Tasmanian tiger head bought for £50 sells for £50,000 at UK auction

A taxidermied head of a Tasmanian tiger, originally purchased for £50 at a UK antiques market, has sold for £50,000 at a Bristol auction after its true identity was discovered. The buyer, unaware it was a rare specimen, initially believed the head belonged to a fox due to its large, glass-like eyes. Auction house Auctioneum in Bristol witnessed intense bidding for the head, ultimately selling it to James Cranfield for £50,000, along with £10,000 in auction fees.

Cranfield had initially suspected the head's true identity from the auction catalogue and confirmed it was the sole known head of this extinct species. Auction manager Andrew Stowe remarked that Cranfield was surprised by the final price and offered him a chair to sit down. The rarity of taxidermied thylacine remains contributes to the specimen's significance, as complete, preserved examples are scarce outside major world museums.

The thylacine, a marsupial native to Australia and Tasmania, was officially declared extinct in 1936, making any surviving specimens highly sought after by scientists and collectors. Consequently, the head's value surged from £50 at the antiques market to £50,000 at auction, a thousandfold increase from its initial price.