Representation of the Queensland tiger (William M. Rebsamen)
So many times in cryptozoology, an unusual creature hits the headlines and then abruptly vanishes without trace, never to be mentioned again.
One such example is the Australian nightgrowler. As documented in the Queensland Sunday Mail for 12 November 1995, that was the year when, according to inhabitants of Goldsborough Valley, south of Cairns in Queensland, Australia, this region was being prowled by a mysterious, exclusively nocturnal creature whose mere presence in the vicinity was enough to terrify the local dogs, and which earned its name from its deep, ferocious growls. People who heard these were convinced that they were not of canine origin, thereby ruling out dogs and dingoes, but were unquestionably feline, reminding them of a tiger's sounds.
Speculation was rife that the elusive nightgrowler may be one and the same as the mystifying yarri or Queensland tiger, which is banded with black and white stripes, has a feline head and tusk-like teeth, and is believed by some cryptozoologists to be a surviving member of the officially extinct lineage of thylacoleonids or marsupial lions. A team of investigators, including local naturalists and a ranger, and led by Pat Shepherd, was keen to capture a nightgrowler, in the hope of finally unmasking its cryptic identity, but this never happened - otherwise the whole world would nowadays be familiar with this cryptid.
One such example is the Australian nightgrowler. As documented in the Queensland Sunday Mail for 12 November 1995, that was the year when, according to inhabitants of Goldsborough Valley, south of Cairns in Queensland, Australia, this region was being prowled by a mysterious, exclusively nocturnal creature whose mere presence in the vicinity was enough to terrify the local dogs, and which earned its name from its deep, ferocious growls. People who heard these were convinced that they were not of canine origin, thereby ruling out dogs and dingoes, but were unquestionably feline, reminding them of a tiger's sounds.
Speculation was rife that the elusive nightgrowler may be one and the same as the mystifying yarri or Queensland tiger, which is banded with black and white stripes, has a feline head and tusk-like teeth, and is believed by some cryptozoologists to be a surviving member of the officially extinct lineage of thylacoleonids or marsupial lions. A team of investigators, including local naturalists and a ranger, and led by Pat Shepherd, was keen to capture a nightgrowler, in the hope of finally unmasking its cryptic identity, but this never happened - otherwise the whole world would nowadays be familiar with this cryptid.
Actually, the illustration reminds me of the famous Rilla Martin photo :-)
ReplyDeleteThere's speculation the QT is a Thylacine relative, or a Thylacoleo...so perhaps the artist has the right tack after all :P
I thought that It was feline but it also looks like a wolf. it is the weirdest thing ever.
ReplyDeleteI bet it's a thylacine
ReplyDelete