trap baited with the
flesh of the kangaroo. When opened, the remains of a half-digested
echidna[156] were found in its stomach.

The tiger-wolf has a certain amount of daintiness in its appetite when
in a state of nature. From the observations of Mr Gunn it would seem
that nothing will induce it to prey on the wombat,[157] a fat, sluggish,
marsupial quadruped, abundant in the districts which it frequents, and
whose flesh would seem to be very edible, seeing that it lives on fruits
and roots. No sooner, however, was the sheep introduced than the
tiger-wolf began to attack the flocks, and has ever since shown a most
unmistakable appetite for mutton, preferring the flesh of that most
useful and easily-mastered quadruped to that of any kangaroo however
venison-like, or bandicoot however savoury. The colonists of Van
Diemen's land have applied various names to this animal, according as
its resemblance to other ferocious quadrupeds of different climates
struck their fancy. The names of "tiger," "hyena," and "zebra-wolf," are
partly acquired from its ferocity, somewhat corresponding with that of
these well-known carnivorous denizens of other lands, and partly from
the black bands which commence behind the shoulders, and which extend in
length on the haunches, and resemble in some faint measure those on the
barred tyrant of the Indian jungles, and the other somewhat similarly
ornamented mammalia implied in the names. These bars are well relieved
by the general grayish-brown colour of the fur, which is somewhat woolly
in its texture, from each of the hairs of which it is composed being
waved.

The specimens in the Zoological Gardens are very shy and restless; when
alarmed they dash and leap about their dens and utter a short guttural
cry somewhat resembling a bark. This shyness is partly to be attributed
to their imperfect vision by day, and partly to their resemblance in
character to the wolf, whose treachery and suspicious manners in
confinement must have struck every one who has gazed on this "gaunt
savage" in his den in the Regent's Park. The specimens exhibited are the
first living members of the species first brought to Europe. The male
was taken in November 1849, and the female at an earlier period in the
same year, on the upper part of St Patrick's River, about thirty miles
north-east of Launceston. After being gradually accustomed to
confinement by Mr Gunn, they were shipped for this country, and reached
the Gardens