Professor Bill Laurence and Dr. Sandra Abell of James Cook University plan to study the possibility of surviving thylacines on Cape York in Australia. The scientists propose to place 50 camera traps at select survey sites in the region to gather evidence of survival. Thylacines, or Tasmanian Tigers, have thought to be extinct on the Australian mainland since prior to the arrival of Europeans, although the last one living in captivity died in the 1930s.

Dr. Abell attributes her interest in thylacines to having heard the eyewitness testimony of former tourism operator Brian Hobbs. In 1983, Hobbs was camping with a friend when suddenly his German Shepherd was startled by something in the middle of the night. Upon investigation, he saw several silent, curious, dog-shaped creatures investigating the campsite.

"These animals, I've never seen anything like them before in my life," said Hobbs. "They were dog-shaped — I had a shepherd with me so I certainly know what dogs are about — and in the spotlight I could see they were tan in color and they had stripes on their sides."