Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, the Australian magazine The Bulletin is offering a reward for evidence of a real, live Thylacine.
The Thylacine,, also known as the "Tasmanian tiger" or "Tasmanian wolf," was a large, striped predator. Though it looked like a wolf or a dog, it was actually a marsupial—it carried its babies in a pouch. It was more closely related to kangaroos than to tigers.
A combination of hunting and habitat loss pushed the Thylacine to extinction. The last known specimen died in a zoo in 1936. Since then, there have been many reports of sightings, but no firm evidence. (For a history of the Thylacine's demise and later searches, visit this site.)
Now The Bulletin wants to settle the issue once and for all. While it's exciting to think that this beautiful creature may have escaped extinction, the chances of finding one after all this time are not good.
A similar search recently took place in the United States. Researchers from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology had heard reports that the Ivory-billed woodpecker, believed extinct since the 1940s, was still living in the Louisiana swamps. Unfortunately, after weeks of searching, and after reviewing thousands of hours of sound recordings, the team reported no ivory-bills had been found.
I stumbled across some video of the Thylacine today. This video of the last remaining Thylacine was taken at a the Hobbart Zoo in Australia in 1933.
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bryan kennedy
Science Buzz Site Admin
It's true that the chances of finding a living Thylacine are not good, but it's not impossible. After all, the search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker didn't turn any up in the swamps of Louisiana, but at least one has recently been spotted in Arkansas.
i have pictures of a large redheaded bird resembling the ivory billed woodpecker. I spend many hours each day in the woods in st tammany parish louisiana as a land surveyor. recently while near slidell / pearl river i spotted the bird and took numerous photographs. would anyone be intrested in these.
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