By Tim Binnall
Among the countless colorful stories from the remarkable life of trailblazing media mogul Ted Turner, who passed away on Wednesday, is that of the rather sizeable reward he once offered to anyone who could prove that the legendary Tasmanian Tiger still existed. The odd bounty came about back in December of 1983, when the CNN founder was in the Tasmanian capital of Hobart for a yacht race. According to a contemporaneous news article, during a visit to one of the city's museums, Turner saw an exhibit on the declared extinct Tasmanian Tiger, or thylacine, and the debate surrounding its existence.
While speaking to a local reporter, Turner subsequently "made a spontaneous offer" of $100,000 to anyone who could prove that the creature was still alive. His reasoning for the reward, which would be around $331,000 today, was that he hoped to "encourage a vigorous search for the animal" and, ostensibly, assumed that such a significant amount of money would make it happen. It would appear that the idea was successful, in a sense, as it did inspire several thylacine hunters to go searching for the creature in the hopes of acquiring the prize. However, none of the expeditions were able to produce the proof necessary to claim the money.
When a Tasmanian Tiger researcher wrote to Turner in 2000 to inquire about the reward, he received a rather disappointing response. In a brief, albeit laudatory letter, Turner replied, "unfortunately, the reward for proof that the Tasmanian Tiger exists is no longer in effect. However, your dedication and determination to continue researching sightings is certainly admirable." One can't help but wonder why the billionaire cable television pioneer would decide to rescind the reward, which was, relative to his personal fortune, a pretty small sum. Alas, Turner did not explain in his letter, opting instead to simply wish the researcher good luck in his quest to find the creature.
An earlier version of this piece appeared at the C2C website back on April 18th, 2018.