Reports of Tasmanian tiger sightings come by the thousands as Aussies search for extinct thylacine

This is an updated version of a story first published on April 14, 2024. The original video can be viewed here. 

There’s the Loch Ness monster in Scotland. And in the Himalayas, there’s the yeti, the Abominable Snowman. In Tasmania—a teardrop of an island under the eye of the Australian mainland—there’s the thylacine… a creature, as we first reported in April, that brings out folklore… and folks armed with grainy images, convinced they’ve seen the thing. But unlike other mythical creatures, the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, actually—indisputably— existed, an apex predator the size of a small wolf, roamed the island as recently as last century. which gives hope to so many obsessives, dreamers and true believers, looking for the Tasmanian tiger in the bush… and, as you’ll see, in the lab. This is a story that says as much about human nature as it does nature nature. Further proof that—even in the face of science and logic—passion survives in the wild just fine.

Jon Wertheim: You’ve been doing this how many years now?

Adrian Richardson: I’ve been doing this for over 30 years, and (beeping) every day’s an adventure.

Jon Wertheim: All right, here we go.

Getting there wasn’t easy. But Adrian “Richo” Richardson—a retired military man turned self-declared tiger seeker—retraced his steps. tramping around the dense outback of Tasmania on Jan. 28, 2017, 12:45 p.m., he heard the sound…

Adrian Richardson: And then all of a sudden, was this a mighty howl like this. (howls). I was gobsmacked. The hairs on my arm and my neck stood on end. And as that call finished, another one come from the other side of the forestry track. Another howl like that.

Jon Wertheim: What’d that one sound like?

Adrian Richardson: Exactly like.. (howls).

Richo craned his neck but saw no creature. Still, he’s sure of what it was: a Tasmanian tiger.

Adrian Richardson: The whole environment went quiet for about a minute. It was an unbelievable feeling. I just can’t explain it.

Jon Wertheim: Yeah. You’re still emotional talking about this.

Adrian Richardson: Oh, look, I’m going to remember that call until the time I die. And then I had to try and prove to others what I’ve heard. 

When he returned to his home in Hobart, Tasmania’s capital, he didn’t go down to the…