Considered extinct, Tasmanian tigers may be alive and kicking

[TexasTowelie]

The last known Tasmanian Tiger died in 1936 at Hobart Zoo in Tasmania, Australia, but recent possible sightings in Queensland, Australia, have inspired researchers to search for the marsupial. Photo by Kathryn Medlock/EPA

March 31 (UPI) -- Tasmanian Tigers once roamed Australia before the last captive thylacine died in 1936. Or so it was believed.

But they weren't really tigers. And they might not be extinct.

Researchers from John Cook University have been inspired by recent eyewitness accounts to search for the marsupial in northern Queensland.

"It's a dog with a pouch," Sandra Abell, one of the people leading the search, told NPR's All Things Considered.

"It has a very dog-like face," she says, "but its back and the tail in particular looks a little bit kangaroo-like. Its hind quarters are very distinctive -- so they have stripes on the back end and that large tail, very interesting looking."

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2017/03/31/Considered-extinct-Tasmanian-tigers-may-be-alive-and-kicking/4941490980452/

[pansypoo53219]

1. YES. CAN IT BE TRUE!

[HoneyBadger]

2. That is a really unhealthy looking animal

[Rhiannon12866]

3. Wow! What an unusual looking animal! Kind of looks like a cross between a dog and a cat...

[herding cats]

4. A marsupial cat-dog even!

It would be amazing if they still exist!

[Rhiannon12866]

5. It would be awesome if they are still with us - and if they could get a photo!

The grainy footage they have so far isn't convincing, impossible to see much more than a shadow, with a more bushy tail, at that. And it is a very strange looking animal, not sure how I'd describe it - cat, dog and marsupial all in one!

[cstanleytech]

6. I wouldnt get your hopes up folks as there have been similar "sightings" for decades and none

of them have panned out.

[miyazaki]

7. They made a movie a few years back with Willem Dafoe

hunting down one of these tigers. Movie wasn't anything great, though the scenery was good. It comes with
a sad but somewhat interesting ending.

[NickB79]

8. I'd be concerned the survivors are horribly inbred

There can't be many of them left, if they still live. They may be too far gone to save, even if they aren't officially extinct yet.