Yes, it would, for many reasons.

Firstly, the Tasmanian tiger has captured the public imagination. Its image is used on corporate branding, government logos, in art, in theatre, on signage and more. For some reason there are plenty of people who feel affectionately about the tiger and it would be amazing for them if the species was found to be extant.

Secondly, it has been over eighty years since the last verified sighting. Although plenty of species have been “rediscovered” (or brought back from the dead - so called Lazarus species), it is always amazing when this happens. However with some other Lazarus species, you are looking at the recovery of a species that is very similar to others. For example, the parma wallaby was presumed extinct even by the late 1800s. In 1965 some were discovered surviving in New Zealand (after earlier being introduced there) but what is important is that the renewed interested led to a discovery of a surviving population on mainland Australia in 1967. Chances are that many parma wallabies were seen between the late 1800s and 1967 on mainland Australia, but not recognised as the species presumed extinct. They were either too similar to other species or else the people observing them didn’t really realise there was an extinct and slightly different species. However in the case of the Tasmanian tiger there are very few other animals that look similar. Anyone sighting a Tasmanian tiger has fair reason to believe their ID of the species is correct. In fact, many people are adamant of sighting the tiger for exactly this reason (see Buck Emberg’s comments in the Monster Quest episode “Isle of the Tiger” for example), yet others claiming to have seen the species were unaware of what species they were seeing (tourists, for example, less familiar with the tiger). Hence because of how unique the tiger is, in appearance, it would be miraculous for it to have survived for over 80 years without concrete evidence.

Third, clearing of forests in Tasmania continues unabated and policy is currently being considered to release even more forests to clearing. If the tiger has made it to the 21st century then the constant onslaught of cutting logging roads then clearing forests cannot be helpful to its survival.

It would certainly be incredible if they are still there.