An extremely rare animal has made an appearance after more than 100 years, causing concern among people, especially since it is a highly dangerous specimen near farms.
An extremely rare and dangerous animal near farms
The animal was last seen in South Australia about 130 years ago, and was considered endangered. Recently, a farmer in Beachport discovered that this specimen had reappeared. We are talking about a spotted-tail quoll, also known as a tiger quoll.
Although it hadn’t been seen in this area for over a century, on Tuesday, September 26, farmer Frank Pao-Ling Tsai had the unpleasant surprise of finding a tiger quoll in the trap he had set to catch the predator that was killing his chickens.
The man says he expected to find a wild cat or a fox in the cage, according to ABC. He even admits that he “had no idea” what creature was looking back at him when he went to check the trap.
“I was expecting to find a cat, but instead, I caught this small animal. It was incredible. At first, I had no idea what it was!”, the farmer conveyed, to ABC.
“This is a unique event. We will perform genetic tests”
In the end, the animal managed to escape from the trap before farmer Frank Pao-Ling Tsai could notify the authorities. However, a day later, another spotted-tail quoll, possibly the same one, was captured by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, leaving researchers amazed.
“This is a unique event. We will perform genetic tests to determine where the animal might come from,” said Ross Anderson, a representative from the Limestone Coast district.
According to him, the last official records of this animal in the region were in the 1880s. “There is no official documented or photographic evidence of them being here for over 100 years,” Anderson added.
The tiger quoll is believed to be extinct in South Australia and endangered across the entire continent. It is the second-largest carnivorous marsupial in the world, weighing up to 3.5 kilograms. So far, it is known that there are less than 5,000 of these specimens left in the world.
