Australians are no strangers to big cat stories, but only one mystery resulted in the capture of not one but two monsters. In the early 1890s, witnesses claimed to have seen a tiger in the Tantanoola region of South Australia and graziers often found their sheep mutilated and partly devoured. Search parties failed to capture the beast until an expert marksman joined the hunt. Yet even after the creature was slain, sheep kept disappearing, falling prey to an even more terrifying predator.
The beast was shot and stuffed in 1895, but the sightings and killings continued.As soon as the sightings began, a Mount Gambier business cashed in.One of the lonely farmhouses that was a stalking ground for the creature.The Tantanoola football team called themselves the Tigers and embraced their mascot.
While many believed in the Tantanoola Tiger, there were legions of doubters, with this Melbourne Punch cartoon poking fun at news editors who turned to the beast on slow news days.The other Tantanoola Tiger – a real creep whose crimes were more horrifying than sheep theft.
Robert Charles Edmondson’s slaughteryards, hidden in remote ti-tree stands, became morbid tourist attractions.
The Tantanoola Tiger Hotel has for more than a century embraced the mythical monster who roamed the countryside.
