Are these photos taken recently in Tasmania of a live Tasmanian Tiger? Or are they very good fakes!
In a video published on YouTube this week by renowned wildlife biologist, Forrest Galante, an American named ‘Zak’ has claimed that he and his Dad recently encountered what they thought was an injured dog or dingo on the side of the road on a trip to Tasmania.
According to Zak, he and his father stopped on the opposite side of the road and approached the animal to see if they could help it and he quickly realised it wasn’t a dog when it opened its mouth wide and made a ‘shrieking’ or ‘meowing’ sound.
The encounter lasted only 30 seconds before the animal jumped up and ran off into the darkness but it was long enough for Zak to get several photos on his iPhone.
Zak made contact with wildlife biologist Forrest Galante to share the images which Forrest revealed yesterday on his YouTube channel (see below).
Where were the photos taken?
According to Zak, he and his father were in Tasmania visiting his fathers sister who lives near Stowport in north west Tasmania and were on their way back to Hobart airport when they encountered the animal on the side of the road.
When was the Thylacine declared extinct?
The Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus) was officially declared extinct in 1982 with the last known living animal “Benjamin” dying in Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart on 7th September 1936 only 2 months after being granted species protection.
But despite their ‘extinct’ status, the dream of finding them alive has persisted and every year dozens of unconfirmed sightings do the rounds on the internet.
The Thylacine didn’t just live in Tasmania but also on mainland Australia and as far north as New Guinea and there have been recent unconfirmed sightings as far west as Western Australia and as far north as the western highlands of New Guinea.
According to wildlife expert Forrest Galante, the images are compelling and do not look like they were generated with AI, but I think he may be a little optimistic.
Is this really a Tasmanian Tiger?
If these photos were real and not faked in some way then it would be difficult not to conclude that they are a Tasmanian Tiger.
With the the shape of the head, mouth and body and the clearly visible stripes I can’t see what else it could be.
However the odd shape of the lower jaw in a couple of the images, and the hard edges on some of the shadows makes me sceptical of these images being genuine.
People can be pretty resourceful when it comes to faking photos and videos these days, especially with the rapid evolution of AI systems, so it will take more than a few blurry photos for me to be convinced.
The area around Upper Stowport in Tasmania is fairly populated and not exactly the deep wilderness you’d find in the south west of the state. So the chances of a sustainable population of Tasmanian Tigers living in that area and never being seen definitively until now is unlikely.
So I would conclude that these are fakes . . . and the quest to find a living thylacine continues!
READ MORE: Tasmanian Tiger Filmed In Adelaide Hills . . Or Was It?
