Our friends at the Centre for Fortean Zoology have been making global news recently with their expedition to the Australian island state of Tasmania in search of the (thought-to-be) extinct carnivorous marsupial, the ‘Tasmanian Tiger’ (or Thylacine).
It had been considered extinct for nearly 80 years, but the Tasmanian tiger has been declared alive and kicking by an intrepid group of British naturalists.
A team of investigators from the Centre for Fortean Zoology, which operates from a small farmhouse in north Devon, is currently in Tasmania hunting down clues to prove the thylacine, commonly known as the Tassie tiger, still exists.
The group claims to have gathered compelling evidence of the thylacine’s presence in remote parts of Tasmania’s north-west, despite the last known animal dying in Hobart Zoo on 7 September 1936.
The Centre for Fortean Zoology said it has talked to several “highly credible” witnesses of the thylacine and has found animal faeces that could belong to the beast. The droppings have been preserved in alcohol and are being sent awayfor DNA analysis.
In the article, Darklore contributor and zoological director of the CFZ, Richard Freeman, is quoted as saying he has “no doubt” the species still roams isolated areas of Tasmania. Richard’s view is shared by a number of witnesses to apparent sightings of the lost species, such as those who appeared in the following History Channel documentary:
Funnily enough, despite its name and appearance, the thylacine is/was more closely related to kangaroos than to dogs or cats – it was called the ‘kangaroo wolf’ by some early settlers in Tasmania, probably at least partly as a result of its occasional habit of hopping on two legs using its tail for support in exactly the same way as kangaroos do today, and also of course the fact that as a fellow marsupial it had a pouch for raising its young.
