What a great idea.  Take a large comb costing $10 million dollars (Australian ones) and rake it through the entire country of Australia for three years to find new animals.

Australia’s Environment Minister Peter Garrett is doing almost exactly that in his new initiative to find new species.

The project that is known as “Bush Blitz” is setting out to discover as many new species as possible in Australia over the next thirty-six months.

“The Bush Blitz will undertake a total of eighteen major expeditions during three years. Groups will be made up of 10-12 scientists and volunteers who will survey the nation’s reserves for hidden biological treasures. The program is focusing on places that are little-known both to the public and researchers,” reported the Sydney Morning Herald. 

The Bush Blitz is funded by the Australian government (6 million dollars) and mining company BHP Billiton (4 million dollars).

A photograph of a footprint taken on mango farmer Katrina Tucker’s Acacia Hills property in 1997.

Now, let’s keep our fingers crossed that they can verify the Yowies.  And here’s hoping they live-capture some of those Black Panthers of the Blue Mountains!