SEVERAL people in Australia have reported seeing Tasmanian tigers, a large, carnivorous marsupial that went extinct about 80 years ago, according to a government report.

A newly released document from the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment details eight sightings reported in the last three years.

The animal, also known as a thylacine, had stripes, a pouch and a doglike head with large and powerful jaws, according to the Australian Museum.

Thylacines were found on the island of Tasmania, an island state off Australia’s southern coast, until they were hunted to extinction.

The last known live thylacine was believed to have died at Tasmania’s Hobart Zoo in 1936. Threatened Species Day is held in Australia each year on Sept. 7 to commemorate the anniversary of the animal’s death.

Between September 2016 and September 2019, the recently released document states that there had been seven sightings of the Tasmanian tiger. An eighth report filed in the time period says that the creature was spotted seven years ago.

One witness described the animal as a “large catlike creature … the size of a big fox.” It was “not fluffy and hairy” like a fox, and “had black stripes on the back side of the body.”

The most recent sighting allegedly took place last November, when a woman saw a Tasmanian tiger and two cubs in the Hartz Mountains, located in the south of Tasmania, according to the report.

Per the report, however, evidence of Tasmanian tigers was spotted as recently as July, when one man says he found a footprint that he believes was a thylacine’s on a hike up to Sleeping Beauty Mountain. After arriving home, he searched photos of the tiger’s footprint and believed it matched up with what he found.

In recent years, multiple videos have claimed to capture the Tasmanian tiger out in the wild – including one animal running in a family’s front yard.

Experts remain cautious, however, especially given that no high-quality photographs or videos exist of the thylacines.

(SD-Agencies)