A taxidermy dealer and collector from the UK, James Cranfield, has recently gotten the deal of a lifetime: he noticed an ugly taxidermy fox at an auction was actually a thylacine head! After another bidder had also realized it was a thylacine a bidding war started, but James won, paying £60.000 for the head. The previous owner of the head had bought it at an antique market for just £50 because the googly eyes had made him laugh.
James is planning on having scans and tests done to confirm it is a thylacine. He wants to have the eyes changed to more natural looking eyes (but the googly eyes will not be thrown away or sold, as they're part of the history of this specimen). The mount will stay in his personal collection and it will be made available for scientific research.
Link to an Australian article
Picture source: screenshots of a video by James Cranfield (instagram name thetaxidermist), pictures by Auctioneum Bristol & Bath
