New Support for Some Extinct Tasmanian Tiger Sightings

The headline is misleading. Rather, the analysis used as the basis for the article substantiates that the thylacine survived in isolated, remote pockets before finally going extinct around the 1980s.

" Dr. Brook’s analysis found there to be a very small chance that the thylacine is still around today. For that possibility, Mr. Mooney said that even if Tasmanian tigers did persist past 1936, the likelihood of their still being around shrinks all the time. Someone should have found one by now, given the high levels of roadkill in Tasmania and the increasing use of trail cameras in more remote parts. Dr. Brook agrees that we’re unlikely to discover surviving thylacines. "

For those wondering how it could have survived for decades with no one finding proof, it is hard to overstate how remote and unpopulated parts of Tasmania are. Almost half of the island is a national park, and has almost no roads or settlements. The centre is mountainous. Some spots in the interior require covering dozens of kilometres over cliffs and dense rainforest. Many places have probably never been seen by humans, including the indigenous Tasmanians, who appear to also have kept to the same valleys and plains the colonists initially preferred. It looks like a small island against the mainland, but it's about the area of South Carolina with 600k people, giving a population density just a few times higher than Canada, and less than the continental USA.

You need the actual animal not some big foot sighting theory validations. Talk is cheap

Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26233002

Though there have been many like it.

There's a fantastic movie about this - The Hunter. Strongly recommend. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1703148/