How’s this for great timing? Just before your question came to my inbox, I received an alert to a new podcast talking exactly about this question. It’s titled “Don’t Panic, The Tasmanian Tiger May Not Be So Extinct After All”!

I have given an extensive answer to the question of whether Tasmanian Tigers might be extinct, on Quora, before, so I won’t repeat all the detail.

However, in summary:

• There are just (relatively) huge numbers of people claiming they’ve seen the tiger in Tasmanian since 1936 - that is just bizarre, but
• There are also plenty of people claiming to have seen it on mainland Australia - which is far less likely and even more bizarre,
• The thylacine is known from the fossil record to have existed on mainland Australia, but perhaps more interestingly, on Papua New Guinea to the north. That is interesting because large areas of wilderness remain there, and local tribes and western visitors have both reported seeing an animal matching the thylacine’s description,
• There is a very interesting allegation of a Tasmanian tiger turning up dead (whether shot, or discovered deceased) in Tasmania in about 1990 near a ghost town called Adamsfield. I have researched this sighting extensively and believe it is probably the best evidence we have that the tiger persisted to the 1990s, at least.
• Recent research makes a solid argument that the Tasmanian tiger persisted in some numbers into the 1940s, at least. This is important - because the “last” Tasmanian tiger that we always hear about, is Benjamin, who died at Hobart Zoo on 7 September 1936. But he clearly was not the last. Thylacines are believed to have lived about 8 years or so in the wild - so to be getting reports of tigers into the 1940s suggests they did have at least some capacity to breed in the wild. Of course, the big question is whether that tiny population has managed to hang on until now.

And lastly, I am about to go back to Tasmania in search of further evidence of the thylacine. My next expedition will perhaps be more ambitious than any I have carried out previously. To date, most trips have centred on the deployment of camera traps and searching for physical signs such as footprints or possible dens or nests.

In preparation for this year’s trip down:

• I have been researching the use of field DNA (or environmental DNA - eDNA) tests for detecting the presence of species. I am partnering up with a geneticist and am now in a position to collect field samples that might show promise of preserving thylacine DNA. These would be, most especially, if I found matching animal tracks passing through a puddle of mud or water. This technique has been shown successful in tracking large predatory mammals in the northern hemisphere and is a new technique being used for this purpose
• I will be collecting an audio recorder that was deployed last year. Although there are no known audio recordings of Tasmanian tigers, we do have written descriptions of their calls. In 2013 and 2017 I heard a mystery call in the wild, matching the description of the Thylacine’s “double yip” call. My hope is that the audio recorder might have picked up this mystery call so that we can study it further. (Note - on my website, link above, I have an extensive article researching a continuous single-yip call that was recorded in 2017 - that is not the same as the mystery call I am trying to capture).
• I will be collecting a number of camera traps that have been deployed since 2018.
• And, a bit more, but that’s a bit hush, hush for now :)

So here’s hoping the Tasmanian tiger has hung on! There’s no denying it is listed as extinct, yet there are so many tantalizing reports and accounts that have led many people to believe it might still be in with a chance. Have a read through some of the above links and see what you think. It wouldn’t be the first Lazarus species if we found it is still out there!

You can find out more about Tasmanian tigers - including the examination of the evidence for many sighting claims - at my website Where Light Meets Dark or follow along on Facebook Where Light Meets Dark.