It has been thought extinct for 80 years, but has been seen eight times in the last three years.

The Tasmanian government released a report detailing eight sightings of a creature that would have gone extinct for more than 80 years.

The Australian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and the Environment revealed that some of the sightings were reported just two months ago. This once again casts doubt on the possibility that he is still alive.

Off?

The Tasmanian tiger was declared extinct eighty years ago, according to Infobae. The last wolf or marsupial tilacino died in captivity at the Hobart Zoo in 1936: he called himself Benjamin. The species looked like a cross between a big cat, a fox and a wolf. He had yellowish brown hair, a powerful jaw and a bag for his baby like the kangaroo.

The animal was once present throughout Australia, but 3,000 years ago, the drought restricted it exclusively to the island of Tasmania.

Blame for its extinction in intensive hunting, encouraged by rewards, but other factors might have contributed, such as diseases, the introduction of dogs or the occupation of their habitat by humans.

In 2017, a study proposed that the animal be doomed to disappear before the arrival of humans due to a decline in genetic diversity. However, the same year, other research published in the Journal of Biogreography determined that climate change caused by El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) had contributed to the disappearance of the Tasmanian Tiger, as indicated by the same medium.

About observations

The testimony of an Australian couple who visited the island in February is part of one of eight observations from the past three years. Both said they saw one of the creatures cross the road. The animal "turned and looked at the vehicle several times and was in plain sight for 12 to 15 seconds. He had stripes on his back, "says the report. The two passengers in the car "are 100% sure that the animal that they saw was a thylacine".

Another report of the same month featured a "feline creature" that crossed the fog in the distance, reported CNN. "I usually meet most of the animals that work in rural farms … but I've never come across an animal that looks like what I saw in Tasmania." that day, "said the witness.

In 2017, another driver said he saw a possible tilacino in the northwest of the island. "It seemed certain that if it was a cat, it would be a very big one," said the report quoted by Infobae.

In July of this year, a man from southern Tasmania, near Hobart, said he saw a print that seemed to match that of the Tasmanian tiger.