To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Experts Disprove Aussie Man’s Evidence Of Thylacine Family Sighting

Experts Disprove Aussie Man’s Evidence Of Thylacine Family Sighting

This is why we can't have nice things.

Jessica Lynch

Jessica Lynch

Well, that didn't take long.

Australians had a brief glimmer of excitement among the constant doom scrolling yesterday after one man claimed to have evidence of a family of thylacines or Tasmanian Tigers.

In a very on-brand move given the current state of the world, our hopes of discovering an extinct species living alive and well were ruined.

In a video uploaded to YouTube this week, president of the Thylacine Awareness Group of Australia, Neil Waters, thought he had discovered a mum, dad and baby thylacine on camera trap set up in north-east Tasmania.

"I know what they are and so do a few independent expert witnesses, expert canine judges, feline judges and a vet," he comments in the video while holding a tinnie.


"We believe the first image is the mum, we know the second image is the baby because it's so tiny and the third image... is the dad.

The enthusiast admitted that some of the markings on the animals were ambiguous, but the baby had 'stripes, a stiff tail, the hock, the colour' that lent to the theory it was Tassie tiger.

He also said this is the strongest evidence that the animal exists in 35 years.

Waters sent his images to thylacine expert at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG), Nick Mooney.

However, a TMAG spokesperson said Mooney has now reviewed and assessed the material given to him by Waters, and honestly, it's disappointing.

"Nick Mooney has concluded, that based on the physical characteristics shown in the photos provided by Mr Waters, the animals are very unlikely to be thylacines, and are most likely Tasmanian pademelons," TMAG told CNET.

Mooney added the still images are 'not so exciting.' This is why we can't have nice things.

Flickr

The thylacine was officially declared extinct in Tasmania in the 1930s and there have been thousands - literally thousands - of reports of people claiming to have seen one.

This wasn't Neil's first allegation that Tasmanian Tigers still exist.

He started the Thylacine Awareness Group of South Australia in 2014 after his second alleged sighting of the animal in Tasmania's north-east. Two years later he posted a video of an alleged Tasmanian Tiger in the state that caused quite a stir.

"The animal came out of a creek and ran through a person's front yard," he told ABC Radio. "There were four people in the house looking out the window at the right time - they all saw it.

"If you start scratching around and doing some research, we have had over 4,500 sightings on the mainland since 1936.

"We think there is a very real and true story about the continuing existence of thylacines on the mainland."

Featured Image Credit: Flickr

Topics: Animals, Australia