Tasmanian tiger: Family claims it spotted thylacine in Melbourne

TASMANIAN tigers are supposed to be long extinct but a Melbourne man is certain that he and his kids saw one in the area.

A MELBOURNE man is convinced he has spotted a Tasmanian tiger roaming the area.

Greg, who did not want his surname published, said he was driving with his family when they spotted the supposedly extinct creature at about 6.30pm.

He initially thought it was a greyhound, but his children exclaimed “it’s got tiger stripes on the back”.

“There’s no doubt in my mind,” Greg told the Leader.

“I had never in my life seen anything like this — it was strolling across the road.

“It had a long, straight rod of a tail.

“I thought ‘that’s strange’.”

A Tasmanian tiger on display at the Australian Museum in Sydney. Picture: Torsten Blackwood

Scientists believe the doglike thylacines became extinct in the first half of the 20th century.

The last captive thylacine was trapped in the Florentine Valley, west of Hobart, in 1933.

It died in Beaumaris Zoo, Hobart on September 7, 1936.

But thylacine hunter Michael Moss said people had seen what they believed to be Tasmanian tigers in the region over many years.

“There have been alleged sightings in Western Port going back decades,” he said.

Michael Moss has been on the hunt for the Tasmanian tiger for almost two decades. He is pictured with one of the infra-red cameras he sets up on animal tracks. Picture: Jason Edwards

Mr Moss, who has spent the past 20 years searching for the mysterious marsupial, said he believed the Tasmanian tiger was extinct in Tasmania, but not on the mainland.

“Scientifically it’s possible (they’re alive on the mainland).”

He urged people in the Langwarrin South area to check CCTV cameras at properties for images of the animal.

“Somebody may have footage of a Tasmanian tiger in Langwarrin South and around Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve.”

The Hobart Mercury newspaper reported last month that a team of thylacine trackers released footage of what they believe is proof Tasmanian tigers continue to live in the island state.

The video was released on the anniversary of the death of the last known thylacine.