Ever stared at that grainy, black-and-white footage of a striped creature pacing a concrete cage? It’s haunting. You’ve probably seen it on a late-night YouTube spiral or in a school textbook. That animal is the thylacine, though most of us just call it the Tasmanian tiger. Honestly, looking at those images feels like peering through a crack in time. It’s a weird mix of "that looks like a dog" and "wait, why is its jaw opening that wide?"
People are obsessed with images of the Tasmanian tiger. We’re looking for hope, usually. Or maybe we just want to see something that shouldn't be gone. But here’s the thing: most of what you think you know about these photos is slightly off. From "Benjamin" not actually being a boy to the "chicken thief" photo being a total setup, the visual history of this animal is as messy as it is tragic.
The "Last" Tiger Wasn't Who We Thought
If you search for the most famous images of the Tasmanian tiger, you’ll find "Benjamin." He’s the star of the 1933 David Fleay film. You know the one—the tiger nipping at the cameraman’s pants. For decades, every documentary told us Benjamin was the last of his kind, a lonely male who died of neglect at the Beaumaris Zoo in 1936.
Well, surprise. Researchers recently went back through the archives and realized there’s no actual evidence "Benjamin" was a male. In fact, some evidence suggests the last tiger might have been a female. And the name? Nobody at the zoo actually called it Benjamin back then. That name was made up much later. It's funny how a legend grows just because a photo needs a caption.
The Fleay footage is only about 62 seconds long. It’s the highest quality we have, but it’s still just a tiny window. You see the animal sniffing the air, yawning, and lying down. That famous 120-degree "threat yawn" is caught perfectly. It wasn't a tired yawn; it was a "get out of my space" warning.
The Staged Photos That Sealed Their Fate
Humans can be pretty terrible sometimes. In 1921, a photographer named Harry Burrell took a series of photos showing a thylacine with a chicken in its mouth. It looked like a smoking gun. "Look!" people said. "They are poultry killers!"
👉 See also: Finding Your Way: What the Lake Placid Town Map Doesn’t Tell You
The government used these types of images of the Tasmanian tiger to justify the bounties. They paid people to kill them. It worked. Between 1888 and 1909, over 2,000 bounties were paid out.
But look closer at the Burrell photo. The bird in its mouth? It’s a stuffed prop. The background is cropped to hide the fact that the animal is in a cage. It was a staged photo meant to sell a narrative. Scientists now think the thylacine’s jaw was actually too weak to take down large livestock like sheep. They were mostly eating wallabies and small mammals. But a photo is worth a thousand lies, and by the time the truth came out, the tigers were almost gone.
Why We Don't Have Any Wild Photos
It sounds crazy. We have photos of the 1800s, photos of the Civil War, but we don't have a single verified, clear photograph of a Tasmanian tiger in the wild. Not one.
Everything you see—the 119 known still images—was taken in a zoo or after the animal was already dead. Why?
- Cameras were huge: You couldn't just whip out an iPhone. You needed a tripod and a prayer.
- They were shy: Thylacines were nocturnal and stayed away from people.
- The terrain: The Tasmanian bush is thick. Like, "lose your boots in the mud" thick.
There’s a photo from 1930 of a hunter named Wilf Batty standing over a tiger he just shot. That’s the last photo of a "wild" tiger, but it's a dead one. It’s a grim image. The tiger is draped over a log, and Batty is posing like he just won a trophy.
✨ Don't miss: Why Presidio La Bahia Goliad Is The Most Intense History Trip In Texas
The Modern "Sighting" Photos: Are They Real?
Every year, someone claims they’ve captured new images of the Tasmanian tiger. These are usually "blob-cats"—grainy, blurry shapes in the distance.
In 2021 and again in 2024, "new" footage did the rounds. People got excited. Then the experts stepped in. Most of the time, it's a mangy fox or a pademelon (a small kangaroo-like creature) viewed at a weird angle.
Nick Mooney, a veteran biologist in Tasmania, has spent years debunking these. He says people really want them to be real. We have "extinction guilt." We want to believe they outsmarted us and are hiding in the Tarkine rainforest. But without a clear, high-res photo or DNA evidence (like a fresh scat or hair), it’s all just ghost hunting.
Seeing the Tiger in Color
Since we don't have original color photos, we’ve turned to tech. In 2021, the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia released a colorized version of the Fleay footage.
Seeing the sandy-brown fur and those dark chocolate stripes in "real" color changes things. It makes the animal feel less like a museum specimen and more like a creature that could have been in your backyard. The stripes were unique to every tiger, kind of like a fingerprint. Researchers actually use the stripe patterns in old photos to identify which zoo animal was which.
🔗 Read more: London to Canterbury Train: What Most People Get Wrong About the Trip
What the Images Actually Tell Us
If you look past the graininess, you notice things.
- The Tail: It wasn't waggy like a dog’s. It was thick and stiff at the base, more like a kangaroo's. They couldn't really wag them.
- The Pouch: Both males and females had a sort of pouch, though the male’s was more of a protective sheath.
- The Movement: They had a weird, somewhat clumsy gait. They didn't run like wolves; they had a sort of "hop-run" when they were in a hurry.
How to Spot a Fake
If you're browsing the web and see a "shocking new photo," check these things before you share it:
- The Ears: Thylacines had rounded, short ears. If they’re pointy, it’s a fox.
- The Tail: If the tail is thin and flexible, it’s a dog. A tiger's tail flows directly out of the spine like a taper.
- The Stripes: They started at the back and went to the base of the tail. If there are stripes on the front legs, it’s probably a fake or a different animal.
Honestly, the best way to see the "real" tiger is to visit the archives. The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery has the remains of the last tiger (the one from 1936), which were actually "lost" in a cupboard for 85 years before being rediscovered in 2022.
Your Next Steps to Learn More
If you're fascinated by these images of the Tasmanian tiger, don't just stop at a Google Image search. You can actually contribute to the hunt for truth.
First, check out the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) website. They have the high-definition, restored 4K colorized footage available for free. It’s the closest you’ll ever get to seeing one alive.
Second, if you’re ever in Hobart, visit the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG). Seeing the actual pelts and the "lost" remains of the last thylacine puts the scale of the animal into perspective in a way a photo never can.
Finally, keep an eye on the TIGRR Lab (Thylacine Integrated Genetic Restoration Research) at the University of Melbourne. They are working on de-extinction. While we might not have many photos of the past, their work might—just maybe—give us photos of a living thylacine in the future.