Tasmanian Tiger Reportedly Seen 80 Years After Extinction

It's been eight decades since the Tasmanian tiger, a carnivorous marsupial, was declared extinct after the last of its kind died in a zoo in 1936. But there's new buzz after two separate, apparently credible sightings were reported in northern Australia, and scientists from James Cook University believe that they have teeth. "These animals, I've never seen anything like them before in my life," says one purported witness, per the Telegraph. "They were dog-shaped—I had a shepherd with me so I certainly know what dogs are about—and in the spotlight I could see they were tan (and) had stripes on their sides." Professor Bill Laurance is deploying 50 camera traps in hopes of capturing footage of the mysterious animal, also known as thylacine, reports the Guardian. Two other recent examples of endangered species have excited conservationists across the globe.

• A survey conducted by Freeland and Panthera recorded a new community of rare Indochinese tigers with at least six cubs in eastern Thailand, reports the BBC. Conservationists estimate that 250 tigers in this subspecies remain and credit anti-poaching efforts in Thailand for the rise in new populations.
• For the first time in decades, evidence of two panther kittens was recorded north of the Caloosahatchee River in Florida, says National Geographic. While balancing conservation efforts with the demands of the growing human population in this region is an ongoing struggle, this new generation of panthers shows that preserving their habitats yields results.

(More tigers stories.)