Thylacine Sightings – Prior to 2000
Renmark Sth Australia
Dear Murray
This sighting goes a long way back – January 26th 1966.
My family and my grandparents were going on a short fishing trip near Renmark SA (I lived in the Renmark area up until 1974)
We accessed the river by the 28th Street Road right on the edge of the fruit growing part of the town and were driving in two cars along a track at the top of the river bank in the direction of Berri (i.e downstream)
It was about 11.30 am and we all saw a dog like creature with a strange head and prominent stripes and it had a non-dog like tail.
It was only 10-15 metres away from us between our cars and the river. It actually looked sick at the time.
We followed it for several hundred metres but in the end thought. Well we would be mad to approach it . Dad was driving the car. So it wasn’t my decision.
I have attached a map and diagrams as to where this exactly happened. There are only 4 of the 7 people who saw it still alive.
Craigburn Farm SA
In the Early 80s a teacher friend of mine (John S.) claims he and his wife Maxine saw a Tasmanian Tiger at about 6 pm one night at Pinaroo on the way back to Adelaide from a trip to Queensland.
What needs to be understood about this part of the Riverland – say between Berri and Murtho north of Renmark is that there are lots of lagoons, backwaters, anbranches and effectively islands that are hard to access and the tree cover is pretty dense in places.
Kind Regards
Peter S.
Steve S.had a thylacine sighting in 1995 here is is account.
A farmer and his son called me about a very close tiger sighting they had while checking lambing ewes. It was April 95 and late in the afternoon as they headed for a patch of ferns in a paddock that backed on to the Grampians near Roses Gap road. The farmer said he noticed a strange dog like animal sitting near the ferns looking straight at them but didn’t move he drove about 40 feet from it but just sat there looking at them.
The farmer then told the working dog to put it, the Tiger out of the paddock. But his working dog never moved off the back of the ute, the farmer told me he knew what the animal was because he had seen one before on his property in 1970 and I was given permission to look in the same area, but not tell anyone about the sighting.
It was about 3 months later not far from that area I had my encounter with the Tiger. I was walking in waist high scrub one dark cold afternoon and it was about to rain, when I heard a strange noise off to my right I couldn’t see anything but the noise was getting closer. It was a very dry cough so I stopped dead then from my right, she came out of the thick scrub a Tassie Tiger she looked just like the farmer had described.
It was the size of a Blue Healer and not happy with me, then it looked back behind and a small replica of its self came out a pup. The adult was a female and mom was angry with me, the little one went back into the scrub and came at me her calls were now more angry.They were deeper and sounded bronchitis like to me, she had me afraid. She came forward at me so I didn’t move I held my ground, she looked deep into my eyes, I was not welcome near her or that beautiful baby of hers. She then called again that dry cough, she then walk back to where the little one disappear into the scrub. She gave me one last long stare and she too vanished, my heart was still pounding. The Tiger called 3 times after she walked into the scrub each call was off into the distance. I did see her again as she crossed the road the same Tiger in 1997 not far from that property. Regards Steve S.
Dennis B.
Saw a flash of two hind quarters of a pair of animals running from Tee tree scrub across a clear section of land and into denser bush. “They looked like the rear end of a hyena!” he said. The range and number of the thylacine sightings in the region prompted Dennis to paint 2 masonite cut outs of the creature that he would use in mock photographs and displays.
Dennis and myself with the masonite cut outs.
Maurice Griffin (dec)
Had regular sightings of the animals at the rear of his property where they would be drinking fresh water from a puddle near his water tank. He also had a piece of meat on a chain from time to time and when he could hear the chain rattling in the middle of the night he would get up and switch the light on to see a Tasmanian Tiger at the meat.
If he happened to have a daytime sighting of the animals he would telephone other residents in the area and inform them when they were heading in their direction and for them to be on the lookout!
Maurice also had plaster casts of footprints and was a keen enthusiast to obtain the $100,000 reward for the rediscovery of the Thylacine as bandied around by Ted Turner from CNN. Sadly, however Ted Turners offer is no longer available and Maurice has also passed away.
Fred Sylvester (dec)
(A retired police sergeant) claims to have seen a large male tiger drinking from the fish pond at the rear of his property on a hot summers day.
Peter G.
Claims to have seen a Tasmanian Tiger on two separate occasions early in the mornings when he was walking around the swamp and on his way to collect his daily paper from the local shop.
Maureen Gilchrist (dec)
Had two separate incidents at the rear of her property. December 1997 an injured and almost fatally ill kangaroo was lying at the back fence of her property. She decided to telephone John N. from the town nursery (he had the contract from the Council to collect and dispose of any animals killed in the township and to take them out to the Municipal Tip). Being almost Xmas he had had a few drinks and also because the animal was still alive he said that he would be around in the morning to collect the carcass. Eventually the roo died and Maureen along with her husband Glynn dragged the animal away from the fence and into a clearing some 20 metres away. The Roo carcass could be seen from their kitchen window and when they awoke the next morning at 8am. the carcass was no longer in view.
Thinking that John must have been around early that morning to collect the carcass they were ultimately surprised when he arrived on their doorstep at approximately 10.30 am. When they walked out to the rear of the property to inspect what had happened to the carcass they were shocked to find that the roo had been dragged approximately 3-4 metres into some tee tree scrub and that the entire chest cavity had been opened up and that the heart and kidney region had been eaten. (Nothing else had been touched) This is a common feeding pattern of thylacines!
The second incident occurred when Maureen placed a handful of bacon pieces onto a bird platform just in side her fence line. The bacon pieces where put there in an effort to lure a kookaburra down to feed on the platform. Maureen went back inside after placing the meat on the platform. When she looked out of her kitchen window a Tasmanian tiger was standing upright on its hind legs and with its front paws over the rear wire fence and on the bird platform it was attempting to pull the scraps towards itself for a feed. Maureen claims that “It was there for about ten minutes and I took a photograph of it with my camera”. When we visited her in 1999 she still had not used up the remaining shots in the camera and/or processed the film. The distance of the platform from her kitchen window was approximately 20 metres so one could assume that the photograph would in turn be very small and not really provide much in the way of evidence.
Aaron cooking up some bacon as a lure in the area near Maureen’s house
Ned
Whose property backs onto some tee tree vegetation has also claimed on two occasions, to have seen flashes of animals passing through a small clearing in the tee tree. He could not fully identify the animals, just stating that they moved very quickly and that they were definitely larger than a fox in size.
Reg Baldwin (dec)
Claims to have had at least 4 sightings of thylacines.
On the first occasion he was travelling back to home after picking up his daughter Lana at 4am in the morning. As the car approached a section of the road a large pack of kangaroos (20-30) were clumped together and very stationary. Reg remarked to his daughter, “Have a look at those kangaroos there’s something strange goin’ on around here!” The next thing as he slowed his car a large thylacine was walking along the left hand roadway and then into the front pathway of the car. Reg ground the car to a halt. The animal looked at the two of them and then trotted of into the darkness of night. Needless to say both Reg and Lana got little sleep that night.
Reg and his wife Irene, Easter 2001
On the second occasion Reg and Lana once again in broad daylight this time were driving their car around the swamp track road and sleeping on top of a large tussock grass was an ‘old and weary’ Thylacine. Reg promptly drove the car home to collect his camera. Upon returning, the animal was still sitting in the tussock grass. But Reg being too stubborn to pass his camera to his daughter in the passenger seat for an easy photograph chose to do it all himself. Unfortunately as he opened the driver side door the animal got up from its position and trotted off into the distance away from the aging legs of Reg and his camera. Reg still rues the golden opportunity that went begging.
Lana at the spot where the thylacine was sunning itself.
Peter
Whilst driving along a dirt track near the 90 Mile Beach on a hot summers day viewed a Thylacine gorging itself on a putrid flyblown kangaroo carcass. As he neared the animal it snuck into the dense bracken and tree foliage that lined the roadway out of sight.
Ralph Z.
Also claimed to have seen a female thylacine and a young cub cross the same dirt track as Peter near a billabong and then quickly disappear into dense scrub.
Our First Sighting!
Expedition 1 September/October 1998
After 3 days and nights of intense research Aaron (my second eldest son) and I decide that it’s time to pack up and are heading out to the 90 Mile Beach for a spot of fishing prior to going home. As we are travelling along the main roadway, Aaron says “What the hell is that animal that crossed the road?’ I turned around startled and said “Where?” “Up there!” he said pointing. “About 50 metres ahead”. We drove the vehicle to the spot that he mentioned. “It’s gone down there!” he said pointing to a dirt road that dropped away to our right. In clear view at 11am on a 30-degree day we could see the golden brown coat of this magnificent animal trotting down a 45 degree slopping vehicle track away from us. The distance would have been at least 10 meters on the right hand side of the vehicle to a further distance of 25 metres before the animal turned right and out of our view. Unfortunately we were in a situation where we were unfamiliar with the area and also a car moving at a very slow pace was coming towards us and I could not very well justify cutting it off and causing an accident in order to obtain a photograph of an extinct animal. After the vehicle passed we jumped out of our vehicle and raced to the last seen spot of the animal. This is the swamp area where many additional sightings have occurred. Unfortunately we thought that the animal had opted to hide in a large expanse of tee tree scrub but after 20- 30 minutes of searching it became more obvious that the animal must have continued to trott around the outer perimeter of the swamp and had eluded us.
This sighting was unique for a number of reasons. Firstly it reinforced our efforts in searching for thylacines. We had never been to the region before and yet here in this instance we actually obtained our first ever sighting of a thylacine and almost came close to achieving our goal of video or photographic evidence! Secondly we had heard so much about their unusual gait (walk) and to actual see this was mesmerising. It was like an animal having no control over either its hips or shoulders and they appeared out of sinc with each other. Thirdly the tail was the most striking feature of the animal, sticking out like a broom handle and not like that of a dog. But slightly raised above the horizontal height of the animals back and enormously long almost as long as the animal trunk. One can understand how other people sighting this unique animal could become spellbound by its unusual features and total forget the opportunity to obtain a photograph or video footage. The stripes of the animal on this occasion were not visible.
My daughter Tameika at the Melbourne Museum
March 2001
Expedition 3 January 1999
Having secured the video surveillance gear for our expedition gave us heaps of enthusiasm for our quest. However things became very disappointing when the night time footage did not come out and we were obtaining evidence of baits being moved from our site.
The Photograph
At approximately 6.30pm on the 8th of January1999 whilst we were cruising around the swamp area in our vehicle, we reached the crest of a hill that lead down to the back tracks near a lake. Aaron called “What’s that Ginger Cat in the distance?” Unfortunately the video camera that he held in his hand had an expired battery and would not record what we were both seeing. Having to make a decision quickly I said “That’s it let’s go for it!” We drove the vehicle down to the area where we last saw it before it snuck into a bank of tee tree scrub that was approximately 20 metres thick and ran for almost 200 metres in length.
When I pulled the vehicle up on the grass I said to Aaron “You take the spare video and head around to the right of the tee tree and I’ll take the instamatic camera and head up along here to the left.” I knew that the animal had a fair start on me for Aaron had already raced out sight before I’d even got out of the vehicle.
When I finally jumped out I sprinted 50-60 metres along the strip of vegetation where I stopped to peer in. Sure enough there was the animal and at the time it was difficult to tell whether it was a fox or a thylacine trotting along through the vegetation oblivious to my presence. I held the camera up waiting for it to stop but frustratingly had to sprint a further 20 metres to obtain a better vantage point. Similarly I still could not obtain a clear shot. After the third sprint of 20-30 metres I just held the camera up regardless and took a photograph. Unfortunately when it was developed all it revealed was the vegetation and not the animal.
Finally a 4th sprint of 20 metres or so saw me peering into the vegetation in bewilderment, the animal had vanished. I stood there momentarily looking into the vegetation and then turned my head to the right. To my amazement the animal had popped out from the vegetation into the clear grasslands 5 metres away. It had only moved out approximately 10 metres and I had barely enough time to turn with the camera at chest height and to snap a photograph. Even then it had already seen me and was rapidly turning to race back into the vegetation out of sight.
Having obtained a better look at the animal it was difficult to tell whether it was a fox or a thylacine. It was slightly higher than a fox and very narrow in the trunk more in the shape of a whippet or greyhound dog. I didn’t get my hopes up but after getting the film developed I could definitely see a dark shady region on the animals back, of which I firmly believe to be the stripes of a thylacine.
Unfortunately due to the small picture that was produced I still will not use this as conclusive proof of their existence and/or possible rediscovery.
More Sightings
We decided to embark on some night spotlighting, something that we had not contemplated in the past. This new tactic brought some excellent results. On the first instance we drove our vehicle along the back roads near the lake and to our surprise we believe that we saw a medium size thylacine at some 25 metres distance, which when captured in our headlamps and torches sauntered off into the vegetation out of view. A little further down the track (500m) Aaron said, ” Get a load of that!” “Where?” I called. “There on the left in the headlights, I thought it was a rabbit!” returned Aaron and sure enough it was a small Tasmanian Tiger caught out by the vehicle being between it and the sanctuary of the vegetation on the right hand side of the road. I decided to keep pace with it in the vehicle. It was running at approximately 30-40 kilometres/hr and we kept it in full view for almost 100 metres. We could definitely see the dark shade of the stripes half way down the animals back and the narrowing of the tail into a point. As we approached a “T” intersection the animal speed up and raced across the road in front of the vehicle. I could have almost run it over but fortunately this was not the case.
We reached the end of our track and decided to have a break for half an hour before embarking on a second circuit of the area and also to give us some time to process the excitement that we had witnessed.
On the second spot lighting session we had even far greater excitement! We had only travelled approximately 400metres and whilst holding the ‘Dolphin Torch’ outside of the driver side window, I could see these 2 large yellow glowing objects in the distance approximately 100 metres ahead. Unsure as to what they were I said to Aaron who was seated behind me, “What are they up ahead, are they eyes or are they reflectors?” I couldn’t recall having seen reflectors in the same position when we travelled through here on the first spotlight. “I don’t know!” said Aaron as we both kept our eyes on the objects. As we got within approximately 30 metres Aaron shone the bright Halogen lamp and sure enough it was a large thylacine similar to the one that we had seen back near the swamp in October. He was stunned by the brightness of the lamp and stood there motionless for a couple of seconds. Aaron then said “Hold the torch I’ll race down and take a photograph”, and with that he raced out of the bus. Unfortunately as he got within 15 metres of the animal it slinked underneath a 2-strand wire fence and into tee tree scrub. Aaron persisted in chasing the animal momentarily before tripping over a log, which ceased his chase. This sighting was just fantastic in light of the previous 2 sightings that we had and on reflection it was like mum and dad and the kid going for a walk all within 500 metres of each other.
Museum Specimens photograph
courtesy Hobart Museum
The Next Day
With any of our sightings we always check out the sites for possible footprints or any other evidence. So at 8am we were back at the large animal sighting. Ironically when we hoped out of the bus Aaron had the videotape rolling and his commentary said, “This is the site of our third sighting last night”. We walked forward and through the strand wire, Aaron holding the video camera and I the Instamatic. Continuing through to a clearing by the lake we stood approximately 2 metres apart and said nothing to each other. The area was scattered with tussock grass standing up to waist high. Slightly to my right and at a distance of approximately 15 metres I saw a gap of 30-40 centimetres with a golden brown tail and a hind leg. I said nothing to Aaron and when it moved forward I just thought to myself “It’s just a kangaroo it will bob up over the tussock grass soon and hop away”. But as I stood there for a couple of seconds I suddenly realised that it wasn’t a kangaroo for it did not ‘bob up’ so without saying a word I ran to the spot and sure enough about 20 metres ahead was the same thylacine that we saw last night leaping over the tussock grasses in a hurdling motion. I ran as quickly as I could but it dived into tee tree vegetation. Thinking that it would continue to travel in the same direction as I was chasing it. I decided to run on to find a track that it might cross and both Aaron stood there for a minute or so awaiting its approach. I left Aaron on the track and raced back to the start and picking up a tin can I tried to make enough noise as possible in order to flush him out towards Aaron. Unfortunately our efforts were to no avail, he must have done a ‘U’ turn when he heard us run on. After our fruitless chase we inspected the mud tracks and could see strong evidence of the rear heal strikes that created the hurdling action in the animal. The front paws did not appear to hit the ground at all as there were no impressions of these at all over the 15-20 metres of prints that we could see. But still this went down as another close sighting. They must have an incredibly sensitive smell of human presence, seeing that we both just stood 15 metres away from the animal and said nothing to each other. Unbelievable!
A nearby resident asked what we were doing in the area and we said “Tassie Tiger Hunting”. “Tassie Tigers! What are they?” she said. We had an enamel magnet with a picture of a thylacine on it and when we showed it to her she remarked, “You know that animal looks like an animal that my husbands truck bumper bar hit one night”. When questioned she added “That the vehicle was only travelling at around 20kms/hr and the animal hardly broke stride and trotted off”.
A woman who lives nearby the swamp area and whom we have yet to meet, has it is claimed by local residents, regularly seen thylacines pass through the rear of her property.
Another person is claimed to have seen one licking the barbeque plate at the local picnic ground, where it ‘raced off’ as the person walked past.
There was also another report of an old, ill Kangaroo that was in a property one evening. When the householder awoke the next morning and went to check on the animal they only found a carcass with the head missing. Nothing else had been touched.
The story goes of a group of Asian fishermen who were out one evening by a river and they all returned from their session claiming to have seen a tiger with stripes.
Other Evidence
During Expedition number 7 (SEPT 21-29 1999). We entered our research region and noticed a freshly killed Kangaroo on the side of the roadway that had been hit by a vehicle. Having already obtained an older carcass 20kms prior the trailer was full. I pulled our vehicle over and asked Aaron whether he could drag the animal away from the edge of the roadway and that we would come and get it in a couple of days time as a lure to our cameras. Two days later we drove back along the roadway and could not see the carcass anywhere. We eventually turned the vehicle around and got out. The animal had to be around here somewhere we thought and in an effort to find it we started walking up along the edge of the road. Eventually we could smell a real putrid pungent smell. “He’s got to be near here!” I said looking at the blood stains on the asphalt. There were also drag marks that we could see in the sandy loam soil. On following these they went for a distance of almost 10 metres into the surrounding bush and bracken fern and at the end of the trail we found the remains of the kangaroo with its intestines exposed and a full hind leg eaten off and nowhere to be found.
Once again we had to say to ourselves, “What animal would have the strength to pull the kangaroo carcass this distance? Especially when they weigh at least 60 – 70 kgs and secondly what animal would have the capacity to remove an entire hind leg of a kangaroo?
Had a conversation with Peter A. who owned and operated the Marine Boat Museum. He told us about the time his next door neighbour was at the front of her property during the evening of October 1999. A pack of Kangaroos were grazing and she was supplementing their food with scraps of fruit and vegetables that she had left over from her evening meal. There were a number of young ‘Joeys’ there as well as the adult kangaroos. It soon became dark and she went inside leaving the roos near her front fence line. At around 10.00pm both the Marine operator and his next door neighbour heard a ‘tremendous howl’ like a baby screaming and immediately following this scream the dogs in the area started barking. Too scared to go out side to inspect the cause of this cry they decided to leave it until morning.
When they awoke in the morning his neighbour was horrified to find the carcass of a young Joey kangaroo at the front of her property on the nature strip. The unique feature that shocked them, was the fact that the young Joey was missing its head. Once again nothing else had been touched.
Easter 2000
Frank D. claimed to have seen a Tasmanian Tiger whilst he and his wife were driving home late one night. This was approximately 25kms along the main roadway. It crossed the road in front of the vehicle and then raced into the scrub. Frank pulled the car over and raced to the spot where he last saw it. He claimed that there was a real foul odour in the air consistent to Early Settler claims about the tiger. He also said that a woman travelling along an adjacent road recorded seeing the same thylacine 20 minutes later. Frank a previous wood machinist was inspired by his sighting so much that he made a wooden figurine of the thylacine that he proudly displays in his home.
Frank displaying his carving
Expedition 8
We had the video camera set up in some vegetation alongside the main roadway and near the site where the Kangaroo carcass had been dragged into the bush during Expedition 7. Each morning we would drive almost 10 kms along the roadway searching for any further dead animals that may have come to grief with vehicles overnight.
Two days before Easter Good Friday we had 3 kangaroo carcasses acting as a lure near our camera set-up. We drove out in the afternoon and we could not find any further animals. The next morning and 2 kms in a straight line from our cameras was a fresh kangaroo carcass. After turning the vehicle around and getting out to inspect the animal we were amazed to see that the head had been completely severed from the body and at least 200mm along the vertebrae of the animal had been exposed. The head similarly to other accounts was nowhere to be found!
The significance of this carcass became all the more frustrating in that the animal that did this was obviously hungry and on the search for food. Had the carcass not been there then there would be a fair chance that it may have travelled the extra 2 kms into our baited camera set-up and we might have obtained footage of it! How frustrating.
The graphic nature of the kangaroo photo may prove to be disturbing for some individuals, so it has been withheld.
Reg. Baldwin (dec)
September 2000 claims that one night he had given his 2 pet dogs some chicken bones after dinner. The dogs took them out into the back yard and buried them in the sandy soil.
Around 9.30pm that evening the dogs started barking strangely whilst they were inside the house and they ran to the back door. Reg went to the backdoor and opened it but the two dogs were too scared to go out! Reg grabbed his spotlight and shined it around the back of his yard where he spotted a young thylacine that raced off into the night. It had obviously smelt and had come searching for the chicken bones that the dogs had had earlier he claims.
John Van D. and Simone H. had the following encounter in the early afternoon near Cobramurra NSW during September 2000:-
It was raining at the time and we were traveling along the road from Cobramurra to Tooma, near the Tumut Power Station. We were driving home from a wedding at Tumut, we saw a tall skinny stripped doglike animal casually frollicking along side of road. It was not immediately deterred by our presence in car from about 25 -35m distance but ran off into the scrub up the hill right side of the road upon closer approach. This was in a time span of about 1 minute. At the time, we were mystified at the presence of a stripped stray dog in the remote area and did not even consider it could have been a Tassie Tiger. The sighting was reported at a later date, spoke by phone with local Parks ranger who said animal could have been searching for food usually left around by visitors to Power Station. Please note, we are both of stable mind and not out to seek publicity. I came across your website after recent reports of sightings in the Herald Sun. Good luck with your project.
Expedition 10
January 2001
We had problems with the operations of the video equipment but nevertheless persevered with the Expedition for 8 nights. On Tuesday 2/1/01 whilst spotlighting both Aaron and I saw 2 large jet-black cats. They were definitely smaller than either a puma or panther but realistically at least 3 times larger than a domesticated cat and when they moved they were very similar in gait to that of a puma or panther. We had the first bailed up in our spotlights for quite a long time. The second was approximately 100 metres away and Aaron got out of the vehicle and chased it before it raced off into the bush.
Dennis B. claimed to have seen a Tasmanian Tiger from his kitchen window 2 months prior to our arrival. Whilst on the telephone to one of his friends he at first thought it was a fox but then he could see the rigid tail behind as it trotted around his back yard. He claimed that it trotted around his yard then it would go under the fence into the nearby reserve then back across his yard and into the tee tree and then finally down to the lake. He passed the telephone to his wife and went outside for a better look with his binoculars, but had difficulty in seeing it because it’s fur blended in with the colour of the vegetation. When it reached the lake it ventured out of view. Dennis also claims that he couldn’t see any stripes on the animals rump.
View from Dennis’ window and the area where he saw the thylacine
“It came from the vegetation on the left to the back fence in the foreground. It then went into the tee tree scrub on the right and then finally trotted down to the lake in the distance where it disappeared out of sight!” Dennis B.
David L. Christmas 1999
Time: approx 7am
Distance: 100
duration: 4 sec
I was walking with my son near a swamp area, when we saw something very bizarre; a large Kangaroo appeared to be chasing a striped dog. Now you have to bear in mind that this was our first visit to Loch Sport and I was not aware about the Tasmanian tiger rumours. I returned home and said to my wife, “I think I just saw a Kangaroo chasing a Tasmanian Tiger!”
Naturally enough, she thought it was probably a dog.The animal appeared to be the size of a medium dog, clearly striped, not as pronounced as a Zebra, but clearly defined, and it was interesting that my first thought was that it was a Tasmanian tiger.The animal seemed to be out distancing the roo, which is a feat in it self, it then ran into some bushes and that was that.
I have told many people this story prior to finding out about the other rumours, and felt somewhat relieved when I found out that other people had seen an animal such as this. I do a lot of fishing, overnight at the 90-mile beach, and a lot of sailing and fishing in the lakes and have never seen another animal.
I found it unusual that I would see this animal (if it was the tiger) in the middle of Loch Sport, however perhaps the swamp area offers it a degree of protection.
Being a sceptic, I cant help wondering if it was a tiger, then obviously they have existed there since before Australia was colonised. If this is correct, then why have no remains been found or why hasn’t one been hit by a car?
Regards
Dave L
Hello Murray
I have a tiger tale for you and its taken me ten years to tell this tale outside my family….
In the winter of 1994 I was ridding my horse in the Georges River Nature reserve in Kentlyn NSW. I was at the end of Old Kent Rd just behind the Russian Orthodox Church/retirement village. Not far from civilisation at all.
I had taken the shoes off my trusty steed because I was newly married and cash strapped… we were walking on a sandy fire trail and making very little noise..
My horse pricked up her ears and slowed down I was looking into the bush and not where we were going but I looked ahead expecting to see someone. In front of us as calm as anything was an unusual looking dog. (It was crossing the track so I was looking at it side on.) The first thing I noticed was that it was particularly mangy looking. It had fur rather than hair it was similar in colour to a wallaby. It was very poor in the hind and had a tail like a lion (minus the tassel), with dark brown stripes from the hips through to the end of the tail. It never looked directly at us but continued on its way into the bush towards the river. I tried to follow it but it disappeared.
At this time I had been riding around this area for 10 years. Up to this point I had seen few wallabies, snakes, goannas and lots of native birds. I phoned my Dad when I got home and told him what I had seen. It was he that suggested it may be a Tassie tiger. As he explained to me the Georges River nature reserve goes all the way from Campbelltown across to Heathcote and the South coast. It was for many years used by the army for practice and there would be parts of it that had never been touched by civilisation.
I moved from Campbelltown to the Snowy mountains in 1995. My parents came to visit us in 1998 after the birth of my second child and bought a newspaper clipping from the local Campbelltown newspaper in which someone else had thought they had seen a tiger too. It was at the back of Minto but part of the same reserve.
I hope this is of some help to you and I’ll be happy to answer any further questions.
After looking at your website I don’t feel very special now…. I had no idea there were so many sightings.
Regards Dearne C.
1972 Gippsland
Frank V. claims to have had the following sighting near Livingstone Crossing about 8km from Omeo in East GippsLand:-
It was just on dusk and from a distance of perhaps 150 meters I saw a dog like animal run, like a dog, across a ridge parallel to me…it was silhouetted and dark in colour.. the most striking feature was a very thick base of the tail that quickly tapered…Locals scoffed at the idea I might have seen a Tasmanian Tiger…I’m firmly convinced that it was not a dog or dingo. I’d love to hear if there have been any sightings since in the area. This has always puzzled me.
Jean Donnelly (dec)
My first sighting of a Tasmanian Tiger was in either 1991 or 1992. We hadn’t lived in the area for long. At about 4 a.m. I woke up and went to get a glass of water. As I stood at the sink I looked outside the kitchen window towards the street light outside. There in the bright light stood this huge animal with a tail about 2-3 foot in length and the body looked to be about an extra foot longer than the tail. I accidentally hit my glass onto the tap which caused him to turn around to look at me. He had the biggest eyes and he kept standing there. Eventually he turned away and then walked off. I couldn’t get much sleep after that!
My husband Alex and I saw a black panther in 1990 on a bush track. The panther walked in front of the car as we travelled slowly along. He continued to walk in front of the car and then turned to look at us. He had the biggest yellow eyes and then he slinked slowly into the bush and out of sight. We both couldn’t believe what we had seen but agreed that it was definitely a black panther!
Late July 1985 Mt William National Park – Tasmania
Paul D. aged 42 had the following encounter with a thylacine at approximately 10 am in the morning:-
From a distance of approximately 8 metres, it was close and for no more than five seconds.
I realize as this sighting was almost 20 years ago it must seen like ancient history now, but I thought I’d pass it along anyway for whatever information can be gleaned from it. I was hiking alone in a remote part of Mt.William Park on a cold, drizzly morning in late July 1985 when I came upon a small mob of Forester kangaroos (big guys, not the smaller wallabies) in a state
of extreme agitation.
Something had put them on their guard and I was sure that it wasn’t me. They were acting nervous and scared long before they were aware that I was there. In fact, a few of them broke from the mob and sprinted away in my direction, something they wouldn’t have done if they were trying to elude me.
The second I realized something had spooked them, I heard a sharp yapping sound, completely unlike a dog bark or the shriek/growls I heard made by the Tasmanian devils I had seen earlier on my trip. The thylacine shot out of a cluster of bushes directly in front and slightly to the left. I got a quick view of the creature before it vanished sideways into another cluster of fernlike bushes.
Perhaps it saw me as it broke cover, because I had an instantaneous impression of it swerving away from the kangaroos and darting back toward cover as I saw it. There’s no question in my mind that it was a thylacine as I’m very familiar with the look and history of the animal and it was as recognizable to me as the kangaroos running from it. It was moving very fast, but it was all there, the dark tan fur, stripes, stiff tail, even the freakish skip/hop gait as it dashed into the bushes. It moved completely unlike any fox or coyote I’ve ever seen in California and I’ve seen plenty. Naturally I had no time to get a picture of it and a subsequent scouring of the marshy area around the bushes yielded nothing but a couple of smeared footprints. I never publicly related the story because I was alone when I saw the animal and had no proof. Hiking back, I took some nice photos of the kangaroos that had run away from the tiger (and by that time were calmly grazing a half mile or so away) but it was a pretty poor second prize. Anyway, that’s my account. Good luck with your search.
Paul R. November/December 1997
Thought I might tell you about what I saw at the Loch Sport National Park back in 1997. It was a hot day in November/ December and I was out for a drive along the road through the park at about 11 AM. I had passed the rangers station a couple of Ks back and crested a hill when I saw about 20m in front of me, on the right hand verge of the road, an animal that was not a fox, and not a dog. I would describe it as being large, about the size of a big greyhound, but shorter in the leg.
The thing that struck me most was its long face and peculiar ears, which I recall at the time, thinking where like what you would see on a bear. These facial features were obvious, as the animal was facing me straight on. As I slowed down, I reckon I was about ten meters from it as it turned 90o and faced the near side of the road. I could then see the tail, which was thick at the base and tapered to a point, more like a roo tail than any dog. I saw no stripes on the animals light brown/tan coat.
When it took off up the bank on the side of the road and into the bush, it displayed a strange bounding pounce that was more like what I’ve seen big cats do on nature docos. I didn’t stop and look for prints, as it took a while to absorb what I had seen. I didn’t have a lot of knoweledge about thylacines back then, but in the following weeks did a bit of study, and the pictures and old photos of tigers that I saw were the same as what I saw on that day at Loch Sport. The only difference is that what I saw didn’t have stripes, and I saw it for 5 seconds or so, at pretty close range. Apart from the stripes, everything else identified it as a thylacine.
I have learnt to be choosy about who I tell this story to, as most people assume you saw a dog, or a mangy fox, or just think your are talking rubbish.
Jack F. Had the following encounter in 1981
It’s hard to tell this story as it has a sad ending for me. In 1981 I bought a sheep station in north west NSW. In the first year I had a bad drought and too many older sheep. Each morning I would go out and put down any sheep that had their eyes pecked by crows that were also struggling with the conditions. What I observed on those times, was that when I found a dead sheep only partly eaten, it was always about the same distance away from my house which stood out on a hillside. This overlooked the whole property. It was as if they never stepped over a certain line distance from my house. Six months earlier my story starts. Whilst my nephew and I were out shooting rabbits we were stopped in our tracks when an animal appeared about 20 metres in front of us. We looked at each other and knew exactly what we were looking at! It looked back at us for about 20 seconds then slowly moved back into a scrubby creek bed. I could have easily shot the animal but I would never of done that! The initial start of my story may explain the sheep deaths. I am not sure! When we spoke about our sighting to family and friends we couldn’t believe how cruel their responses could be except for my mom who always believed and defended us. I sold the property in 1989, it is surrounded by approx 100 000 acres of mountainous country, my sighting was 23 years ago and my nephew is now 39. We learnt very quickly not to tell or talk about what we had seen. We spoke about it to each other again after about 15 years at my moms funeral July 2003 and both had strong recollections of it!
The animal was longer to look at than a dog for its height. It was in a poor condition but not to bad. It seemed to be larger in height than a fox. It had a longish looking head, both sides of its body had stripes running down it. What stood out the most in its features which I will never forget. It had the saddest look on its face. As we stood there looking at each other it showed no fear. It just looked sad and lonely. It’s was reddish in colour and the location area where it was at was near the Nanderwar Range area, close to Mount Kaputar. On the Barraba side of the range at the start of the Horton River NSW.
Regards Jack
An Anonymous Person aged 31 submitted the following report on a thylacine encounter that he had in 1993 at Seventeen Miles Rocks Road, Seventeen Miles Rocks. Queensland.
It was around 7am on a Sunday, the weather was clear and the animal crossed in front of my vehicle at a distance of only 5 metres.
I recall vividly a situation of driving to a university lecture in Brisbane city along seventeen miles rocks road, when I found myself between a bush area (on my left) and an industrial estate (on my right) at about 40 kph, having just turned a corner.I was shocked by an unusual animal unlike anything that I had ever seen as it bounded (kind of like a canter) out in front of the car about 20 metres ahead as though it was being chased out of an area of dense bush about 50 metres from the nursery.
It was a skinny dog like creature about the size of a small greyhound with a long neck and a kangaroo like head/snout. It’s ears were large but rounded. It had a straight rigid pointy tail that stood horizontally from it’s body. It seemed that the creature knew I was there but it did not turn to face me until it had crossed the road, at which point instead of turning around it simply rolled onto it’s haunches in a most unusual way, facing the car and appearing almost as if it was standing up with it’s tail crossing under it’s dog-like legs and feet. At this point I had slowly stopped the car in the middle of the road (there was no traffic at this time) and watched it for about 30 seconds as it appeared to be both curious and gathering it’s breath. I noticed some faint stripes across the tail and on it’s back and could distinctly see what appeared to be an empty pouch in the groin area, as it tilted its head to one side looking at me through strange big eyes, and what struck me is that at no stage did it have it’s mouth open it’s mouth like a dog would (with tongue hanging out when panting).
At this point I was so mystified about what I was seeing that I decided to get out of the car and approach it. The animal seemed agitated as I got to within about 5 metres. It was obviously not accustomed to cars let alone humans. It stood up and began to retreat with much speed (faster than I was capable of running, and I am a fast runner) toward the buildings of the industrial estate until it disappeared behind one of the buildings.
Rather than attend class, I straight home to tell my mother about the strange “kangaroo dog” that I had seen. We spent some time trying to identify it from books. She told me it could have been a bandicoot, but to me, it was nothing like a bandicoot and much bigger. It was later that I saw pictures of a Tasmanian Tiger and I believe that is what I saw. When I discussed this again with my mother, she laughed at me in a nice way and told me not to go telling anyone else or they’d think I am crazy.
How I sighted such a strange animal in daylight in a growth corridor less than 20 kilometres to the Brisbane C.B.D. is still a mystery to me to this day, although the area I saw it in was a mix of dense bush, farmland and semi-industrial land that borders the Brisbane river from Corinda all the way out to the western suburbs (intersected only by the Centenary Highway). I think perhaps this was it’s habitat, and it may have been disturbed and caused the creature to move. All I can think is that it must have known the times when humans were least likely to be around. I am positive that in this area at least one other person would have sighted the animal, but perhaps like me was in fear of being ridiculed about sighting a “tiger” so close to a big city. Last time I visited the area of the sighting it had become a housing estate and significantly more developed.
Greg B. had the following encounter at Stanley in Victoria’s North East in April 1993.
I was at the Eastern Boundary of Nightingale’s Apple Orchard during the early afternoon I knocked off picking fruit early and was circum-navigating the Orchard so the boss wouldn’t see me pissing off early, walking near the uncleared perimeter of Orchard when I startled the Tasmanian Tiger, it was near the fence line beside a old felled tree.
It was the size of a fox, I knew straight away what it was and told my girlfriend that night. After seeing her reaction, I kept the story to myself, I’ve been comfortable in the knowledge that they are still alive and well in the bush. This is the first time I’ve shared this sighting.
Col Bailey and Eric Guiler, November 1999. Two other Thylacine enthusiasts who I’ve become good friends with.
Dear Murray
I’m writing to you with what is yet another “Tasmanian tiger sighting”, if you’re interested, though it happened years ago back in 1972.
Here is my story-
In November 1972 I arrived in Devonport from Sydney via Melbourne with my then girlfriend Florence aboard the Empress of Australia for a two-week motoring holiday. We spent the day in Devonport and the following day we drove to Launceston. We spent the night there, and then the next day sightseeing the district. We started out for our next destination, which was St. Helens, but we had left it a bit late in the day and found ourselves pushed for time. We had pre-booked the motel in St. Helens and we were worried that we may be late getting there.
It must have been around 9:30 pm when we pasted though Scottsdale, travelling along the Tasman Highway (A3). This was all new territory for us, and it was a dark lonely road. The weather was clear, the road dry, narrow, and there was virtually no traffic. We were travelling in my old HD Holden Ute, no radio. Conversation had gone quite and while Florence was dosing off, I drove on singing to myself.
A kangaroo jumped out in front of the car and I hit the brakes, avoiding the animal. Florence jumped up and shouted, “What was that”? I told her it was a kangaroo. She told me to “Slow down, that I was driving to fast, etc, then went back to sleep. This event occurred about every ten minutes or so; a kangaroo or wombat would jump or run out from the side of the road into my headlights, I would hit the brakes, and Florence would jump up and say “what was it this time”? As before I would tell her it was a kangaroo or wombat and she would tell me to “slow down etc.” and then curl up and dose off again.
I think we must have been around or passed Weldborough when I hit the brakes again and pulled up. Florence once more jumped up and asked, with an irritated tone, “What was it”? I told her “I’m not sure; I think it was a dog”. Florence looked out and said words to the effect, “you’re crazy, there wouldn’t be a dog out here in the middle of nowhere”. By this time I was getting a bit annoyed myself and said “it was, it ran right across the road in front of me in clear view of the headlight”. I could tell she didn’t believe me. I said, “It was a dog…..sort of”. I continued on saying, “it looked like a brown, medium size, short hair dog, with a pointed face. But it was strange looking, it had these dark strips across its’ backside and a long stiff tail”. I only caught a brief look at it in full view of the headlights, but it was long enough to get a clear comprehensive picture of the animal. With a doubting, disinterested look she once again told me to slow down and went back to sleep.
I had only been in Australia for two years after emigrating from the U.S.A. I was still unfamiliar with Australia’s unique flora and fauna, and at that age probably wasn’t all that interested. I had no idea what kind of dog I saw and although Florence was Australian, she didn’t “click on” to the description I gave of the animal. We drove on with out any further encounters with wildlife and finally arrived at St Helens. We were pleased to find the motel had waited for us, made our apologised, and were happy when we finally got into bed.
By the next morning the events of the previous day were all but forgotten. However, while we were having breakfast in the motel’s dining room, in the course of small talk, the host and his wife asked us about our holiday. We told them of our trip so far and what we had planned for the day. Again we apologed for being late last night, saying it was difficult to make good time after it got dark with all the animals on the road. The owner appeared to agree and stated that the road could be dangerous if you’re not familiar with it (I think he was implying tourists). He said “there’s lots of ‘roos’ on the road at night”. I said “oh yes, we narrowly miss hitting a number kangaroo, wombats, and even a dog last night”. Florence, looking a little embarrassed, said “it couldn’t have been a dog; it must have been a wombat or something”. In my defence I said, “It was a dog, I know what I saw”! The owner then casually asked me what type of dog it was. I said I didn’t known for sure, and described the dog as I saw it.
The atmosphere in the dining room then seemed to change when the owner got up, walked over to a book shelve and took down a book. He thumbed though it till he came to a page, walked over and placed the book in front of me saying, “is this what you saw”? I looked at the photo on the page and said excitedly “yes, that’s the dog I saw last night” thinking this will finally prove to my girlfriend that I did see a dog after all (men like to settle these little arguments). However, the owner closed the book saying, “You couldn’t have seen that animal because it’s been extinct since 1937”. The photo the owner had shown me was a picture of a “Tasmanian tiger”.
I suddenly felt I wasn’t going to win my argument with Florence nor the people in the dining room about my “dog” sighting. But then as I thought about the animal in the photo, I realised that what I had seen was something that wasn’t suppose to be alive. That what I saw wasn’t a “dog”, but an animal “that hadn’t been seen for 35 years, and supposedly extinct. No one believed thylacines still existed. Therefore, no one was going to believe my story of the “dog”, what proof did I have? Furthermore, whom would you tell? Who would be interested in my story, if ever I was to repeat it and if I did, people would think I was mad. It would be like seeing a “flying saucer”, a “yowie”, a “prehistoric dinosaur”. So nothing more was said on the matter and we continued on our holiday.
Many years later while bushwalking in Freycinet National Park with my wife Roselyn, we came across two Park Rangers carrying out some research study. During lunch I asked them had they come across any Tasmanian tigers in their research. They must have thought this a typical tourist question and replied back, “No, have you”? I thought to myself, here’s an opportunity to tell my story, so I re-laid to them the event of that night. They took my details and said they would make enquires as to whether or not there were any other sightings of the Tasmanian tiger in that area and would get back to me. Months later they contacted me and what they had to say was interesting. Apparently there were a number of sightings of the thylacine in the area around Weldborough in the early 70’s. I wish now I had reported the sighting sooner.
Well, that is my story. I hope it is of some interest.
Yours David Bickley
Murray,
Further to today’s phone call, I confirm my sighting back in 1960 approx.
My wife and I were driving at night from Melbourne to Licola, where close friends lived – he was a Forestry Commission Officer for that area. Between Heyfield and Licola, near Glenmaggie and near the Hug’s sunflower farm, I took a hairpin bend in the road and there in the middle of the road was the animal. It really could not have been anything but a thylacine with its distinctive stripes and kangaroo-like tail. It looked at me for a few seconds then unhurriedly moved off into the bush on the side of the road and out of the view that my headlights had so clearly provided.
I had recently done zoology at The University of Melbourne and was quite knowledgeable on all mammals, including those which were reported to be relatively recently extinct; it was part of the veterinary science degree that I eventually failed to complete
My friend told me that he also had similar sightings in that area
Good luck with your ongoing endeavours, I’m confident that you will be successful and I look forward to the unequivocal images that you will secure with your new camera. I also look forward to be able to tell the doubting Thomases that their doubts re my initial sighting and identification were wrong and that perhaps they will develop more open minds !!!
Proving that these creatures have survived is one huge step but I suspect not so great when compared with the invasion into their lifestyle that will inevitably follow.
I go back to the Woolemi Pine where the precise location was kept secret and seeds were provided to nurseries to help preserve the species and at the same time remove some of its novelty attraction. This was something though that could not move around.
I wonder what protection we can offer the thylacine, now that you have proved that it is not extinct, This will be a far more complex exercise.
Kind regards
Stephen C.
Dear Sir what I am about to tell you can belive or disbelive regardless I have seen a tassie tiger in 1983/84.In the Pilbarra of WA between Mt Tom Price and Karratha along the railway accsess road at the 220 to 226 kp peg (from Dampier) I was a employee of Hammersley iron within their rail department as engineman/train driver. I had been posted to Mt Tom Price and I would drive along the accesess road between Karratha and Tom Price. Between shifts I would drive the 286 ks to Dampier for the 5 or 2 days off just a chance just to get out of town basically.
One night I set off at about 10 pm for the drive to the cost, following the railway line the road was then a dirt graded road,and to speed above 80 kmph is a suicide mission. At about the the 220 km marker the dirt road goes through the Chichester Ranges and Gorge,s with many twists and turns. Following a series of “s” curves out of my left hand side came a tassie tiger running about 2 meters in front of my 4×4 right into the path of the 2 100 spot lights. Its head was rather large and its jaw line was very pronounced its body tappered towards its rear hind like a grey hound. The body was a light grey felt with black/dark stripping running down its back towards the hind quarters at a angle of about 30 degrees,its tail was straight out yet what caught my attention the most was its tail it was like a bottle brush but only with a small clump at it’s tip.
At the time I said nothing due to the very nature of the people I worked with,I did want to be branded a idiot so I just stayed quiet,and besides I thought that the tassie tigers where only in tasmania Not the Pilbara region of WA On many occassions I have thought back to that night wondering whether I could have seen a tiger? or was it some stray wild dog? but as I cast my mind over it i belive it to be a tiger… John S.
Dear Sir.
The Tasmania Tiger has not been extinct for 75 years becourse i saw one just behind the Shannon Power Station in Approx 1955 when working for the H E C. Also a work mate saw the same Tiger in the Switch Yard at about the same time.But we didn’t tell one another until years later.
Regards Max M.l