Rare Tasmanian Tiger Head Fetches $84,000 After Auction Surprise
A mounted animal head bought for £50 at a West Country fair sold for £62,000 when experts identified it as a possible thylacine.
A cheap purchase of a stuffed animal head with googly eyes at a West Country antiques fair turned into a high-value auction after its true nature was questioned. The seller, who paid only £50, placed the item with Auctioneum Ltd in Bristol, which initially set a reserve of £28. Taxidermy enthusiast James Cranfield, spotting the listing, traveled from Essex to examine the piece and suspected the teeth belonged to a thylacine, the extinct Tasmanian tiger.
A second bidder independently reached the same conclusion, prompting a competitive bidding process that concluded at £62,000. Auctioneer Andrew Stowe noted the vendor’s astonishment at the sum. Cranfield, who ultimately won the lot, described the discovery as a collector’s "holy grail," and the mounted head is now undergoing verification tests.
Why it matters
It highlights how rare extinct-species artifacts can command huge sums and attract scientific interest.
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