Extinct Animals That Might Still Be Hiding

Did you like Jurassic Park? I mean, I watched it like eight times in theaters. Eight! No joke. It makes me wonder, do you remember when you used to watch a movie a bunch of times in theaters? Do people still do that anymore? If I really like a movie now, I’ll probably watch it twice in theaters, tops. I could never spend the money and watch something seven or eight times anymore. Maybe because movie costs much more now, I don't know. I loved Jurassic Park because, hey, I love dinosaurs! Or, I should say, I like anything interesting that I have never seen before. For example, when I hear the term 'extinct animals,' I automatically think about the dodo bird. I like dodo birds mainly 'cuz I think their name sounds really funny. I mean, dodo.

Now, what if I told you that some of the animals that are believed to be extinct might actually not be? Here are five animals that are believed to be extinct that actually may exist somewhere in the world.

1. The Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger)

The Thylacine, Thyla-what? The thylacine is a dog-looking creature with stripes like a tiger. It was believed to be extinct in 1936. It’s also known as the Tasmanian Tiger; its name means “dog-headed pouched one” in Greek. In late 2013, a team of British naturalists traveled into the wild terrains of Tasmania, where the human population is near non-existent. Even though they haven't been able to capture any live footage of the animal with their camera traps, the researchers are optimistic that some specimens still exist based on credible witnesses. They even gathered samples of what could be the animal's feces for DNA analysis.

2. The Passenger Pigeon

The passenger pigeon was once the most numerous bird on the planet during the 19th century until its extinction in the early 20th century due to hunting and loss of habitat. Passenger pigeons are one species of extinct animals that could be resurrected by cloning. The Long Now Foundation is financially supporting an effort known as Revive and Restore to bring the passenger pigeon back to life.

Now, anytime anyone wants to bring something dead back to life, I don't know... sounds like the beginning of basically every single zombie movie. Because you know what’s worse than pigeons pooping on your head? Zombie pigeons pooping on your head. It’s also possible that some passenger pigeons may still roam, according to reports by some bird watchers. However, none have been confirmed, and the scientific consensus is that they are extinct.

3. The Honshu Wolf (Japanese Wolf)

The Japanese Wolf, once occupying the islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu in Japan, was the world’s smallest known wolf. Its population began to decrease in 1732 when rabies was first reported in Kyushu and Shikoku. Though declared extinct in 1905, a photograph shows a specimen surviving until 1910. The possibility that the Japanese Wolf may still exist is often brought up, given the number of cases of sightings, photos, and reports of carcasses from time to time.

4. The Mokele-Mbembe

This one is a dinosaur! The Mokele-Mbembe, meaning "one who stops the flow of rivers," is a legendary creature said to live deep in the Congo River basin of central Africa. William Gibbons, an explorer with a PhD in cultural anthropology, has conducted expeditions deep into the Congo. Gibbons met Pastor Eugene P. Thomas, who recounted that the Pygmies, a local tribe situated near Lake Tili, wound up killing one of the Mokele-Mbembes in 1959. He said the tribe told him there was a group of them. Considering that 40% of the world’s jungles have never been explored by humans, could creatures like this exist somewhere out there? Maybe.

5. The Woolly Mammoth

The last of the five is the Woolly Mammoth, which lived alongside early humans around 200,000 years ago in Eurasia and North America. A mix of relentless hunting and dramatic climate changes led to the extinction of the last known mainland mammoths in Siberia nearly 10,000 years ago. However, isolated populations survived on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean until just 4,000 years ago, raising the possibility that some may still survive in the remote wilds of Siberia yet to be explored by humans.

What do you think, guys? Have you seen one of these five supposedly extinct creatures anywhere? Also, do you think we should really try to clone these guys back to life and build our own Jurassic Park?