Could there be more photos of the Tasmanian tiger we don't know about?
This article is part of a series of Q&A on the Tasmanian Tiger originally answered on Quora.
Absolutely!
I am posting this question because exactly this has happened this week.
Rose Lewis, of Australia, shared an antique photograph of a family of Tasmanian tigers to a Facebook group dedicated to retro culture. Very quickly, Tasmanian tiger enthusiasts realised this was a photo never before published or documented within the scientific or public domains.
Rose has been gracious enough to answer questions about the photograph and her family history - it was taken by her grandfather Walter Mullins who captured the animals in 1923.
Because of the excellent online resources available that document so many aspects of the Tasmanian tiger - from biology through to history - we actually have quite a bit of information about the tigers that Rose shared. You can read about the history of those thylacines at the Online Thylacine Museum.
Rose’s photo appears to show only 2 young animals, but if you look carefully you can see there are 3 - exactly what’s expected given the known history of these animals.
I personally have had people contact me with information about photographs within their family, and others have commented on Rose’s post likewise - so there almost certainly are further photos and historical information on Tasmanian tigers waiting to be unearthed.
In response to this amazing discovery I have set up my own website, which is dedicated to examining the evidence for rare fauna and researching the thylacine, with a page where people can share their family stories, history and any photographs or other documents they might have that can help us build an even richer picture of Tasmanian tiger history.
If you, or someone you know, have Tasmanian tiger history from before 1950, please visit the page and consider making it known. You may have a photo, an audio recording, a film, a letter, a diary, a journal, a few handwritten notes - it could be anything, but researchers would love to gain additional insights into this beautiful species.
All information is treated in confidence.