Tasmanian Tiger Rediscovered?

I saw this video from a Spanish TV crew on Youtube claiming to have filmed footage of a possible Tasmanian Tiger:

The Tasmanian Tiger which is known scientifically as a thylacine has been considered extinct since 1936.  The thylacine was once widespread across the Australian continent but scientists believe that the thylacine died out on the mainland with the introduction of the dingo to Australia by Indonesian traders 4,000 years ago.  Scientists know that the thylacine existed on the mainland due to bones and aboriginal rock art of the thylacine found in places as far north as Kakadu near Darwin.

The thylacine was only found on the island of Tasmania with the arrival of European colonists in the 1700’s thus giving the thylacine its more well known name of Tasmanian Tiger.  However, the thylacine is not a tiger at all and like most animals in Australia it is in fact a marsupial that gives birth to it’s young in a pouch and its closest relative is in fact the Tasmanian Devil.  The early colonists hunted the thylacine to the point of extinction on the island because of its tendency to prey on sheep.  Here is a video of the last thylacine that died in captivity in 1936:

Here is are more video images of thylacines in captivity from the Thylacine Museum:

Here is a picture of a stuffed thylacine at the Melbourne Museum:

Really a beautiful animal.  The footage from the Spanish TV station wasn’t from Tasmania, but actually from the remote outback of Western Australia.  I think if a thylacine is alive anywhere it would be in one of the remote areas of the outback which gives more credence to the Spanish TV claims.  I don’t think the footage definitely proves the existence of a thylacine, but I don’t think it doesn’t rule it out either.  Some of the Youtube commenters think the animal is some kind of inbred wild dog.  If that is some kind of wild dog that is easily the weirdest looking dog I have ever seen.  So does anyone else have an opinion?

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Dobbs
16 years ago

Yes agreed, it would be a lot easier to ID the animal if the stripes could be seen. Whatever it is, it is a strange looking animal.

Giga Dragon
Giga Dragon
16 years ago

If the "thylacine" was facing the opposite direction, it would be alot easier with that being where the stripes are.

ray harvey
ray harvey
14 years ago

its a fox with mange, also it looks like one of my missing tapes.400 hrs of tapes went missing in nsw. 4 hrs vhs video recorder. i use to place at different locations to get animals while they feed on road kill. a fox will jump up and down to get the momentum to move a heavey carcass .i film that quite often. a thylacine can move a large animal with ease even a small one.

ray harvey
ray harvey
14 years ago

if you are interested i have pics of thylacine prints on flickr under ( thylacine pad )

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