A private American cryptozoology team plans to visit Portland, Australia in the near future depending on permission by the Victorian government. The team includes several professional researchers who study extinct species, especially marsupials. They are bringing the latest in investigative equipment in order to capture Tasmanian tigers digitally. They also hope to collect physical evidence to prove that thylacines are indeed inhabiting the area.
Portland inhabitant Anthony Ersello said on June 12, 2006 that he observed in an intersection what "looked like a bit of a dog but [...] didn't really look like one." It had a pointed face and stripes, like the presumably extinct thylacines. Ersello attempted to photograph it with his cell phone but was unsuccessful.
Another person, who did not wish to be identified, claimed to have observed thylacines twice during the previous twelve months. This resident of Portland believes that thylacine pups have been seen, and that tigers cross farms on a regular basis.
The team senior staffer stated the possibility that thylacines had been released into Gippsland during the early part of the twentieth century. He cited a Wilsons Promontory 1912 management report.
But there is no confirming documentation that the animals were actually set free there.
The exact date of the expedition has yet to be released.
Here is a 2003 news report: Thyla seen near Melbourne CBD?
Thylacine Victoria
Thylacine Victoria
