CANBERRA, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Amateur footage of what appears to be a Tasmanian tiger has been posted online on Australia on Monday, more than 80 years after the species was thought to have gone extinct.
The last Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, is believed to have died at the Hobart Zoo in 1936, but a group dedicated to proving scientists wrong believes it has captured one on film in the Adelaide Hills on the Australian mainland.
Neil Waters from the Thylacine Awareness Group posted the footage to social media website Facebook, sending local media into a frenzy late on Monday.
The blurry images show a reddish-orange animal with what could be stripes on its back. The footage does not seem to resemble a domestic dog or cat, and Waters said there is a possibility it is the long lost thylacine.
"We believe our footage to be footage of a small thylacine moving around through the Adelaide Hills only 20 minutes from the CBD of Adelaide," Waters told the Australian Associated Press (AAP) on Monday.
"You can see the body of the animal, it does appear to have some sort dark discoloration which may or may not be stripes.
"It has a long, stiff, pointy tail. Where the tail connects to the body is very wide at the base which is typical of the thylacine."
The thylacine is believed to have gone extinct in 1936 after excessive farming and the introduction of other animal species, such as dogs to the region.
