Do Tasmanian Tigers Still Exist?

This is one of my favorites and one thought-extinct creature that I think has a very excellent chance of still existing.

The Tasmanian Tiger is categorized as a "thylacine." The Tasmanian Tiger actually existed in Australia, the island of Tasmania and New Guinea. This was the largest marsupial (pouched creature).

It was believed to be extinct or nearly extinct on the continent of Australia by the time Europeans settled there. On the Island of Tasmania; however, it lasted much longer. Bounties on their dead bodies, as well as domestic dogs might have helped to obliterate this population.

The supposed last thylacine died in 1936, officially extinct in 1986.

Even to this day, people often report seeing them. It's seen so often, that there has to be something to it. A breeding population would have learned to hide from man who was pursuing him and thylacine had bred extensively before the citizens began killing off their population to get rid of the "troublemakers." If a cryptid does walk this earth, this is the one I would put all my money into. It is the most likely and the most witnessed. It has going for it that they definitely did exist and they had a large habitat to hide in. In fact, there are plenty of videos on YouTube people have taken of potential thylacines. They're pretty badass and seriously, I hope the marsupials survived the slaughter because they are just magnificent wild creatures.

Here's one such film taken of potential thylacine:





Here's an interesting article about nowadays attempts to find the thylacines - 

A team of investigators from the Centre for Fortean Zoology, which operates from a small farmhouse in north Devon, is currently in Tasmania hunting down clues to prove the thylacine, commonly known as the Tassie tiger, still exists.

The group claims to have gathered compelling evidence of the thylacine’s presence in remote parts of Tasmania’s north-west, despite the last known animal dying in Hobart Zoo on 7 September 1936.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology said it has talked to several “highly credible” witnesses of the thylacine and has found animal faeces that could belong to the beast. The droppings have been preserved in alcohol and are being sent awayfor DNA analysis.

Source:  "The animal stood still as the startled ranger counted the stripes, then it nonchalantly gave an enormous jaw-stretching yawn. But when the ranger reached for his camera, the creature faded into the undergrowth, leaving nothing but a rank smell. It also left a trail of excitement, for the bizarre beast looked exactly like a Tasmanian tiger -- also called a thylacine or Tasmanian wolf -- an animal thought to have been extinct nearly 50 years ago.""In March 1982, a park ranger in northwestern Tasmania awoke in the dead of night. From force of habit, he scanned the woods, his spotlight punching through black walls of rain. And there in the beam was one of the strangest creatures he had ever seen. About the size and shape of a dog, it was covered with stripes that ran from its shoulders across its back to its thick, rigid, tail.

Another compelling witness report - 

I was walking through selectively cleared area at the rear of the property which backs on to wood forests of eucalypt which meets onto Dularcha National Park= . I had been at my garden which is on the ridge and had gone down through a track id cleared down the hill. As i was coming back up and about to leave that area I thought a goanna was coming through the bush of consistently sarsaparilla vine, so got a bit out of the way so it wouldn't run right into me. As I watched it from side angle i saw its head appear and thought, oh its a wallaby, but as it emerged I saw it was on four legs so thought it was a wild dog, but as it went away into the next thick bush, I noticed light coloured stripes at the rear near its tail when I realised that what I had  seen was not anything I had seen before, like half dog, half wallaby but not a dingo. I kept away from the area for a few minutes to think about what had happened and decided to go look for it to check on what I had seen as  i had never before heard of thylacine sightings this far north. As i searched for it, I noticed I could still hear slight movements in thick lantana = infested bush, where there were big logs laying, a perfect hiding place. At this point I decided to let it be and I went to tell others what a strange thing I had seen in disbelief it was a thylacine. I researched on the computer all afternoon for a dog-like marsupial but could find no other explanation. My Girlfriend had seen this same animal running awkwardly down our road and into the bush 4 months prior.

- More witness reports here -

Conclusion

I believe thylacines still exist. Just because we know about the ones that were captured, killed or died, doesn't account for the ones we didn't capture or kill. How many possums do you run into?   

We have a creature that definitely did exist and not all that long ago in a setting that offers enormous cover and food supply. Considering large apes and the like are still being found in places like the Congo today, finding a feral marsupial would take a bit more of a stretch. Apes might take on a certain territory, but a thylacine would likely scavenge large areas looking for mates and moving on like a vagabond. Finding a thylacine in a large country that is greatly uninhabited would be a really difficult task, but upon occasion, a person in the wild or in a remote living situation could certainly come upon them and from the numerous accounts, it would seem so.