Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, the Australian magazine The Bulletin is offering a reward for evidence of a real, live Thylacine.

The Thylacine,, also known as the "Tasmanian tiger" or "Tasmanian wolf," was a large, striped predator. Though it looked like a wolf or a dog, it was actually a marsupial—it carried its babies in a pouch. It was more closely related to kangaroos than to tigers.

A combination of hunting and habitat loss pushed the Thylacine to extinction. The last known specimen died in a zoo in 1936. Since then, there have been many reports of sightings, but no firm evidence. (For a history of the Thylacine's demise and later searches, visit this site.)

Now The Bulletin wants to settle the issue once and for all. While it's exciting to think that this beautiful creature may have escaped extinction, the chances of finding one after all this time are not good.

A similar search recently took place in the United States. Researchers from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology had heard reports that the Ivory-billed woodpecker, believed extinct since the 1940s, was still living in the Louisiana swamps. Unfortunately, after weeks of searching, and after reviewing thousands of hours of sound recordings, the team reported no ivory-bills had been found.