There's the Loch Ness monster in Scotland. And in the Himalayas, there's the yeti, the Abominable Snowman. In Tasmania—a teardrop of an island under the eye of the Australian mainland—there's the thylacine… a creature that brings out folklore... and folks armed with grainy images, convinced they've seen the thing. But unlike other mythical creatures, the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, actually—indisputably— existed, an apex predator the size of a small wolf, roamed the island as recently as last century. which gives hope to so many obsessives, dreamers and true believers, looking for the Tasmanian tiger in the bush… and, as you'll see, in the lab. This is a story that says as much about human nature as it does nature nature. Further proof that—even in the face of science and logic—passion survives in the wild just fine.
Jon Wertheim: You've been doing this how many years now?
Adrian Richardson: I've been doing this for over 30 years, and (beeping) every day's an adventure.
Jon Wertheim: All right, here we go.
Getting there wasn't easy. But Adrian "Richo" Richardson—a retired military man turned self-declared tiger seeker—retraced his steps. tramping around the dense outback of Tasmania on Jan. 28, 2017, 12:45 p.m., he heard the sound…
Adrian Richardson: And then all of a sudden, was this a mighty howl like this. (howls). I was gobsmacked. The hairs on my arm and my neck stood on end. And as that call finished, another one come from the other side of the forestry track. Another howl like that.
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