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Centenary of Tantanoola Tiger ShootingPrint Page 
The monument commemorates the centenary of the Tantanoola tiger shooting in 1895.
In 1884 near Tantanoola in South Australia's south east a Bengal tiger supposedly escaped from a travelling circus. A search was mounted, but the tiger was never found. Over the next few years, there were many reports of missing sheep in the area and some suggested that the sheep had become the prey of the missing tiger.
Eleven years after the tiger went missing a local man, Tom Donovan, saw what he thought was the Bengal tiger in a paddock with a sheep in its jaws. He took a shot at it with his gun and shot the animal in the side. As it turns out, it was not a Bengal tiger, but a Eurasian wolf - equally out of place in the Australian environment. It is thought that the wolf was a stowaway on a boat that was shipwrecked off the coast, but managed to make it to the shore.
The wolf was stuffed and is now on display at the Tantanoola Hotel. For fifteen years after the shooting of the wolf, however, sheep continued to go missing from the area. A policeman from Adelaide eventually went to investigate and arrested a local man for sheep stealing.
Tantanoola Tiger Shooting 1895Location
| Address: | Railway Terrace East, Tantanoola, 5280 |
|---|---|
| State: | SA |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -37.696778 Long: 140.455906 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Monument |
|---|---|
| Monument Theme: | Culture |
| Sub-Theme: | Community |
| Actual Event Start Date: | 23-August-1895 |
| Actual Event End Date: | 23-August-1995 |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Sunday 1st October, 1995 |
|---|
CENTENARY OF
TANTANOOLA TIGER SHOOTING
Aug 23rd 1895 - Aug 23rd 1995
Unveiled 1st Oct 1995
By
THE HON. DES CORCORAN A.O. J.P.
