'Sightings' of extinct Tasmanian tiger spark major search in Australia

Apparent sightings have been made of the Tasmanian tiger – over 80 years after the animal was declared extinct.

The last known specimen of the carnivore, which has gained almost mythical status in Australia, died in a zoo in Tasmania in 1936.

However, after two apparently credible sightings – one from a tourism operator and one from a park ranger – scientists will set up more than 50 cameras to try to spot the creature in Cape York, a peninsula in the north-east of the country.

Professor Bill Laurance will be heading the survey, which will take place across remote locations in Australia's largest wilderness area.

He told the Telegraph: “We have cross-checked the descriptions we received of eye shine colour, body size and shape, animal behaviour, and other attributes, and these are inconsistent with known attributes of other large-bodied species in north Queensland such as dingoes, wild dogs or feral pigs.”

The Tasmanian tiger disappeared after the arrival of British settlers, who regarded it as a threat to their sheep.