On September 7, 1936, the last Tasmanian tiger died in captivity in Hobart’s Beaumaris Zoo.
Or so we thought.
Last month, Tasmania’s Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment released a document that revealed Australian citizens have been reporting Tasmanian tiger sightings. In the last two years, there have been eight reported sightings; the most recent was in July.
The tiger was a member of the Thylacine family of carnivorous marsupials. It was recognizable by its yellow-brown fur and a pallet of black stripes across the lower back and tail (hence the tiger moniker).
Tasmanian tigers preyed on kangaroos, wombats, and occasionally sheep and livestock, which brought them into conflict with British colonists who settled in Tasmania in 1803.
Some 130 years later, the last wild Tasmanian tiger was thought to have been hunted to extinction.
Here’s everything we know about the elusive animal — and why some experts and hunters think it may not be extinct after all.
Read more: Business Insider
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