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The State Government's secret Tasmanian tiger files have been prised open, revealing a sighting considered as credible as one 20 years ago that sparked a massive search. Details of 17 claimed thylacine sightings reported to authorities since June 1997 has been released to a self-proclaimed big cat and thylacine hunter under the Freedom Of Information Act.

The release came after an initial request by Victorian-based tiger hunter Michael Moss was rejected last month. After the rejection, Mr Moss alleged that the Government was trying to cover up thylacine and big cat sightings, and he hailed the decision to release the information as a victory. "These are the files the Government didn't want the public to see," he said.

The reported sightings contain animal descriptions as varied as a creature walking like a crippled dog and a dog-like animal with chocolate-coloured stripes that left a smell similar to that of a hyena. But one reported sighting in 1997 in the State's North-West was given more credibility than most by authorities. A written report by thylacine expert and Parks and Wildlife Service ranger Nick Mooney said the sighting was "as good if not better than" the famous sighting by wildlife officer Hans Naarding in 1982 that sparked a year-long search by the Government to prove that the thylacine had escaped extinction. The 1997 sighting centred on a night-time encounter by a man patrolling an area of land. The man, who had been travelling alone, reported seeing a thylacine just 3m from his car. He immediately thought to be a wild dog and prepared to shoot it, but realised that its appearance was markedly different from that of a dog, as was its gait - both which he described in detail, along with its striped markings.

Mr Mooney reported after interviewing the man: "Considering his job, (the man) is familiar with local wildlife. He seems alert, intelligent and on associated topics not prone to exaggeration. "I have little doubt that (the man) believes he saw a thylacine. If he did it, was an adult - i.e., probably resident and likely a male. At this time of year, I would expect an adult female to be suckling denned young and therefore to have a loose pouch area. "In all respects, this sighting is as good if not better than that of Hans Naarding's in 1982. The geographical area has produced most of Tasmania's best reports in the past decade."

Last week Mr Mooney agreed that his statement added validity to the sighting. "We class the thylacine as being extinct because we haven't had a confirmed sighting in the wild for 50 years, but there is always some chance that there were some that survived. I have always said it is unlikely but still possible." Mr Mooney said the department had not actively searched for thylacines for several years, relying on the efforts of determined private searchers. "There is always someone searching for Tasmanian tigers. We've even got an American team wanting to come out to search with powered hang gliders," he said.

Reports were merely logged officially for record-keeping purposes, although he believed there was room for a full-time thylacine officer to take a more pro-active approach. "Tasmania gets an amazing amount of exposure because of thylacines, all around the world. There is always some television crew or magazine wanting to come and do a documentary or get information, and that exposure would more than pay for someone," he said. Mr Mooney said that as long as thylacine searchers remained responsible, he saw no problem with allowing them to continue searching. "They may just come up with something, they may not," he said. "Provided, I guess, they don't turn it into an obsession to the extent where it bankrupts them or wrecks their family relationships, then there's no harm."

Mr Mooney, who is working on the Fox Task Force, said the fact that small numbers of foxes in Tasmania had evaded being caught or shot could point to the possibility of thylacines doing likewise. "But the conditions for thylacines now are arguably better than they have ever been, and realistically, if they were alive, we'd be up to our armpits in thylacines," he said. He found reported sightings interesting and was reluctant to dismiss any as mere fantasy. "Undoubtedly everyone who reports seeing a thylacine thinks that is exactly what they saw. They are convinced," he said. "The ones that I find almost tantalising, though, are the stories which are secondhand, where someone knows someone else who once saw one close up but never reported it, but gave a detailed description. "

Mr Mooney said the only reason why the tiger files were kept secret was to protect the identity of people reporting sightings. "If we came out and publicised every reported sighting, there'd be a constant media frenzy going on, and people just wouldn't come forward. As it is, most people don't report a sighting until well after it occurred," he said. The released reports do not divulge people's identities. He said the Parks and Wildlife Service would only conduct a thylacine search if an "exceptional" sighting came to light. "I searched for a year after the 1982 sighting, and that was the last time we notified the public about a sighting," he said.

The following are thylacine sightings as reported to the Parks and Wildlife Service. Not all sightings are reported to authorities.

• June 1996 - Two fishermen who were anchored off Davidsons Bay on the North-West Coast report seeing an animal with prominent ears and head and straight-out tail, about three-quarters the size of a german shepherd, and resembling a brown hyena, walking along a beach like a crippled dog. It was observed through binoculars for 10 minutes as it walked 330m. At least one of the fishermen admitted having seen a thylacine before in the same place and at Studland Bay the year before.
   
• 1997 - A forester reported seeing a thylacine walk out of bushland and along a paddock edge at Mt Hobbs, near Woodsdale in the South. The man said the animal, which he saw from about 150m away, had a funny walk, straight tail and indistinct stripes, and moved differently from a dog. Two "old farmers" had also seen a thylacine walk out of the bush. The person taking the report noted that the sighting, which was not reported until 1998, was similar to another made by a farmer, but could not find out who it was.
   
• August 1997 - A man patrolling an area of the North-West Coast saw what he first thought was a wild dog, but on looking again he realised it was not a dog. He described the animal as the same build and size as a german shepherd, with a large head and medium-length tail held horizontally. It was brown with distinct chocolate-coloured stripes. It stood for about one minute before turning awkwardly as though it had no spine articulation, dropped its haunches and "rocked away". The man noted a distinct smell. This sighting was rated by authorities as one of the best and most reliable reports in 20 years.
   
• January 1998 - A bus driver was 100 per cent sure that he saw a thylacine standing still on a roadside between Zeehan and Queenstown about 4pm. It had stripes and a long pointed tail, and was bone-coloured with a pointy head. It was about the size of a medium dog.
   
• March 1998 - A bushwalker at the Walls of Jerusalem saw a creature described as dingo-size and pale brown, with distinct dark brown stripes down its rump that were smaller toward its front. It was seen for about five seconds from 25m away walking smoothly across an open area. The bushwalker knew that there were no dingoes in Tasmania and that thylacines were extinct, and therefore thought it was a prop for brochure pictures. The bushwalker wrote a letter to authorities a month later with a photograph of where the thylacine was seen, stating: "(This) is where I saw with about 100 per cent certainty a thylacine... I certainly do hope that this picture may be of some help to you in the search for thylacines. I know they still exist and hope they will in the future."
   
• July 1998 - Two adults driving in a hire car on the LyeIl Highway between Queenstown and Strahan at night reported almost running over a thylacine when it ran across the road in front of them. It was described as having distinct dark stripes on a lighter-coloured body, with a tail that appeared straight although it was not well seen. The animal also had a fox-like snout, but they said it was definitely not a fox. It was about 35cm taIl, and between 60 and 70cm long, not including the tail, and moved with a pacing gait. It was just 2m from the car when it was seen for two or three seconds. The people making the report had seen a holographic thylacine image at the Lake St Clair National Park Visitors Centre earlier the same day.
   
• October 1998 - A man and a woman saw a mysterious animal lope in front of their car at 10am in an unrecorded location. It had a dark brown body with yellow stripes, a small head and a long body and tail, and was definitely not a dog. The animal was seen about 6m from the car for about four seconds. One of the pair thought it was a thylacine, even though the colours appeared to be opposite that of a thylacine. The other did not believe it was a thylacine but had no idea what it was.
   
• December 1998 - Two Victorian men were driving 60km east of the Great Lake Hotel at 6pm when a four-legged animal crossed the road 70m ahead of their car, stopped and looked in their direction. It was golden, about knee-high and very long, with a long, straight tail that was thick at the base. Its head was large compared with its body, with small ears and oriental eyes. It left the road and went through a fence into scrub or a clearing, where it was seen jumping a stump. They returned to the location the next day and collected fur from the fence and a fresh dropping, and saw a footprint that one of the men accidentally trod on. A drawing was done of the footprint from memory. Despite acknowledging that the men sounded genuine, authorities said the story sounded too good to be true and there were some inconsistencies in the men's stories. The ranger handling the report wrote: "I will try and find out if (either men) had been to the thylacine display at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (because) it might have given them a good idea."
   
• December 1998 - A group reported seeing an animal about the size of a labrador with obvious stripes and a straight tail as they rounded a bend in the road between Pyengana and Weldborough on the Tasman Highway. It was stated that the animal appeared to be preparing to jump up a small embankment on the side of the road, and even though they saw it for just a few seconds, they passed within 2m of it. They did not stop or mark the spot, but drove on in shock.
   
• March 2000 - A person reported seeing an animal that crossed the Lyell Highway near the Wild Rivers National Park that did not look like any type of dog they had seen. It was chocolate brown all over, with a long body, a long tail and a squashed-in type of face. It walked "majestically" across the road 70m away.
   
• March 2000 - A thylacine was reported to have run across a track ahead of a four-wheel-drive at the southern end of Bronte Lagoon. It was seen for just a second or two. A subsequent check by authorities found no footprints.
   
• May 2000 - An animal that looked like a hyena was reported to have run across the Cradle Mountain Link Rd at night, but did not move like a dog. It was seen by one person, who stated it had a large head and rounded ears and was light brown around the neck. It was observed in headlights for about 10 seconds.
   
• January 2001 - A person e-mailed a Parks and Wildlife Service officer to say that an acquaintance insisted on having seen a thylacine less than a year before in the tiers near Liffey and also knew of a Midlands farmer who supposedly shot a thylacine that he had mistaken for a dog chasing sheep in 1998. The farmer was said to have buried the carcass immediately, fearing prosecution. The e-mail also detailed how the sender had snared a 1m-long thylacine at Nabowla in 1953. "I laid him out with a dropper off a fence and was putting him into a bag when he came to and got away. I had him by the tail, and I lost my grip when he tried to bite me... I was 14 years old." The e-mail also revealed a sighting on the Bridgenorth Rd in 1960.
   
• August 2001 - A mustard-coloured animal about the size of a big spaniel dog was seen walking along a track near the Murchison Highway.
   
• September 2001 - A man heading home one night saw an animal that he believed was a thylacine on the Sideling between Launceston and Scottsdale. Making the report, the man said the striped animal was about the size of a large cat, and he expected that a thylacine would have been larger. It is understood that authorities believed the animal was a native cat.