‘We found a thylacine’: Thylacine Awareness Group of Australia hunter claims discovery online

A victorious video claiming a family of Tasmanian tigers had been rediscovered in the wild has quickly been quashed by experts, who are calling it a case of mistaken identity. LATEST >>

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VICTORIOUS claims by a Tasmanian tiger hunter have quickly been quashed by experts as a case of mistaken identity.

Experts say the creatures caught on the hunter’s trail camera where not thylacines, but pademelons.

Yesterday avid thylacine hunter and member of Thylacine Awareness Group of Australia Neil Waters posted a video to YouTube celebrating the discovery of a family of Tasmanian tigers.

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW >>

But today Nick Mooney, Honorary Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) in Hobart reviewed the material and said it’s unlikely the creatures were thylacines.

Mr Mooney said based on the physical characteristics shown in the photos, the creatures are most likely Tasmanian pademelons.

Neil Waters with his celebratory tinnie – a Boags Draught.

A statement from the museum said it regularly receives requests for verification from members of the public who hope that the thylacine is still with us.

“However, sadly, there have been no confirmed sightings documented of the thylacine since 1936,” it read.

EARLIER: A THYLACINE hunter who claims to have captured photographs of a family of three thylacines in the state’s North-East says he is getting the photos checked by experts.

In a three-minute YouTube video South Australian thylacine hunter Neil Waters claims to have captured pictures of a mother, father and baby thylacine.

Sipping on a can of Boags Draught as he strolls around “some little town” in North-East Tasmania, Mr Waters describes the as yet unreleased photos.

A victorious Mr Waters cuts a lap of the small North East town drinking a beer.

“When I checked me SD cards I found some photos that are pretty damn good,” he says.

“I can tell you there’s three animals...we believe the first image is the mum. We know the second image is the baby because it’s so tiny and the third image is the dad. there’s a little bit of a clue with the mum and the dad as to what they are with certain features of them but they are ambiguous. But the baby is not ambiguous.”

Mr Waters claims independent experts including “canine judges, feline judges and a vet” who have seen the pictures.

He also claims to have sent the pictures to Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery wildlife expert Nick Mooney.

Mr Mooney has been contacted for comment.

Mr Waters says he will “plan a strategy” around the photos when he receives confirmation of what they show.

The Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment continues to record reported sightings of thylacines from across Tasmania.

However the species remains “presumed extinct”, with no hard evidence of sightings for more that 50 years.