'I saved an extinct tiger's head from obscurity'

A natural history collector says he has rescued "the holy grail" from obscurity after snapping up the extremely rare taxidermy of an extinct animal.

The mounted head of a thylacine- which died out 90 years ago - was described as an antique fox head when it went up for auction for £50 last week.

But James Cranfield knew it was something special and pleaded with a friend to help him stump up the winning bid of £62,600.

"I will never find anything better," said the 38-year-old, who plans to show it off at Cranfield's Curiosity Cabinet in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.

"I want this to be available to academics and scientific people," he explained.

"I'd like it to go on display, [in] exhibitions, in the correct institutions or museums.

"I'm not hiding this away. I've saved it from obscurity."

The thylacine, also known as a Tasmanian Tiger, were driven to extinction by hunting, disease and habitat destruction.

The last known animal died in Hobart Zoo in 1936.

Cranfield had planned to add the specimen to his collection of 200 antique fox heads, until he inspected it more closely.

"I was like, 'that's no fox', and then just like a bolt of lightning [hit me]," he said.

He did 10 days of research ahead of the auction and noticed that the head lacked a carnassial tooth, which a fox, dog or jackal would have.

The discovery pushed him to make the three-and-a-half-hour trip with his fiancee to the showroom in Bristol to do one final check: count its incisors.

Six would mean disappointment, eight would point to a thylacine.

"I gave Francesca the nod that it was real," explained Cranfield.

"We went and sat in the car, I said 'this is unbelievable, this is the holy grail, we've got to get it'.

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He said he "almost passed out" when the hammer went down, and still feels emotional when talking about the support from Francesca and his friends.

"As a man of not enormous wealth, I suddenly realised, 'wow, that's a lot of money'.

"But I knew that I had done the right thing... everything since then has been a whirlwind."

He called his friend on the drive home to waxy lyrical about his purchase and its significance, until his pal agreed to loan the money.

"I keep crying about it because...I just have an amazing group of friends," said Cranfield, choking up.

The International Thylacine Specimen Database has recorded 815 specimens around the world, which could range from a "microscopic slide" of tissue to a full mount, Cranfield said.

He said there was one other mounted head in existence, but nobody knows where it is.

"Another antique TV expert friend of mine messaged me saying this is one of the best discoveries of the 21st century," he said.

"I'm overjoyed, overjoyed and look forward to being able to share it more widely."

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