thursday, 16 November, p. 7.

VIC.2017.10.xx

"The revelation comes after a Frankston resident told Mr Moss hew saw an animal "identical to that famous black and white photograph of the Tasmanian tiger" in the Fauna and Flora Reserve in Langwarrin South three weeks ago.

The witness, who wished tor emain anonymous, told Mr Moss he had been walking on the main track during a wet afternoon when he saw the supposedly extinct creature.

"Out came an animal 15 feet away standing on the track. It was large and scared me. It was not a fox or dog. It was scraggy, a fawnish colour. I could make out darker stripes on its back," said the witness."

...the witness also claimed to have also recently seen the head of a fox, "no body - freshly killed" beside the Owen Dawson Track in the Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve.

"A week later on the same tracka nd spot he saw the intestines of an animal freshly killed."

Source: Rees, Brendan. (2017). Tiger eyes. Cranbourne News, Thursday, 19 October, p. 7.

VIC.2017.xx.xx #1

"I was walking on my land through the bush for a morning looking for kangaroos to take a photo of the when i saw the kangaroos about 1 acres away they started hopping to the left of me then as i looked to my right i saw a medium sized dog like creature running its tail seemed to be wide and long and it was a dark brown colour with strips running down its back the body and head were a lot lighter then the stripes on its back and tail."

Source: http://www.thylacineawarenessgroup.com/sighting/dereel/

VIC.2017.xx.xx #2-3

"There are two witnesses in that park around that time who claim to have seen something that they haven't seen before."

Source: Rees, Brendan. (2017). 'Tiger' land. Cranbourne Star News, Thursday, 16 November, p. 7.

VIC.2018.12.xx

Bellarine Peninsula resident Peter Groves's first sighting of a mystery animal (second sighting: VIC.2019.1.4/5).

Source: Woodger, Rusty. (2019). Mystery Bellarine beast sighting raises Tasmanian tiger theories. Geelong Advertiser, 6 January. [subscription required after first read]

VIC.2019.1.4/5

Bellarine Peninsula resident Peter Groves's second sighting of a mystery animal (first sighting: VIC.2018.12.xx).

"Resident Peter Groves was out for a walk on a track between Beacon Point and Portarlington when he saw the creature down a gorge.

It was the second time he had spotted the animal in a matter of weeks and, this time, he whipped out his mobile phone to get photographic evidence.

Mr Groves, a long-time farmer, said while the animal resembles a fox, he believes it could be something different.

“It’s a funny looking thing. It’s the big long tail and stumpy ears that intrigued me,” he said.

“It could just be a mangy fox, but it seems to be bigger than a fox and it’s not shy.

“It stood and looked at me for five minutes.”"

Source: Woodger, Rusty. (2019). Mystery Bellarine beast sighting raises Tasmanian tiger theories. Geelong Advertiser, 6 January. [subscription required after first read]

VIC.2019.3.11 (1:32am)

A report submitted to REPAD by Christopher Eden, who was driving with a single (male) passenger:

"We were driving through the Yarra Ranges on the 11th of March, 2019, at approximately at 1:32 am (exact time later verified by my passenger). When I came across a kangaroo standing motionless in the middle of the road, looking in the opposite direction and oblivious to my high beam headlights. I slowed down and drove around him. Then ten metres or so along the road there was a possum in the middle of the road, also motionless and looking in the opposite direction: also oblivious to my utility vehicle's noise and the high beam headlights. I then drive slowly around the possum thinking this is strange behaviour by both animals, as if they were frozen.

I remember a powerful eerie feeling.

Further along the road I spotted on the left hand side of the road an animal's yellow eyes shining as it was about to cross the road from left to right. I slowed down again and my lights lit it up as it lunged forward then hesitated and went to turn back. I am in shock as the animal is something I know very well and have loved all of my life: a large Tasmanian Tiger!

As I have slowed down it decides it is safe to cross the road and at first lopes then gallops across the road as I drive towards it. My full beam lights light a side on view of the Tiger in absolute daylight clarity. It’s the size of a Labrador, it’s coat blonde, almost yellow in my lights, it’s vivid black stripes have lighter almost white fur between each stripe. I remember clearly dangling flabby under belly as it ran. Full Tasmanian Tiger face.

I initially could not remember the tail as I was too busy concentrating on the stripes.

As it ran across the road from left to right I drove to the other side of the road as I trained my lights on it and braked as I came to the roadside cutting. At this braking my companion woke up (I did not know he had dozed off from the long drive) and also then saw the Tiger leap up and over the road cutting with ease.

I sat there in shock and then looked for somewhere to park off the road so I could attempt to chase it with my torch and camera. There was no where to safely park the vehicle with my companion still in it, and there was still the odd speeding truck/lorry using the road. I realised running after it would be futile as it would be long gone. I regretfully drove on almost speechless.

My sighting was one of the closest and clearest one could have because of the amazing odds of driving to the Tiger as he was about to cross the road.
As the Tiger jumped up the road cutting it was only approx 2 metres from the bonnet of my vehicle. It was 100% a Tasmanian Tiger ,very healthy and beautiful. I will always be honoured to not only see one, but to have the full confidence like other people who have sighted them ,that they really are not extinct."

VIC.2019.10.12

A report made to REPAD by a man who has lived in Australia for the past 20 years. His sighting was at Paradise Beach, near Loch sport (which is rich in thylacine sightings over a period of decades):

"I have lived in Australia for the last 20 years, and spend a lot of time driving, camping and fishing in remote areas in the mountains of Victoria.

...

Sometime around 3pm, I was taking my dog for a long walk, down a gravel road. Within minutes, I had already seen some of the usual wildlife of the area: a Kookaburra, couple of magpies, an echidna and two kangaroos. After about 30 minutes of walking, I saw something approximately 50 meters ahead of me, run out of a clearing ahead, cross the road, and quickly dissapear into thick bush. I probably had view of it for four to five seconds. I judged it's size by comparing it to my medium to large German shepherd that I was walking. The creature was much lower to the ground, I'd estimate 40 -45 centimeters to the back. Despite being much shorter in height to my dog, the creature was very long; probably close to the length of my German Shepherd. It was also much, much leaner, with the circumference probably 1/3 to 1/4 of my dogs.

It had extremely short hair, that appeared to be dark greyish brown, but I could not see any stripes on it. It had a long, thin tail, but the feature that stood out the most, to me, was the shape of its head. It had a wide face, with a thick snout. This was like no dog breed I've ever seen, and it definitely wasn't a fox. It ran smoothly, almost effortlessy it seemed. Having lived in Australia for 20 years, I've heard lots of stories of Tasmanian tigers, and seen photos. When I got home, I immediately went online to have a closer look. I am now convinced that I really saw a Tasmanian Tiger!"

VIC.2019.11-12.xx #1-2

Reported early December 2019:

"‘We live in South Gippsland Victoria, we saw one 1000%, honestly couldn't believe our eyes, there was a sighting just a couple of nights ago in our street by our neighbour!!

It was late at night, it was a decent size, bigger than a Fox, it had the darkest stripes on its back and a funny looking tail, that’s how I knew it wasn't a mangey Fox, it's tail looked really thick from its bum to pointy skinny almost like a kangaroos tail and pointed straight to the ground?? Like the tail wasn't fluffy??? It was definitely brown, but the stripes, they were thick on its body, it was stationary on the side of the road, we spooked it with the car and I don't even know if I could call it running , I've never seen an animal run like that, it almost looked like it was dancing????... It was so strange. We did get it on dash cam but the wind screen was covered in bugs and so you can hardly see it, I can see if my husband still has the footage???...

When my neighbours saw one the other night, it was around 8pm, so still would have been semi light, and she is 1000% sure of what she seen, she was a non-believer and now a believer. Everyone's mocking her telling her she's seeing things or a mangey Fox but she's 1000%. A lot of the people in town have seen at least one, here, but are scared to post locations because we have hunters come in and will shoot them if they see them, the hunters were rife last Christmas. Would come right into town and shoot deer in people's front yards, so dangerous ... But both my husband and I are 1000% of what we seen, I've never seen anything like it before, its mouth is what threw me to be honest, its mouth scared the crap out of me, haha like something you'd see in a horror movie???... Couldn't believe my eyes...’"

Source: https://www.thylacineawarenessgroupofaustralia.com.au/read-tagoa-witness-sighting-reports.htm

VIC.xxxx.xx.xx #1

"I know of an old dog trapper who reckoned that he saw a Thylacine in that general area [i.e. Suggan Buggan] at one stage too. He would know more than anyone. He would be able to pick a fox or dog from a Thylacine."

Source: https://www.ski.com.au/xf/threads/thylacines-on-the-mainland.5777/

VIC.xxxx.xx.xx #2

"I know a bloke who swears he saw a tiger outside Melb at Arthur's Creek (about 1/2 way between Eltham and Whittlesea)."

Source: https://www.ski.com.au/xf/threads/thylacines-on-the-mainland.5777/

VIC.xxxx.xx.xx #3

"What about the old dog trapper Jack Mustard, who has said "Those Tasmanian Tigers are not extinct, I've seen one." He saw one in the Victorian High country out of Dargo."

Source: https://www.ski.com.au/xf/threads/thylacines-on-the-mainland.5777/page-2

VIC.xxxx.xx.xx #4

Justine Merry (ARFRA member?):

"Driving down an isolated, gravel road amongst the forest of the Dandenong Ranges, a woman finds herself following what appears to be a fox. As the animal strolls confidently down the road, she notices it seems to lack the typical features of the common introduced pest. Its tail does not resemble that of a bushy, fox-like tail. Instead, it is thin and straight with dark stripes following from its lower back to the tip. Its jaw is fuller and its stride is unusual. As the woman approaches slowly in her vehicle, the animal turns to look at her. She opens her car door to approach it on foot, but it abruptly disappears into the roadside scrub."

Source: Anonymous. (2012). Thylacine’s suspected ongoing existence in the Dandenongs. The Hills Reporter, 31 May.

VIC.xxxx.xx.xx #5

Thylacine researcher, and ARFRA member, Dorothy Williams:

"Ms Williams first gained an interest in the Thylacine when she suspected to have heard one herself.

“We only have descriptions. But there are a lot of descriptions from tiger hunters and researchers who were around at the time of their existence. One of the sounds was an indrawn breath, followed by a coughing bark,” recalls Ms Williams.

She explains that this was the sound she heard a number of times while living on her bush-block in Monbulk. Ms Williams was even able to capture a recording of the unidentifiable sound.

"It was only after joining ARFRA and becoming familiar with the group's research that I realised the noises I heard could well have been a Thylacine," Ms Williams explains."

Source: Anonymous. (2012). Thylacine’s suspected ongoing existence in the Dandenongs. The Hills Reporter, 31 May.

VIC.xxxx.xx.xx #6

"Environmentalist and writer, Vivian Benton, spotted a thylacine crossing the road while driving early one morning with her husband, not far from where Ms Merry had her sighting.

“At first I thought it was a dog, but its tail was different and it had stripes, and it also had a pronounced heel,” Mrs Benton explained."

Source: Anonymous. (2012). Thylacine’s suspected ongoing existence in the Dandenongs. The Hills Reporter, 31 May.

VIC.xxx.xx.xx #7-8

Harry Cook claims to have seen thylacines on several occasions. One of these encounters can be roughly dated (VIC.2013.10?.xx #2). While the other two or more are currently without a specific date (these reports seem to have been submitted to Michael Moss, who could provide extra details).

"Freshwater Creek farmer Harry Cook has claimed sighting Tasmanian tigers several times, including in the past month."

Source: Murphy, Noel. (2013). More tiger reports: ‘Sightings’ on coast. Geelong Indy, 8 November.

VIC.XXXX.xx.xx #9

Chris:

"having seen one myself in Gippsland several years ago."

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

VIC.XXXX.xx.xx #10-11

"My brother and my husband both claim to have sighted a thylacine in the gippsland region, on 2 seperate occassions. One of these sightings was about 30 years ago. My brother reported it to whatever DSE called themselves then, but they were very dismissive and did nothing."

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

VIC.XXXX.xx.xx #12

The Otways:

"one sighted through a window in front of a woodpile"

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20120819013823/http://www.caseyweeklycranbourne.com.au:80/news/local/news/general/tasmanian-tiger-glimpses-of-a-beast/2648138.aspx

VIC.XXXX.xx.xx #13

The Otways:

"crossing a driveway seen by two people"

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20120819013823/http://www.caseyweeklycranbourne.com.au:80/news/local/news/general/tasmanian-tiger-glimpses-of-a-beast/2648138.aspx

VIC.XXXX.xx.xx #14

"John from Dalgety, a former ranger with the National Parks...said a friend of his spotted a Tasmanian Tiger, on the Alpine Way in Mount Kosciuszko, 100 metres from the entrance station some years ago.

"It was dog like. It had bars and stripes down the tail and a very thick tail. And he was quite convinced that it was a Thylacine."

And John said he had no reason to doubt him. "I've worked in the bush all my life and I've seen lots of unusual things in the bush and if you think about a simple animal like the Swamp Wallaby, they're a dark animal, they're very secretive in their habits and very few people ever see a Swamp Wallaby."

"One of the reasons why people don't see much of any remnants [of the thylacine] if any still exist anywhere is the fact that they are nocturnal and very shy and secretive in their habit.""

Source: Smith, Katie. (2004). Who's seen a thylacine? ABC South East NSW, Friday, 19 March.

VIC.XXXX.xx.xx #15

"South Gippsland Highway Cranbourne at approx. 9pm On side of road caught in car headlights and heading for the local tip caught eyes side on sighting. Dog like creature twice as big as dingo and twice as long as dingo 3-4 bars marks on rear of hind quarters. Tail like wallaby held low to ground and head like small wallaby but thicker looking. Animal paused for 30secs in car lights and took off into trees and bushes. Resembled nothing I have seen before. I am a keen buswalker and grew up in the country and I have never seen this animal before. Zoo could not suggest any animal it coud be in the area"

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

VIC.XXXX.xx.xx #16

"Hamilton livestock transporter Les Wrangler, 79, and his mate Ron Grimson, 58, remain adamant that they both sighted a tiger at a lonely locality 35 kilometres south of Hamilton last month. It appeared as they were driving livestock along Stonefield Lane, a five kilometre stretch of isolated road. The animal jumped out in front of the truck, ran across the road and cleared a fence before moving for cover in amongst grazing sheep and cattle.

Both men agreed that the animal resembled a large mangy fox, was as tall as a greyhound, but twice as thick, had a large tapered snout, a thick tapering tail, and its legs leaned slightly inwards. Stripes on its body appeared to be about five centimetres wide, and of a yellow orange colour on a dark base.

It did not appear to spook the livestock as it stood on the side for a time, allowing both men a clear view of it.

South Grampians chief commissioner Richard Walter states that he had no reason to doubt Mr Wrangler, describing him as a well known and level headed person. He went on to say that a number of people around the shire (council area) swear that they have sighted the creature.

According to resident Ron Grimson, there has to be more than one because a woman reported sighting a tiger the same week, some 30 miles distant.

Mr Grimson strongly emphasised, "Don't say IF we sighted it...it was there all right." Mr Wrangler is firm in his belief that the local terrain, with its many caves and hiding places, is ideal country for supporting a colony of tigers. He surmises that Tasmanian tigers could have crossed over when the land bridge existed around 10,000 years ago, and roamed throughout the continent.

Mr Wrangler let his imagination run wild when he further stated that, "Some galah could have brought them over from Tasmania.""

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20060825073223/http://www.ceo.wa.edu.au/home/carey.peter/Tasmanian/tigertales2.html

VIC.XXXX.xx.xx #17

"According to resident Ron Grimson, there has to be more than one because a woman reported sighting a tiger the same week, some 30 miles distant."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20060825073223/http://www.ceo.wa.edu.au/home/carey.peter/Tasmanian/tigertales2.html

VIC.XXXX.xx.xx #18

"A Hamilton stock agent, Graeme Lanyon, claims that he saw a Tasmanian tiger several days after Mr Wrangler's sighting, at Dunkfield, 40 kilometres closer to Melbourne"

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20060825073223/http://www.ceo.wa.edu.au/home/carey.peter/Tasmanian/tigertales2.html

VIC.XXXX.xx.xx #19

"while Penhurst grazier Rupert Rentsch believes that the tiger is responsible for killing one of his sheep after discovering the animal in a paddock with its rear leg eaten down to the bone, but with no other tooth marks."

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20060825073223/http://www.ceo.wa.edu.au/home/carey.peter/Tasmanian/tigertales2.html

VIC.XXXX.xx.xx #20-21

"A very reliable sighting was made at Mt. Dundas by a neighbour of ours, and another at Byaduk by a well known stock carrier, (both had a witness with them at the time of the sighting)"

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607040640/http://www.tasmanian-tiger.com/forum/Forum3/HTML/000017.html

VIC.XXXX.xx.xx #22

"One couple cuddling in sand dunes near Rye contacted the association to report their shock at seeing a tiger-like animal watching over them."

Source: Ashley-Griffiths, Katy. (1997). A new hunt for 'extinct' tiger. Sunday Herald Sun, 26 October, p. 14.

VIC.XXXX.xx.xx #23

"A few years ago I heard a story of the poisoning of two strange "dingoes," "very pretty dogs, striped," near Mt. Cobbler, also in the north-east."

Source: Vroland, Anton William Rutherford. (1953). Tasmanian tiger. The Herald (Melbourne), Friday, 31 July, p. 4.

VIC.XXXX.xx.xx #24

"Two or three years ago a letter in a Melbourne paper, from Mr Poulter, Of Gembrook, told of his having seen, on the road to Pakenham, an animal which fitted the description of the "Tasmanian Tiger.""

Source: Vroland, Anton William Rutherford. (1953). Tasmanian tiger. The Herald (Melbourne), Friday, 31 July, p. 4.

VIC.XXXX.xx.xx #25

"Another esteemed member of the Historical Society, who is a locally renowned bird-watcher had a much more controlled and lingering look at the animal she knows to be a Thylacine. Nola Thorpe, was with a group of bushwalkers, several of them teachers, whom, the Cowes Advertiser called practical, down-to-earth Gippslanders, heading towards the Bald Hills Wetland Reserve between Tarwin Lower and Walkerville, when they saw it. It crossed the road and disappeared into a patch of ti-tree. Three of the group followed and found it in a clearing about 300 metres away. Being birders, they had binoculars, so they could look closely without alarming the animal. Nola knew she was looking at a Thylacine. Being a librarian she later researched the animal and found the scientific descriptions were exactly as she and her companions had seen."

Source: http://wonthaggihistoricalsociety.org.au/files/plod/Tom_Gannons_Obsession.pdf

VIC.XXXX.xx.xx #26

Scott Barrett:

"I was hitch hiking from Cann River Victoria to Sydney New South Wales and just outside of the small town Cann River, I walk a fair way to a Small Road Bridge that had a River/Creek with fresh running water and I stop there for about 40 mins waiting with my finger stuck out to hick I ride a from passing motorist, a very quiet place with the sound running water. I was on the bridge looking down, I notice a Dog drinking in the stream about 30 Meters away, a whistled softy and made a clicking Nosie with my mouth and it came closer, I was looking down it and an I realized that was a Thylacine or Tasmanian Triger with Beautiful Stipes and very Health looking Thylacine , I whistled again and it started to Bark at me and then run away again along the River bank but I have a good look at it and was 100% Thylacine."

Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1029408967092030/permalink/2589955141037397/

VIC.XXXX.xx.xx #27

Reported in 2020:

"Many Years ago, I was doing a security run-in north-East Victoria. It was probably about 02:00 on a cold winter morning when a I saw what I thought was a Golden Labrador run out of the bush on my right. I slowed right down for fear of hitting it. It got to within only a few metres of my car and I had a clear view of it. It had a strong thick tail that stuck almost straight out, well developed back legs and a board square head. It bounded rather than ran, and when it accelerated it powered off using is hind legs and almost lifting front legs clear of the ground. It crossed in front of me and jumped a fence to my left. From where I was its actions seemed more reminiscent of a wallaby than a dog. If it had stripes, I didn't see any, or they were very faint. What I saw, who knows, I'm not going to speculate. Have great New Year, and happy hunting."

Source: https://www.thylacineawarenessgroupofaustralia.com.au/read-tagoa-witness-sighting-reports.htm

Appendix: Possible further sources of sighting reports

Lane, Louis N. (1990-1996). The striped dog / compiled by Louis N. Lane. Deakin University Library: http://library.deakin.edu.au/record=b1745127~S1

Lane, Louis N. (1994). Tale endings to the Beangala stories : text of an address to the Queenscliff Historical Society on October 27th 1994 / by Louis N. Lane. Deakin University Library: http://library.deakin.edu.au/record=b1676417~S1

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