by Brean Schell

Created on: April 20, 2009

Myth? Folklore? Bad eyesight? Possibly all three.

Stories about a native tiger in Queensland, Australia have been told in English from the moment white people started settling the land, and before that, local Aborigines had their own stories of the large, striped marsupial. However, there has never been any scientific proof of he beats existence.

The Queensland tiger is said to resemble a thylacine, or Tasmanian Tiger (declared extinct in 1986), but is referred to as the mainland predecessor, thylacoleo, thought to have died out in the late pleistocene period. Descriptions of the tiger range from the generically "large stripy dog thing", to the incredible details about size, jaw shape, tail length and even the length of the g-claw (the claw found on the back of a dogs leg).

Generally, the Queensland tiger is said to be about 70cm tall, about 130-150cm (without tail) long, with a pointed snout and receding jaw. It has tapering stripes across its back, angling in towards the belly, so that the stripes at the front angle back, ad the stripes at the back angle forward. The tail is described as thin, whiplike, almost hairless and about have again as long as the body of the animal.

The range of the tiger is thought to include most of far north Queensland, western Queensland and some coastal areas, as far south as Buderim and Maroochydore. However, tales of similar creatures are told almost uniformly across mainland Australia, from the Mornington Peninsula in Southern Victoria to the Kimberly's right across the nation.

While the continuing existence of the thylacoleo can't be discounted in a country that still has so much unexplored territory, there are many more acceptable explanations for the Queensland tiger, or any other variants of a mainland tiger.

1. Tiger Quolls, or Northern Quolls
As tame and disappointing as it sounds, this is one of the most reasonable explanations. Most sightings of the Queensland tiger take place at night, with a strong moon, which will more often than not, skew perception of size and distance.

2. Feral or stray dogs
The single most reasonable explanation, considering the size and general shape of the animals described, as well as descriptions of movement, speed and behavior.

3. Feral Cats
A reasonable explanation, given that feral cats in Australia can grow, and have grown to the size of medium dogs, such as a Kelpie, or Blue Heeler. The lack of large predators in most of mainland Australia, and abundance of small mammals make it easy for cats to hunt and grow.

4. Hoaxes.
This doesn't really need any further explanation. Tall stories, retold stories, and bored people often lead to fanciful creatures residing in backyard fish ponds.

5. Feral Big Cats
Strange but true. After world war two, American soldiers let a small number of company mascots loose in the Australian bush, assuming it wouldn't be possible for the number to breed. In no way is it reasonable to assume that stories from 1960 onwards regarding the tiger can be explained by feral big cats, but a number of reported sightings during the early 1950's can be attributed to pumas that had been released.

Despite the possible explanations, many people have seen, and will continue to see a "strange, stripy dog thing" darting off into long grass, or disappearing into the tree line, and it will move just a little differently to a dog, not quite like a cat, and too quickly and fluidly for a bandicoot. Is it a marsupial tiger? A relic from the time Australia was abundant with predators? Until every square mile of Australia is explored, we will never know for sure.

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