A new two-part documentary series investigating the age-old question of whether the Tasmanian tiger is still alive will soon hit screens.
Local filmmaker Tim Noonan’s ‘Hunt for Truth: Tasmanian Tiger’ will explore recent and historic sightings of the thylacine, with the help of UTAS scientists Professor Barry Brook, Dr Jessie Buettel and Associate Researcher Kenji Sabine.
Noonan interviews many eyewitnesses throughout the series, taking his search as far south as the wilderness of south-west Tasmania and as far north as Papua New Guinea.
“People love the unsolved mystery, it’s like a true crime story that pulls you in,” Noonan says.
“There’s a very real and legitimate chance that it’s still out there. It’s not like looking for the Loch Ness monster or Big Foot.”
“This animal really existed.”
In the series, Noonan works with a team from the University of Tasmania who have deployed thousands of motion detecting cameras to monitor wildlife across the island.
They hope the cameras might also capture a tiger.
“We’ve set up the largest camera network across Tasmania by far that’s ever been attempted,” UTAS Professor Barry Brook said.
“When did it go extinct, why did it go extinct and is it even extinct? I think it’s time to fully resolve that question.”
“If it is still around, we need to find it and recover it. And if it isn’t, we need to close the book.”
Minister for the Arts Madeleine Ogilvie said the thylacine is an animal that is “still held dear” to many Tasmanians and its story “continues to fascinate people all around the world”.
“The Tasmanian Government is proud to have supported Hunt for Truth with $40,000 from Screen Tasmania’s Screen Innovation Fund, a great investment into an almost entirely Tasmanian production which created job opportunities for five local post-production crew,” she said.
The existence of the thylacine has been the subject of continuous debate with more than 1,200 sightings being reported since its extinction was declared in 1936.
The first episode will air on SBS on Wednesday, June 12 at 7:30pm and will also be available on SBS on Demand, with episode two airing the following week.
