What do you do with the pelt of an extinct animal? Get it appraised, of course! Bill Warren of Fallbrook, California picked up an unidentified animal skin at a garage sale for $5, and found that it belongs to a Tasmanian tiger, or Thylacine (seen in this video), which was declared extinct in 1936.
But the pelt cannot be sold because the Thylacine is still on the endangered species list from the US Fish and Wildlife service.
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(Image credit: Charlie Neuman)
Most of the known skins reside in museums and universities. All of which makes a pelt extremely valuable for private collectors.
“They’re a very rare item to come across,” said Andrew Snooks from Armitage Auctions in Australia.
Snooks said the auction house is negotiating with Warren to obtain the pelt. After the house confirms that the pelt is indeed a Tasmanian tiger, it will go up on the auction block.
Snooks said the last Tasmanian tiger pelt sold at the auction house went for $68,000, and a rug made from eight pelts sold for $260,000.
But the pelt cannot be sold because the Thylacine is still on the endangered species list from the US Fish and Wildlife service.
“It’s like putting a Brontosaurus on the endangered species list,” Warren said. “It’s driving me nuts.”
For now, Warren is applying for an exemption and hoping for the best.
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(Image credit: Charlie Neuman)
http://naturalplane.blogspot.com/2007/07/tasmanian-tiger-not-extinct.html
http://xkcd.com/636/