Because Nature’s Good at Hide-and-Seek
Every few years, someone claims they’ve caught sight of a creature believed to have gone extinct long ago. Someone will be walking along a remote forest trail when all of a sudden, they catch a glimpse of some distinctly patterned coat or set of feathers in the undergrowth. Sometimes they even manage to snap a photo or preserve a footprint too fresh to ignore. And just like that, animals written off as extinct decades ago quietly reappear like they just took an overly long nap. Here are ten extinct animals that may actually still be with us, and the ten places you’re likeliest to spot them.
Baker; E.J. Keller. on Wikimedia
1. Thylacine
Let’s start with the classic Tasmanian tiger. Officially extinct since 1936, but unofficially? Not so clear. Farmers in the Tasmanian highlands still insist they’ve glimpsed striped shadows slipping through the fog. A few grainy trail-cam shots have emerged over the years, but nothing conclusive. When you consider the Australian outback is big enough to fit all of India, there’s certainly enough room for it to hide.
Dr. David H. Fleay on Wikimedia
2. Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
They called it the “Lord God Bird,” because that’s what people said when they saw one. This black-and-white bird was huge, with wings that stretched like banners. It was first declared extinct in the 1940s before being rediscovered in 2005—and then promptly dismissed again. Still, people swear it’s there, deep in the swamps where the air hums and the cypress trees crowd the shallow waters.
Original photo by Arthur A. Allen, 1935 [1], watercolored by Jerry A. Payne, USDA-ARS on Wikimedia
3. Japanese River Otter
They used to swim in every river, sleek and playful. Although it officially vanished in the early ’80s, locals along the Shimanto River still report ripples at dusk, with little heads bobbing just under the surface. Japan’s Ministry of the Environment has quietly collected fur samples that don’t match known species. Coincidence? Maybe.
4. Baiji Dolphin
This species of dolphin was declared extinct in 2006 after decades of pollution and overfishing. And yet, fishermen keep hearing clicks under their boats and still occasionally see a smooth back break the surface nearby. The Yangtze is murky, full of secrets, and it would certainly be possible for a creature to remain hidden—especially if it knew its life depended on it.
5. Javan Tiger
This smaller cousin of the Sumatran tiger was last photographed in the 1970s. That said, rangers in Meru Betiri National Park still find paw prints in the muck. Locals talk about golden eyes reflecting moonlight from the underbrush at night, and others have even found claw marks on trees too high for leopards to reach.
Andries Hoogerwerf (29 August 1906 – 5 February 1977) on Wikimedia
6. New Zealand Storm Petrel
This bird was regarded as extinct for over 150 years until someone spotted one fluttering over the waves in 2003. Turns out, a small breeding colony was hiding on an island barely 30 miles from Auckland. This discovery served as proof that sometimes extinction is just bad record-keeping.
7. Zanzibar Leopard
Locals said witches kept them as familiars, which didn’t exactly help their survival rate. Scientists declared them gone in the 1990s, but in 2018, a trail camera snapped a photo of one. It was grainy but unmistakable. From that point on, everyone on the island started walking home a little faster at night.
8. Himalayan Quail
This bird was so elusive it was more folklore than living, breathing specimen. It was last recorded in 1876, but shepherds in the Nainital hills still talk about a small gray bird darting through the tall grass. Maybe it’s just another partridge—or maybe it’s been quietly surviving in the fog for over a century.
9. Fernandina Island Tortoise
Scientists had written it off since 1906, but in 2019 a female emerged, munching on cactus. The species had simply been hiding on the most remote, volcanic island in the archipelago. Nature’s often stubborn like that.
10. Night Parrot
This bird was so secretive that for a hundred years, people thought it was a myth—that is, until one showed up dead on a roadside in 1990. Since then, a handful of living ones have been glimpsed. Australia’s deserts are vast and full of hollows and caves, so it’s definitely possible that something out there has escaped our attention.
And now, here are ten spots where it’s possible that these elusive creatures are still lurking, quietly living out their lives out of sight and out of mind.
Elizabeth Gould (1804–1841) on Wikimedia
1. Tarkine Rainforest, Tasmania
If the Tasmanian tiger’s still around, this is where it’d be. The Tarkine is dense, dripping, and full of moss and vegetation. Locals say they’ve heard strange yips at night and glimpsed four-legged animals too big for a fox. You could walk for days here and never see another human, which is exactly how a ghost species would like it.
2. Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana
The swamp stretches on forever. If you happen to canoe far enough from the highway hum, you’ll feel it: the hush, then the distant tap-tap. Birders still come here every year, hoping to glimpse the flash of white on black wings, marking the flight of the ivory-billed woodpecker.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, photographer not specified or unknown on Wikimedia
3. Shimanto Riverbanks, Japan
Locals keep fish traps set, and every now and then the bait goes missing or the ropes are chewed through. The old men laugh and say, “The otters are back.” No one argues much anymore.
4. Meru Betiri National Park, Java
The jungle is so dense that you often feel as though you’re being watched. Rangers won’t say “tiger” out loud anymore; they just gesture toward the tracks. Better safe than sorry, after all.
Francesco Veronesi from Italy on Wikimedia
5. Hauraki Gulf Islands, New Zealand
It’s the kind of place where waves slap rock and seabirds outnumber people. On Little Barrier Island, conservationists sneak around at night with red flashlights, waiting for the flutter of wings that shouldn’t exist.
6. Jozani Forest, Zanzibar
Tour guides avoid the subject, but ask a local and they’ll point you toward the deeper trails—the ones no one walks after sunset. It might just be a rustle in the undergrowth or a shadow, but the locals aren’t ready to take the risk.
7. Nainital Hills, Northern India
Up in the tall grass above the tea estates, you can still hear the rustle of unseen wings. Shepherds leave offerings of grain for the elusive Himalayan quail. Even scientists come quietly now, hoping to confirm the bird’s survival.
8. Fernandina Island, Galápagos
There are no tourists here, just black rocks and the sound of the waves. But that’s just how this massive tortoise likes it. Rangers scan the slopes for tracks—the faint drag of a shell. Every mark feels like a message from the past.
9. Pilbara Region, Western Australia
This region in Australia consists of countless miles of red desert and spiky tufts of grass. Only a few conservationists dare to camp here, scanning with heat cameras, listening through static for faint parrot chirps after midnight.
10. Bay of Dongting, China
The Baiji dolphin, known as the “Goddess of the Yangtze,” may still be gliding through the brown water. You could spend your life looking and never see it, but that’s the thing about believing something’s not gone. Sometimes, your hope makes it so.
