The Queensland Tiger
In the forests of north Queensland, people describe a striped, dog-sized cat that no zoologist has caught.
What was reported
Since European settlement, people in Queensland have described a cat-like animal about the size of a large dog, with stripes, a big head and powerful legs, living in forest and scrub. Aboriginal peoples in the region also have names for such an animal.
Naturalists collected accounts in the 19th and 20th centuries, and reports still turn up now and then.
Explanations offered
Some researchers have suggested a surviving marsupial lion, Thylacoleo, though it died out tens of thousands of years ago and there's no sign of a later survivor. Others suggest feral cats, which can grow large, or thylacines on the mainland. No specimen or clear photograph has been found.
- When
- Reported since the 1800s
- Where
- Atherton Tableland, Queensland, Australia
- Witnesses
- Settlers, Aboriginal people and bushwalkers
- Status
- Unconfirmed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.