More than 80 years after the last known sighting of a thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, rumours still swirl as to whether the striped carnivore — once Australia's top predator — continues to roam the state's vast, rugged wilds.

Key points: Farmers, bushwalkers, locals and tourists all claim to have caught a glimpse of the "presumed extinct" animal over the past four years

Farmers, bushwalkers, locals and tourists all claim to have caught a glimpse of the "presumed extinct" animal over the past four years Motorists detailed their sighting to the government, saying "they've never come across an animal like it"

Motorists detailed their sighting to the government, saying "they've never come across an animal like it" Parks department says "there is no evidence to confirm the thylacine still exists"

But a recent right to information document released by the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (DPIPWE) has reignited imaginations of the marsupial's continued existence.

The document features numerous accounts from farmers, bushwalkers, locals and tourists, all claiming to have caught a glimpse of the mysterious creature between September 2016 and September 2019.

The Tasmanian Government department received eight separate reports of thylacine "sightings" — some seen with cubs, often at dusk or dawn in the northern and western parts of the state.

In February last year, a pair of West Australian tourists travelling through Corinna on Tasmania's north-west coast reported they came across the creature when it walked in front of their hire car on to the road before them.

In some of the reported sightings, people also saw cubs. ( Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery )

"It turned and looked at the vehicle a couple of times," a report of their account reads.

"It was in clear view for 12 to 15 seconds. It had stripes down its back. It was the size of a large kelpie. The animal was calm and did not act scared at all."

The couple said they were "100 per cent certain the animal [they] saw was a thylacine".

'I've never come across an animal anything close to what I saw'

In the same month, a group of cyclists riding the Lyell Highway in Central Tasmania claimed to have their own encounter.

"It was a misty, overcast kind of day … I saw in front of me from a distance, what I categorised as a large cat-like creature," the cyclist recounted.

The Tasmanian wilderness is a big place — many believe thylacines still roam there. ( ABC Open contributor Vicki Smith )

"The whole picture didn't really make sense to me, as far as identifying the animal as any animal I know.

"As I live in a rural area of Mudgee, I am accustomed to coming across most animals working on rural farms, etc … but I have never come across an animal anything close to what I saw in Tasmania that day.

"This sighting bothered me for a few minutes and I pushed it aside.

"It had a long body, this is one aspect that made it look unlike any other animal I have seen before."

'Not a dog or a cat or a fox'

In April 2017, another motorist recounted a cat-like creature running across the road in front of his vehicle travelling at 100 kilometres per hour on the Murchison Highway.

"[It crossed] the road in a half-trot, half-run," he said.

"I had high beam on so it was reasonably lit up. It was not a dog or a cat or a fox.

"[I'm] certain that if it was a cat, it was a bloody big one.

"Indeed [I] asked if there were known to be 'large cats' in that area."

In July this year, a bushwalker claimed to have "sighted a footprint on the walk up Sleeping Beauty Mountain", while a farmer believed he saw the marsupial on his Midlands property just days later.

'People want to believe': veteran hunter

Col Bailey says he came within metres of a thylacine in 1995. ( Supplied: Col Bailey )

None of it comes as a surprise to veteran thylacine expert and hunter Col Bailey, who said he had his first encounter with the creature, spotted from a canoe, some 50 years ago.

Since then, the animal has been a never-ending source of fascination for Bailey — the subject of three books he has authored and the goal of countless expeditions he has led.

"It's given a bit of hope, because I'm sure they're not extinct — but I hadn't heard any reports for a while, so this has shed a bit of light," he said.

Bailey recalled venturing into Tasmania's dense scrub, smothered in tea tree oil and waiting for hours on end, "relying on intuition" in the hope of coming into contact with the animal.

He said while the accounts had strengthened his faith that the animal still exists, he was "too old to be belting around the bush".

"Knowing what I know now, I'd love to turn the clock back another 30 or 40 years and be back out in the bush," he said.

"It keeps the debate alive, but these reports are still coming in which shows people are still interested, still imagining or actually seeing them.

"But many people don't know what they're looking at. Light can play strange tricks on people's imaginations, so who knows? You can't rule it out entirely — but people do get carried away."

Tasmanian farmer Wilfred Batty poses with a thylacine shot at his property in 1930, now thought to be the last Tasmanian tiger in the wild. ( Wikipedia )

Mr Bailey said the obsession with the animal showed Tasmanians were still dealing with the shame of the species' fate.

"People want them to be there and that drives the belief that they could still be out there," he said.

"There was a sense of shame with the older generation in Tasmania that we wiped them out, we killed the last tiger."

In a statement, a DPIPWE spokesperson said despite the reports, it considers the species to be presumed extinct.

"There have been no confirmed sightings of the thylacine in Tasmania for more than 50 years. DPIPWE occasionally receives reports of thylacine sightings and while these are recorded, there is no evidence to confirm the thylacine still exists," it said.

"The department will continue to record information on reported sightings."