posted 13-05-2002 12:35            

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Thylacine Update (Report in The Sunday Examiner, May 12 2002, Launceston, Tasmania)

The following are thylacine sightings as reported to the Parks and Wildlife Service. Not all sightings are reported to authorities.

 June 1996: Two fishermen who were anchored off Davidson Bay on the North-West Coast report seeing an animal with prominent ears and head and straight-out tail, about three-quarters the size of a German shepherd, and resembling a brown hyena, walking along a beach like a crippled dog. It was observed through binoculars for 1 minutes as it walked 330 metres. At least one of the fishermen admitted having seen a thylacine before in the same place and at Studland Bay the year before.
 1997: A forester reported seeing a thylacine walk out of the bushland and along a paddock edge at Mt Hobbs, near Woodsdale in the South. The man said the animal, which he saw from about 150 metres away, had a funny walk, straight tail and indistinct stripes, and moved differntly from a dog. Two ‘old farmers’ had also seen the thylacine walk out of the bush. The person making the report noted that the sighting, which was not reported until 1998, was similar to another made by a farmer, but could not find out who it was.
 August 1997: A man patrolling an area of the North-West Coast saw what he at first thought was a wild dog, but on looking again he realised it was not a dog. He described the animal as the same build and size as a German shepherd, with a large head and medium-length tail held horizontally. It was brown with distinct chocolate-coloured stripes. It stood for about one minute before turning awkwardly as though it had no spine articulation, dropped its haunches and ‘rocked away’. The man noted a distinct smell. This sighting was rated by authorities as one of the best and most reliable reports in 20 years.
 January 1998: A bus driver was 100 per cent sure that he saw a thylacine standing still on a roadside between Zeehan and Queenstown (on the West Coast) about 4 pm. It had stripes and a long pointed tail, and was bone-coloured with a pointy head. It was about the size of a medium dog.
 March 1998: a bushwalker at the Walls of Jerusalem (North-West) saw a creature described as dingo-size and pale brown, with distinct dark brown stripes down its rump that were smaller toward its front. It was seen for about 5 seconds from 25 metres away walking smoothly across an open area. The bush walker knew that there were no dingoes in Tasmania and that thylacines were extinct (supposedly), and therefore thought it was a prop for brochure pictures. He bushwalker wrote a letter to authorities a month later with a photograph of where the thylacine was seen stating: ‘(This) is where I saw with about 100 per cent certainty a thylacine…I certainly do hope that the picture may be of some help to you in the search for the thylacines. I know they still exist and hope they will in the future’.
 July 1998: Two adults driving in a hire car on the Lyell Highway between Queenstown and Strahan (West Coast) at night reported almost running over a thylacine when it ran across the road in front of them. It was described as having distinct dark stripes on a lighter coloured body, with a tail that appeared straight although it was not well seen. The animal also had a fox-like snout, but they said it definitely was not a fox. It was about 35 cm tall, and between 60 and 70 cm long, not including the tail, and moved with a pacing fait. It was just 2 metres from the car when it was seen for 2 or 3 seconds. The people making the report had seen a holographic thylacine at the Lake Sinclair Visitors Centre earlier the same day.
 October 1998: A man and a woman saw a mysterious animal lope in front of their car at 10 am in an unrecorded location. It had a dark brown body with yellow stripes, a small head and long body and tail, and it definitely was not a dog. The animal was seen about 6 metres from the car for about 4 seconds. One of the pair thought it was a thylacine, although the colours appeared to be opposite from those of a thylacine. The other did not believe it was a thylacine but had no idea what it was.
 December 1998: Two Victorian men were driving 60 km east of the Great Lake Hotel (Central Highlands) at 6 pm when a four-legged animal crossed the road 70 metres ahead of their car, stopped and looked in their direction. It was golden, about knee-high and very long, with a long, straight tail that was thick at the base, its head was large when compared with its body, with small ears and oriental eyes. It left the road and went through a fence into scrub or a clearing, where it was seen jumping a stump. They returned to the location the next day and collected fur from the fence and a fresh dropping, saw a footprint that one of the men accidentally trod on. A drawing was done of the footprint from memory. Despite acknowledging that the men sounded genuine, Authorities said the story sounded too good to be true, and there were some inconsistencies in the men’s stories. The ranger handling the report wrote: ‘I will try and find out if (either men) had been to the thylacine display at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (because) it might have given them a good idea’. (NOTE: this is a good example of the scepticism with which many reports are met by authorities.)
 December 1998: A group reported seeing an animal about the size of a labrador with obvious stripes and a straight tail as they rounded a bend in rood between Pyengana and Weldborough (North-East) on the Tasman Highway. It was stated that the animal appeared to be preparing to jump up a small embankment on the side of the road, and even though they saw it for just a few seconds, they passed within 2 metres of it. They did not stop or mark the spot, but drove on in shock.
 March 2000: A person reported seeing an animal that crossed the Lyell Highway (West Coast) near Wild Rivers National Park that did not look like any type of animal they had seen. It was chocolate brown all over, with a long body, a long tail and a squashed-in type of face. It walked ‘majestically’ across the road 70 metres away.
 March 2000: A thylacine was reported to have run across a track ahead of a four-wheel-drive at the southern end of Bronte Lagoon (Central Highlands). It was seen for just a second or two. A subsequent check by authorities found no footprints.
 May 2000: An animal that looked like a hyena was reported to have run across the Cradle Mountain Link road (Central Highlands) at night, but did not move like a dog. It was seen by one person, who stated it had a large head and rounded ears and was light brown around the neck. It was observed in the headlights for about 10 seconds.
 January 2001: A person e-mailed a Parks and Wildlife Service officer to say that an acquaintance had insisted on having seen a thylacibe less than a year before on tiers near Liffey (Norht-Central Highlands) and also knew of a Midlands farmer who supposedly shot a thylacine that he had mistaken for a dog chasing a sheep in 1998. The farmer was said to have buried the carcass immediately fearing persecution (note: fear of persecution from authorities and the public is not unusual). The e-mail also detailed how the sender had snared a 1 metre-long thylacine at Nabowla (North-East) in 1953. “I laid him out with a dropper off a fence and was putting him into a bag when he came to and got away. I had him by the tail, and I lost my grip when he tried to bite me (Note: we have had a similar account of a thylacine trying to bite when caught and then escaping)…I was 14 years old.’ The e-mail also reported a sighting on the Bridgnorth road in 1960.
 August 2001: A mustard-coloured animal about the size of a big spaniel dog was seen walking along a track near the Murchison Highway (West Coast).
 September 2001: A man heading home one night saw an animal that he believed was a thylacine on the Sideling between Launceston and Scottsdale (North-East). Making the report, the man said the striped animal was about the size of a large cat, and he expected that a thylacine would have been larger. It is understood that the authorities believed the animal was a native cat.
Joan

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posted 10-06-2002 11:25            

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Joan,
you make mention in this posting that the information comes from the examiner, 12 may 2002. were _all_ of these reports listed in the examiner?

i note the article says that these sightings were reported to the PWS. did the examiner quote any other sources for these reports?

in another posting, you make mention of a report which the PWS had kept secret for five years. is that report related to the sightings mentioned in this article?

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