'Sightings' of extinct Tasmanian tiger prompt search in Queensland

Eyewitness accounts of large, dog-like animals in state’s far north spur scientific hunt for thylacines, thought to have died out in 1936

Elle Hunt

Tuesday 28 March 2017 03.57 BST Last modified on Wednesday 29 March 2017 01.05 BST 

“Plausible” possible sightings of a Tasmanian tiger in northern Queensland have prompted scientists to undertake a search for the species thought to have died out more than 80 years ago.

The last thylacine is thought to have died in Hobart zoo in 1936, and it is widely believed to have become extinct on mainland Australia at least 2,000 years ago.

But sightings of large, dog-like animals that are neither dingoes nor foxes have persisted over the decades, despite widespread scepticism.

Recent eyewitness accounts of potential thylacines in far north Queensland have spurred scientists from James Cook University to launch a search for the animal long considered extinct.

Professor Bill Laurance said he had spoken at length to two people about animals they had seen in Cape York peninsula that could potentially be thylacines, and that they had given plausible and detailed descriptions.

One was a long-time employee of the Queensland National Parks Service and the other was a frequent camper in the north of the state.

Laurance said all the potential sightings to date had been at night. “In one case four animals were observed at close range – about 20 feet away – with a spotlight.”

Descriptions of their eyes, size, shape and behaviour were inconsistent with known attributes of other large species in north Queensland such as dingoes, wild dogs or feral pigs.

The sightings were at two separate locations on Cape York peninsula, but the specifics were being kept confidential, said Laurance. “Everything is being handled with strict confidence.”

Continued 

The Return of the Okeechobee Ogre

By David Hoes - A Florida couple from Palmdale just reported their recent sighting of a large, hairy, bigfoot-like creature. They spotted the creature while they were camping along Fisheating Creek close to Lakeport, Florida. They were camping near some Indian Mounds, not far from the site of Fort Center, an area that saw heavy fighting during the Second Seminole War. Lakeport is a small retirement and fishing community on the west side of Lake Okeechobee. The mounds are considered a sacred site for Native Americans and contain artifacts along with human remains. There is a small artificial lake among the mounds that is believed to have been a charnal pond for human corpses.

Continued ...

Florida Panther sightings survey

Panther sightings reported throughout Florida

August 2013. The public has reported hundreds of sightings of Florida panthers to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). As of August 2013, the public had submitted 790 sightings.

Mistaken identity

Only 12 percent of the reports included a photograph and could be evaluated by Commission biologists. Of those with photos, the majority were confirmed as panthers. Other animals identified by FWC biologists were bobcats, foxes, coyotes, dogs, house cats and even a monkey. Most often the reported animal or tracks belonged to a bobcat, when it was not a panther. The verified panther reports were largely confined to southwest Florida, the well-documented breeding range for panthers in the state. There also were several verified sightings in south central Florida.

"The public's willingness to share what they have seen or collected on game cameras is incredibly helpful and shows us where panthers presumably are roaming in Florida," said Darrell Land, who heads the FWC's panther team. "We thank everyone using the Report Florida Panther Sightings website and encourage others to participate in this citizen-science venture."

"As the population of this endangered species grows, the FWC expects more Florida panthers to be seen in areas of the state where they have not lived for decades," Land said. "To properly plan and manage for the expansion of the panther's range in Florida, information about where the panthers are is vital."

Continued

Sightings soar of supposedly extinct Japanese otter - via Chad Arment

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

February 20, 2013

Numerous sightings of the Japanese otter have been reported in Ehime Prefecture since last summer, when the Environment Ministry designated the animal an extinct species.

"One was swimming near the mouth of a river," one report said.

Another person reported, "I saw one scampering along a drainage ditch in a rice field."

Some researchers have scoffed at the reports, saying the witnesses are either seeing other creatures or are just overly hopeful that the otter is still alive.

But the number of reported sightings--15 since last summer--prompted local politicians in September to urge the Ehime prefectural assembly to start an investigation. The prefecture budgeted 200,000 yen ($2,130) and began a field survey in January.

Previously, the prefecture received one reported otter sighting a year.

The last official recorded sighting of the Japanese otter was in 1979 along the Shinjogawa river in Susaki, Kochi Prefecture.

The Japanese otter had round eyes, webbed paws, brownish tea-colored fur, a body length of about 70 centimeters and a thick tail about 45 centimeters long. It inhabited the ocean, rivers and marshes, where it fed on fish, crawfish and crabs.

The prefecture is distributing to hunting clubs and fisheries cooperatives 10,000 fliers with a description of the otter and life-size paw prints. The flier also appears on the prefectural government's website, where it is seeking information on the animal.

The Japanese otter once inhabited a wide swath of Japan, from Hokkaido to Honshu and down to Shikoku. But it gradually disappeared due to excessive hunting by fur trappers, water pollution and other problems.

Both the Environment Ministry and the Kochi prefectural government combed the prefecture from the 1980s to the 2000s but found no traces of the otter.

One condition for designating a species as extinct is "the inability to confirm its existence after conducting multiple reliable surveys."

"We made the designation according to the criteria and based on the opinion of experts," an Environment Ministry official said.

But Ehime Prefecture's natural conservation division disagrees with the assessment.

"There haven't been enough surveys in our prefecture. We cannot determine that it is extinct," an official said.

Yasunori Miyauchi, 62, the former chief technician at Tobe Zoological Park of Ehime Prefecture, said it is possible that the Japanese otter survived without being seen.

"Wild animals can live in places beyond our knowledge. That was the case when we rediscovered the coelacanth and the "kunimasu" (a Japanese salmon)," Miyauchi said.

People cannot approach the areas below the cliffs of Ehime Prefecture's southern ria coastline, which is home to a multitude of inlets where otters would love to live, he added.

However, professor Motokazu Ando, 62, of the Tokyo University of Agriculture, who was involved in drafting the documents to designate the Japanese otter as extinct, dismisses such suggestions.

"Wanting it to be alive is not the same thing as scientific fact," he said. "It is inconceivable that active otters with a length of 70 centimeters and a weight of 5 or more kilograms could live in seclusion and go unseen for more than 30 years."

The otter was recently reportedly seen near the mouth of a river in the city of Uwajima. Many empty cans and plastic bottles were floating on the surface, and a cat or gray heron would sometimes appear along the water.

But there were no signs of Japanese otters, known to prefer clean rivers.

Taisuke Miyamoto, 50, director of the Nature Kikaku Wildlife Research Office, said he thinks most of the otter sightings were actually palm civets or weasels.

Ehime Prefecture is commissioning the research firm with on-site surveys to investigate the locations of the sightings, but reliable information has been scarce.

"After news of their extinction broke, people who had forgotten about the otter were reminded of it, and the news paradoxically led to an increase in the number of reported sightings," Miyamoto said. "I think some people love the otter, which is the official prefectural animal, while others may be dreaming about or romanticizing the creature."

In future surveys of areas considered favorable to the otters, including past habitats, Nature Kikaku's staff will set up video cameras that activate in response to body heat emitted by animals.

"Honestly, I think it would be really hard for it to have survived," Miyamoto said. "Even so, the possibility isn't zero."

(This article was written by Daisuke Yajima and Teru Okumura.)

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201302200003

Trues believers: People of all types are certain they have encountered Sasquatch

A teenage hunter who watched it through his rifle scope for longer than a half-hour.

A trumpet player who surprised it — well, the surprise was certainly mutual — at the chicken coop behind his Blewett Pass cabin.

A construction contractor who had recorded the details of hundreds of sightings before, finally, having one of his own.

Foresters who have seen it, heard it, felt it, smelled it, or followed its tracks often enough over the years, for them, the question isn’t whether it exists, but when and where it will show up next.

It would take a shelf of books to chronicle the recollections of the thousands of people who are convinced they’ve had a personal encounter with Bigfoot.

Here are just a few from this neck of the woods.

 GIANT IN THE CROSSHAIRS: Kevin Jones was only 16, in his third year of hunting in the Blue Mountains with his father, when he espied something through the scope of his high-powered rifle.

Continued:  http://sportsyakima.com/2012/07/trues-believers-people-of-all-types-are-certain-they-have-encountered-sasquatch/

Panther or thylacine?

Tassie Mel Mcmillan | 18th February 2012

THE Northern Rivers may be home to a thylacine-type animal thought to be extinct on the mainland for more than 3000 years, according to a wildlife expert.

With recent sightings of an unusual animal reported in the Nimbin Valley and Byron Bay, and many more sightings in previous years across the region, wildlife expert Gary Opit said a thylacine was a possible explanation.

Mr Opit is an expert in identifying fauna and hosts a weekly wildlife segment on ABC North Coast.

He said he had received about 50 reports of a creature he calls the "mystery cryptic animal of Northern NSW."

Many of the sightings have occurred around Mullumbimby and Byron Bay.

One of the most compelling accounts came from a Byron Bay veterinary nurse in 2008 when she saw a large fawn creature weighing about 18kg in her backyard.

"At 6am she heard a sound that was like possum grunting," Mr Opit said.

"She saw what she at first thought was a dog about to attack a cat and rushed between them to protect the cat from the dog and realised it wasn't a dog.

"It was nothing like a dog. It was dog sized. It gave these bizarre possum like coughing grunts at her. She observed it for 5 minutes."

Mr Opit himself has encountered a similar animal on four occasions, once in 1969, on the Pacific Hwy, north of Beenleigh, and three times since 2007 in the Billinudgel nature reserve at Yelgun.

The animals could be thylacines or the marsupial lion, Thylacoleo carnifex, he said.

"There is nothing in the fossil record of the thylacine on the mainland since 3000 years ago, but there have been lots of reports of them from the early days of settlement to the present.

The marsupial lion was only known from fossil specimens which were 38,000 years old.

The thylacine was perceived to be extinct 50 or so years ago, he said, which made it much more likely it could still be in existence.

"It is more than likely they are all of the one species," he said.

Byron Bay biologist Mary Gardner has also seen an unusual animal which she was unwilling to try to classify.

In late October or early November last year she was walking along Lighthouse Rd at Byron Bay with a friend when both saw the animal.

"I don't know what it was," she said.

"It was something that does not fit in with anything I know at all.

"It had a long snout, thick rounded ears, a bony rump; it had a long wiry tail and a lean, hard body with stripes toward the rump."

Ms Gardner said when she first saw the animal she thought it would hop because it had long back legs and a raised rump, but was surprised when it moved with a rocking pacing gait.

She knew of two other local people who reported seeing an animal "which confused their expectations," at about the same time.

Ms Gardner said the starting point in determining what the animal was would be to discover what it was eating.

If someone could gather some good evidence then research could possibly be done, she said.

 Watch videos at:  http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2012/02/18/panther-or-thylacine-prowler-gets-around/

Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Sighted and Recorded

ScienceDaily (Apr. 29, 2011) — Dr. Michael Collins, Naval Research Laboratory scientist and bird watcher, has published an article titled "Putative audio recordings of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis)" which appears in the March issue of the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. The audio recordings were captured in two videos of birds with characteristics consistent with the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. This footage was obtained near the Pearl River in Louisiana, where there is a history of unconfirmed reports of this species. During five years of fieldwork, Collins had ten sightings and also heard the characteristic "kent" calls of this species on two occasions.

Scientists working independently in three states have now published articles that report multiple sightings of and various forms of evidence for this elusive species, which is extremely difficult to observe and photograph due to its rarity, wariness, and tendency to roam over wide areas in remote swamp habitat. The two previous articles present findings from Arkansas [Fitzpatrick et al., Science (2005)] and Florida [Hill et al., Avian Conservation and Ecology (2006)].

During two encounters with an Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Collins heard high-pitched calls that seem to match the description of an alarm call that was reported by James Tanner in the 1930s but was never recorded. On both occasions, the calls came from the direction of the bird and began at a moment when the bird was alarmed. Several of these calls were captured in the first video, which received a positive assessment from an independent expert, Julie Zickefoose, whose paintings of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers have appeared on the covers of a leading ornithology journal and the leading contemporary text on this species. According to Zickefoose, the large woodpecker in the video has a large crest, large bill, long neck, and rared-back posture consistent with an Ivory-billed Woodepecker, and it has ponderous and heavy flaps and takes an unusual flapping leap that is unlike anything she has seen from a Pileated Woodpecker (the only other large woodpecker in Louisiana).

The second video shows a bird in flight with flaps that are radically different from the duck-like flaps that were expected, but a long overlooked clue in a photo from 1939 suggests that there had been a misconception about the flap style. The combination of the flap style and the size rule out all species native to Louisiana other than the two large woodpeckers, but several characteristics rule out Pileated Woodpecker. This footage was obtained when an Ivory-billed Woodpecker flew along the bayou below a tall tree that was used as an observation platform, providing a view from an advantageous perspective of the white stripes on the back and the white patches on the wings. A little over a minute before the bird flew into view, the video captured a putative double knock that matches a putative double knock that was recorded by Hill et al. in Florida.

Collins began searching for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in November 2005, shortly after Hurricane Katrina passed through the Pearl River. His first sighting was on February 2, 2006, and then two weeks later he discovered a "hot zone" a short distance up the same bayou, where he had five sightings (two of exceptional quality) and also heard the characteristic "kent" calls of this species on two occasions (once coming simultaneously from two directions) during a five-day period. The first video was obtained in the "hot zone" on February 20, 2006.

During the summer of 2007, Collins started climbing tall cypress trees to watch for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers flying over the treetops in the distance. The idea was to increase the encounter rate by opening up a larger field of view. Professor Steve Sillett, of Humboldt State University, and his colleagues, Jim Spickler and Michael Taylor, donated their expertise and time as well as a full set of gear for climbing trees. The approach provided results less than a year later, but not as expected. On March 29, 2008, an Ivory-billed Woodpecker flew directly beneath one of the observation trees, and Collins saw the definitive white stripes on the back and white trailing edges of the dorsal surfaces of the wings. Just over a minute before the bird flew into view, the camera recorded a putative double knock that is consistent with a putative double knock that was recorded in Florida.

Based on historical accounts of a duck-like flight, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker was thought to have duck-like flaps in which the wings remain extended throughout the flap cycle. Although definitive fieldmarks were observed in the field, there seemed to be a contradiction when the video was inspected and found to reveal a flap style that is radically different from what was expected -- the wings are folded completely closed in the middle of each upstroke. This mystery was resolved by a long overlooked clue, a photo from 1939 of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker in flight with the wings folded closed. The observed flap style makes sense in hindsight since it is similar to that of other large woodpeckers.

The flyunder video provides the first putative footage of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker in cruising flight. Since the bird and its reflection from the still surface of a bayou are visible, it is possible to pin down the bird's position (which can't always be deduced from video footage) by triangulation. Since the bird was initially flying nearly directly toward the camera, it was possible to simultaneously extract from the video curves that define both components (horizontal and vertical) of the wingtip motion. Since the bird flew past reference objects, it was possible to estimate wingspan and obtain the first putative data on the flight speed of this species. The video also provides the first putative data on the flap rate. The combination of the wingspan and the flap style rule out all species native to Louisiana except the two large woodpeckers, and in fact an expert on the flight mechanics of woodpeckers, Professor Bret Tobalske, of the University of Montana, is "confident it is a large woodpecker." The Pileated Woodpecker is ruled out by the narrow wing shape, high flight speed, high flap rate, and large white patches on the wings, all of which are consistent with Ivory-billed Woodpecker. The video also shows a trace of white on the back/neck that is consistent with the dorsal stripes that were observed in the field.

Chupacabra sighting in Goodyear?

Posted: 9:15 PM

* By: Wayne Berkowitz, ABC15.com

GOODYEAR, AZ - A video shot here in the Valley has some wondering what exactly was recently spotted running through a Goodyear neighborhood.

Darrin Jackson was driving his kids to school, when he noticed something unusual running from the park.

"It was all gray, no hair on it at all, maybe just a little bit at the top, and it had this funny looking tail," said Jackson.

Jackson believes what he viewed roaming the streets of Goodyear was a Chupacabra, a legendary hairless creature.

"It looks like an alien almost, so it's hard to forget that image because it's so weird looking and just to see it in broad daylight."

Jackson shot video while following the animal from the park to a nearby Fry's grocery store parking lot. It was there where the creature ran through an open gate and disappeared down a sewer drain.

Check out the video for yourself and let us know what you think.

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_west_valley/goodyear/chupacabra-sighting-in-goodyear

More sightings of Chase 'wolf'

Feb 4 2010 Kevin Edge

Sighting of a wolf-like creature over Cannock Chase have continued to flood in, with eyewitnesses claiming to have seen the fabled beast near to Huntington woodland.

Readers say they have spied a creature they believed to be a wolf near woodland off the Stafford Road.

The sightings follow a raft of eyewitness reports claiming to have seen the creature in undergrowth near Pottal Pool.

“I was walking my dog near to Broadhurst Green and I believe I saw something that could be described as a wolf,” resident Mark Sutton said.

“It was not a panther and it was too large to be a dog. It was walking through the bushes without a care in the world.

“It was about 50 metres away from us, but it didn’t seem fussed.

“It disappeared back into the Chase. I’m sure a lot of other people would have seen it. It wasn’t trying to stay hidden.”

Over the past 20 years, many people have claimed to have seen a big cat prowling Cannock Chase, fuelling speculation a panther roams the area.

But the recent sightings seem to suggest the fabled Chase Panther could belong to the wolf-family.

Last week resident Peter Derbyshire also said he saw a wolf-like creature while driving near Pottal Pool.

“I was driving through the trees in the direction of Stafford when I saw something dark moving amongst the bushes on the right hand side of the car,” he said.

“I slowed down to get a better look. It was probably about 80 metres away. It was aware I had slowed down, but did not seem too fussed. It disappeared into the bushes and I lost sight of it.

“It was definitely not a cat, it had more of a dog’s characteristics. It had a long nose and sharp, pointy ears.”

http://www.chasepost.net/news-in-cannock/cannock-burntwood-news/2010/02/04/more-sightings-of-chase-wolf-93633-25762017/

New humpback whale sighting off SE coast

Updated: 20:52, Monday, 17 January 2011

Fishermen have reported seeing a humpback whale breaching in waters a kilometre off Curracloe on the Wexford coast.

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group believe this animal is almost certainly different to the humpback which was sighted several times last week off Hook Head, 50 km away.

Local reports are that it has been feeding on herring in the area since 11 January.

Fishermen this morning observed it breach on 10-12 consecutive occasions and on-shore observers say it was being accompanied by as many as 10,000 seagulls.

The IWDG says this is 'potentially another very important humpback record, as it shows that [humpbacks] may be pushing ever closer up and into the Irish Sea area. This would be the first validated winter record of a humpback whale in the Irish Sea'.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0117/humpback.html

Shark sighting forces beach evacuation

Posted Sun Jan 16, 2011 12:55pm AEDT

Swimmers were evacuated from Shelly Beach near Moruya yesterday after two three-metre-long hammerhead sharks were spotted in the river mouth at about 11:00am.

About an hour later, lifesavers patrolling in watercraft spotted more sharks off Broulee and Tomakin.

In the afternoon, a helicopter patrolling the area spotted a hammerhead 500 metres south of the flags.

Lifesavers also treated four people for bluebottle stings.

One 16-year-old boy who was stung on his arm, was taken to hospital for further treatment after reporting chest pains.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/16/3113908.htm

First humpback sighting of 2011

Wednesday, 12 January 2011

The first confirmed sighting of a humpback whale in Irish waters in 2011 has taken place.

The humpback, which is one of the largest creatures on the planet, has been sighted on two occasions this week off the southeast coast.

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group has confirmed that the whale had not been recorded in Irish waters before, and it is different to the animal which was spotted several times last year off the Co Wexford coast.

This latest sighting brings the number of humpbacks documented here to 13, with many of these re-sighted on an annual basis.

Humpbacks were close to global extinction because of commercial whaling, but the IWDG says there is now a 'slow but steady' recovery in numbers.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0112/humpback.html

Most Recent Loch Ness Photo (via Dale Drinnon)

by Val Sweeney


A LANDSCAPE architect working at Aldourie Castle is wondering whether he has captured the elusive figure of Nessie on camera.

Richard Preston, who has redesigned the castle grounds on the loch's southern shores, snapped the image of a mysterious three-humped object on the water.


"I am not saying it is the monster. But I don't see any reason why it cannot be some sort of a sea-going beast," Mr Preston said.

The 27-year-old Yorkshireman, who is based at Broughton Hall near Skipton, was working at the castle when something close to the opposite shore caught his attention at about 3pm. "It was a glimmer," he said. "It was like a reflection. The rest of the water was still and dark. It was quite odd."

Mr Preston snapped a series of images on his mobile camera but when he turned around, the mystery object had disappeared.

"I was gobsmacked," he said. "I have been working here for the last two or three years and have never seen anything like it."

The mystery `humps' as photographed by Richard Preston.

The photographs have raised the interest of full-time Nessie hunter Steve Feltham who lives in a former mobile library parked by Dores beach.

"I am quite excited about these photographs," he said. "To me, they are unexplained and Richard is a reliable character."

The images were taken from the grounds of the castle looking towards Lochend.

"About three-quarters of the way across, you can see what looks like three humps," Mr Feltham explained. "Initially, I thought they could be the wake of a boat. But there are several photos and the image does not move, whereas if it was a boat wake it would move along to the shore. I don't know what it is. "

Loch Ness Monster expert Adrian Shine, who runs the Loch Ness Project, described the picture as interesting but suggested it could be the reflection of the sun on the water, perhaps against a house or leaves.


{--It seems the image in the water IS EXACTLY the refection of the white building immediately above it on shore, and the second building next to it also has a reflection but it is obscured by the trees on the near shore (our side)

There were asome possibly valid "Loch Ness Monster" photos many years ago but nothing of any much substance since then. And even in the cases I am thinking of, the critics were calling "Hoax." I rember when the photos marked "Gilles" turned up on the internet several years back and in fact I had a dialogue going with both critics and promoters of the photos then (including the person who allegedly took the photos). I had no reason to doubt they were genuine and some good reasons for saying they were Plesiosaurian. Those photos were taken in 2002, within a span of a few years either way of some other Longnecked-Periscope photos. However, if there was a "Monster" in the Loch then it may have died since.

http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/13910/Mystery_surrounds_Loch_Ness__91humps_92.html