Big Cats of Australia

[TelosianEmbrace]

For many years I have been fascinated by stories of big cats roaming the Australian bush. Whenever I can I have asked questions of others, and have been surprised by the seeming commonness of encounters. I shall recount three instances.

!. A dirt bike rider and his mates used to stay at my father's old farm in Tatong, central Victoria. While he didn't have any sightings, he knew one or two others who had.

2. A band member in a friend's band recounted the time when he and a group of friends were walking a bush track in the Great Dividing Range, Central Vic. They crested a rise and came upon a big, black cat sunning itself on a rock by the path just twenty or so metres further along. It looked at them in such a way that caused them to immediately turn and get the hell out of there.

3. A fellow delivery driver was driving into Cape Schanck Golf Course very early in the morning before first light. As he was driving down a sweeping curve he saw a big, tan coloured cat in the headlights. Perhaps the size of an alsation. It sped off into the bush, and it's size made him fearful enough of his safety that he didn't get out and investigate.

Michael Williams and Rebecca Lang have recently published 'Australian Big Cats, An Unnatural History of Panthers'. www.australianbigcats.com.au

They have been as thorough as possible in documenting sightings. They document zoo escapes, mascot releases and other possible origins of the beasts, and give a rundown of likely culprits. Some of the accounts are eye popping, and one in particular stands out.

A man and his family were staying in holiday accommodation in Oberon, central NSW. He went outside the cabin at night to give the calves grazing in the field a scratch, and was confronted by the sight of two panthers at close range. He retreated to the cabin, woke his wife, and spent a sleepless night as they prowled outside. The next morning he photographed the sizeable wet prints they left on the patio paving, before getting out of there at first light. The cats knew where they slept, because the prints went right up to the sliding doors to the bedroom.

Perhaps most intriguing is the conspiracy by the government and government departments to keep these sightings under wraps and to remain in denial. We all would recognise the tell tale signs of a cover-up... missing documents, prints and other evidence, investigations not getting off the ground, or pointing the finger at big feral cats as the culprit. The question I have to ask is why the coverup? Why not just publicly admit that they are there and base any future actions upon that assumption? What do they have to lose? Liability for stock losses? Requests for them to eradicate the beasts, a near impossibility? Why are they hiding this from the general public?

Any other sightings would be welcomed.

[sirdipswitch]

Just take a "Cattle Prod" when you go for a walk. They work great!!! or even a hand Taser, but those require extremely close quarters. chuckle chuckle.

[Ellisa]

There are many sightings in Victoria. Most commonly they are seen in the Grampians and the Otway Ranges. I have a very unimaginative friend who saw one when with the family in the Otways. The animal was standing in the road, and when they stopped the 4 wd they were in the 'cat' slowly disappeared into the bush. They have the blurry phone picture to prove it- but even they agree it's not very clear what the black blob is! Usually the official identification is a feral domestic cat, and there are lots of those in the bush that grow to a huge size. However in this case the observers all noticed the very long tail, without a taper at the end, and the head was rounder and the ears smaller in proportion. They are convinced it was a type of panther.

So, what was it? I didn't see it, but I don't think it was a domestic moggy, and there have been too many sightings of these beasts to ignore them, and there have been many videos, photos and sketches showing a panther-like beast.

Recently a politician in Victoria had investigation of these 'cats' as part of his policy, but that has since been dropped. I have no idea why!*


* just watched the video and this point is discussed. Too expensive or something!

[TelosianEmbrace]

Posted by Ellisa (here)
There are many sightings in Victoria. Most commonly they are seen in the Grampians and the Otway Ranges. I have a very unimaginative friend who saw one when with the family in the Otways. The animal was standing in the road, and when they stopped the 4 wd they were in the 'cat' slowly disappeared into the bush. They have the blurry phone picture to prove it- but even they agree it's not very clear what the black blob is! Usually the official identification is a feral domestic cat, and there are lots of those in the bush that grow to a huge size. However in this case the observers all noticed the very long tail, without a taper at the end, and the head was rounder and the ears smaller in proportion. They are convinced it was a type of panther.

So, what was it? I didn't see it, but I don't think it was a domestic moggy, and there have been too many sightings of these beasts to ignore them, and there have been many videos, photos and sketches showing a panther-like beast.

Recently a politician in Victoria had investigation of these 'cats' as part of his policy, but that has since been dropped. I have no idea why!*


* just watched the video and this point is discussed. Too expensive or something!

Hi Ellisa. I remember the stories of sightings in the Otways. I drove through there, camping, and while setting the tent up was very mindful of them. I remember another occasion when I was camping in outback NSW, by open farmland. In the middle of the night I woke up just knowing that something was outside my tent and checking me out. It was one of the creepiest feelings ever, to know that something was there, yet not to hear a sound. Was it a big cat, or something else?

I have recently spoken to a shooter, and he said that feral moggys could approach 30kg. in weight, which is incredibly big. Yet, as you mentioned, the very long tail and other features are a giveaway that these aren't moggys. And moggys can't haul a goat carcass up into a tree, or jump a many metres wide river, or attack a fully grown horse with the aim of subduing it. Moggys don't give you that scary life threatening feeling or jump up onto the roof of a house from the ground, or bite off a sheep's face.

Perhaps that Victorian politician made that policy announcement before he was 'persuaded' that it wasn't a good idea. Who is doing the persuading, and why?

[olddragon]

I have also herd stories from friends who have seen them in the Macedon Ranges. Friends had one living in there dense cypress hedge for months.

These cats are panthers and pumas. There are a quiet and shy cat. If you hard one you would put it down to a woman screaming or so I've been told.