Nix then compiled all post-1933 sightings of thylacine-like animals, assigning them to three independent data sets - presumed reliable, possibly reliable, and crank sightings - and superimposed them on the BIOCLIM map of optimum thylacine habitat.
 

The "presumed reliable" and "possibly reliable" overlapped almost perfectly with BIOCLIM's prediction of where thylacines were most likely to be.  The Tasmanian regions of most frequent sightings coincided with two small "hot spots" of prime habitat identified by BIOCLIM.  Nix has since undertaken a similar study - with very similar results - for the intermittent sightings of "thylacines" in Victoria.  BIOCLIM suggests that the Wilson's Promontory region is a good habitat, along with the isolated Grampians mountain range in southwestern Victoria, and the southwest of Western Australia, which has also reported a number of alleged thylacine sightings in recent decades.

. The wilderness of Wilson's Promontory, the southernmost point of Victoria.  Because the many reports of alleged thylacine sightings here concur with BIOCLIM's predictions on areas of suitable habitat, it is suspected that thylacines may possibly reside in this area.  The region is fortunately a national park, and thus this refuge is protected from development.

    Nix advises that a thorough search for living thylacines be made before expending considerable resources in an attempt to clone the species from DNA samples.

    By mid-2002, after over two years of intensive research, the Australian Museum succeeded in replicating individual thylacine genes using the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) process.  Although this means that cloned thylacines are now one step closer to becoming a reality, there are still a number of very significant obstacles to overcome.  Among these is the fact that the quality of the DNA which was extracted from preserved tissue samples has proven to be quite poor, and is perhaps too badly degraded to even construct a thylacine DNA library, which is a prerequisite task.

    With the passage of several more years of effort, by February 2005 the Australian Museum made the decision to discontinue its involvement with the thylacine cloning project.  According to a media statement by the museum's current Director Frank Howarth and Assistant Director of Science and Collections Dr. Les Christidis, although the museum does possess sufficient expertise to attempt to reconstruct a thylacine DNA library, it lacks the facilities and skill to conduct "further stages requiring cell culture".  The cell culture stage of the project is necessary to enable cells from other species to act as hosts for the reconstructed thylacine genome.

    Dr. Archer, who launched the thylacine cloning project in 1999, says that it has lost its momentum since his contract as museum director ended in 2003.  Now Dean of Science at the University of New South Wales, Archer still remains hopeful that cloning of the thylacine will eventually become possible.
 

. These vials contain a set of thylacine DNA extractions from different tissue types.  To better the chances of obtaining high quality gene sequences, samples of tissue were taken from various parts of the preserved thylacine's body.  Cells from deep inside the body are preferable to this purpose, as there is less of a possibility that they have been contaminated with genetic material from the outside world (e.g. from bacteria, fungi, etc.).

"I and other colleagues remain interested in the project and I don't think that it will simply die because the museum can't proceed," he says.  "The technology to make it happen is improving all the time.  And I believe science has a duty to continue to assemble the building blocks that will be needed to do it."  Archer says that the technology for recovering degraded DNA and extracting it from museum specimens is advancing.  Also, that DNA recovered from dried specimens may be just as good if not better than that obtained from the museum's alcohol preserved specimen which dates from 1866.

    Dr. Archer confirmed in October 2005 that he was assembling a new team to revive the cloning project.  He says that public interest in the project is still strong and researchers from several Australian institutions have expressed interest in becoming involved.  "In addition, US researchers with genetic sequencing capabilities will be involved for the first time and their expertise is expected to open up new possibilities for bringing the project closer to its ultimate goal," he said.

    In October of 2002, when the project was still underway at the Australian Museum, I was given a tour of the museum's genetic laboratory.  My illustrated account can be viewed here.