Farmer Unknowingly Captures Animal Extinct in Region

An adorable species of marsupial not seen for over a century has been caught by a farmer.

The spotted-tailed quoll—also known as the tiger quoll—was last seen in South Australia in the 1880s. Somehow, one of these marsupials ended up captured in a trap meant to catch the creature that had been harassing a trout farmer's chickens. Instead of finding a feral cat or fox as expected, Pao Ling Tsai discovered the assumed-extinct quoll.

"The species was considered extinct in South Australia, with no official records for some 100 years or more," National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Limestone Coast district ranger Ross Anderson told Newsweek. "There have been unofficial records since that time."