In the sad news, a sighting of the suspected Tasmanian tiger was debunked earlier this week, with experts declaring the creatures photographed to be most likely Tasmanian.
If it looks like a Tasmanian tiger , looks like a tassie tiger, and walks like a tassie tiger, then it’s probably a tasse padimun. Sorry.
Australians got their hopes up when Neil Waters, president of Thylacine Awareness Group Australia (TAGOA), posted a YouTube video confidently titled, “We found thylacine.” Unfortunately, they don’t.
Although Tasmanian tigers have been classified as extinct since 1936, when the last known living tiger died at Hobart Zoo, the hype was real. Addressing a hand-held camera to Muhammad from the family’s sighting of the suspect Tassi Tiger: “The baby has stripes, a stiff tail, a shank, coarse hair, it’s the right color, it’s four-legged, stocky and has right-shaped ears,” Mr. Waters addresses to a hand-held camera.
Mr Waters also added that he had sent the photographs taken at the sighting to Nick Mooney, Honorary Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG), for confirmation.
Things were looking good! The audience was excited, and the experts were excited!
Hold onto your hats ladies and gentlemen, this has potential to be the wildlife rediscovery of the century!
— Forrest Galante (@ForrestGalante) February 22, 2021
Nick Mooney is a colleague and an extremely reputable wildlife biologist. If he verifies it, then it is confirmed!! 🤞🏼 https://t.co/0vMqexHsBO
When Mr. Mooney revised the photo file , it all fell apart. In a statement issued by TMAG, Mr. Waters’ identification of the animals as a Tasmanian tiger was denied. “Nick Mooney has concluded that based on the physical characteristics shown in the photographs provided by Mr. Waters, the animals are not likely to be Tasmanian tigers and are likely to be Tasmanian animals,” the statement said.
The pademelon looks like a Star Wars named Juice Boost but is actually a small marsupial that looks like a cross between a wallaby and a coca.
“Unfortunately there have been no confirmed sightings of Tasmanian tigers since 1936,” the statement continued. Way to rub it, guys.