In Steyl, in the south of the Netherlands, lies a small fine mission museum, founded by monastery monks. As an 8-year-old, I went there on a school trip. The museum made a strong impression on me then and still does. 

The mission museum has a small but tightly hung collection of objects, stuffed animals, and a large collection of insects., all gifts and souvenirs from the missionary priests. Here you can find costumes, weapons, masks, jewelry and tools from different parts of the world: Asia, Africa, South America and Oceania.

A story goes that the animals in the museum, when mounted at site, were given a little divine smile by the monks.

Throughout history, we humans have exterminated scores of animal species, usually by accident (a few for easy-to-catch birds on isolated islands or habitats taken over by humans). The thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus), also

 commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf, is so far the only species that was deliberately exterminated by us humans. The thylacine was considered a threat to sheep farming, so the Australian government awarded shooting money which depleted the last remnants of the already low population quite quickly. 

The thylacines’ jaws - as new research shows - were actually far too small to handle prey as large as a sheep. Possibly a small lamb. Its diet is more similar to that of a fox than that of a wolf. Its name "Tasmanian Tiger" made it seem much more menacing than it ever was.