Victorian Big Cat Hoax on Facebook

Okay, some Facebook funster has tried a quick hoax, which failed miserably, claiming that he had photographed a large black panther crossing a dirt road in central Victoria.

Click the image to enlarge it.

The image was taken down but that didn't stop the power of social media from sending it viral within minutes, with multiple people claiming either they, their friend or close relative had taken the photo.

You have to admire their pluck!

Our thanks to Tania P. Woodliffe, who appears to have solved the mystery by pointing us to this local news article featuring a fearsome-looking model. Source

Mystery animal captured on thermal camera - what is it?

Now here's something interesting.

This game camera footage was shot by Wayne Knight in rural Victoria.

The mystery creature with felid-like movements was captured on a thermal camera. We guesstimate the distance at about 400 metres.

If you think you know what this animal is, please contact us at cfzaustralia@yahoo.com.au

Is Prof Sykes putting the nail in the Yeti coffin?

by Andrew Masterson, www.brisbanetimes.com.au

October 2013 will go down as a bittersweet watershed in the curious field of cryptozoology - the study of creatures that probably don't exist.
Cryptozoologists are people who search for animals of folklore and rumour: yowies, bunyips, rogue panthers, ape-men, the Loch Ness monster, the Beast of Buderim, the Goatman of Maryland, Oklahoma Octopus and many more.
In October, though, something really weird happened.
A well-respected mainstream geneticist, Dr Bryan Sykes, from Oxford University, announced that he had done DNA tests on two hair samples collected, centuries apart, by yeti hunters. The samples, he reported, both came from a species unknown to science.
For believers in the Abominable Snowman, that was the good news. The bad followed immediately: the species was not an ape, but some type of bear. The mysterious creature roaming the Himalayas was not so much Yeti as Yogi.
Sykes' research, yet to be published in full, has done little to dampen the enthusiasm of Australia's cryptozoological community. The hunt for our own ape-man, the Yowie, continues unabated.
Prime among the Yowie hunters is Rex Gilroy, 70, self-proclaimed ''father of Australian cryptozoology'', author, naturalist and hunter of improbable beasts.
''The silly sketches of Yowies as giant, hairy apes are all wrong,'' he says. ''Yowies are a living form of [human ancestor] Homo erectus.''
Gilroy claims to have collected a number of fossil hominid skulls - of Homo erectus and the even earlier Australopithecus - which he says proves that human ancestors were living in Australia long before the arrival of Aborigines.
Some of his best specimens were discovered near the Fish River in the central western district of NSW.
''I believe there is a population of Homo erectus still living there,'' he said.
''The Yowie is no gorilla-like monster. It's a fire-making, tool-making hominid. I've found campsites and stone tools, some of them only a few months old.''
Gilroy is also active in the hunt for two perennials of Australian cryptozoology - the thylacine and wild panthers.
This last is a popular target for investigation in Victoria. Reports of big cat sightings appear frequently in country newspapers, blurry video clips crop up on telly, and shots of hideously mauled dead sheep are often cited as evidence of big cat kills.
Indeed, in 2012 one of the first acts of incoming Victorian Premier Denis Napthine was to commission a review of big cat sightings. The review, conducted by the Department of Primary Industries, concluded that feral panthers, jaguars or other feline peak predators were almost certainly not roaming around the state.
However, because it is impossible to prove a negative, the report's findings are unlikely to dampen the spirits of the cryptozoological sleuths. Prime among them is Simon Townsend, of Geelong, who heads a group called Big Cats Victoria.
''We are desperate for actual specimens,'' he said, ''but that's a difficult thing. We think the cats are Malay leopards - black leopards - and there are maybe only a couple of dozen across the state.''
Townsend is careful to separate his pursuit from the windier shores of crypto-research.
''We take this as a totally serious undertaking,'' he said. ''We keep well away from the 'goblin university' folk. They're not very useful when you're after something that kills sheep and eats roos.''
Townsend enjoys a long-term collaboration with crypto-sceptic historian Dr David Waldron, based at Federation University in Ballarat. In 2012 the pair combined to produce a book: Snarls from the Tea-Tree: Big Cat Folklore. Waldron said that while ideas of yowies, bunyips and other fabulous beasts can be traced to the creation myths of different Aboriginal communities, the big cat idea arrived with the Europeans.
''Big cat stories go way back into the 19th century,'' he said.
''Settlers found themselves in an alien landscape, and they had to try to make sense of things such as stock predation and farm failures.
''Their tools for doing this derived from European colonial experience in Africa and Asia - where there were big, dangerous animals, including big cats.''
Some early settlers, he said, were startled that there were no monkeys in Australia. In 1826, settlers visiting Rottnest Island heard sounds in the night, noted dig-marks in the ground, and saw a large shape in the water. They concluded the place was home to hippos.
Big cats in the bush are not, in one sense, mythical at all. There have been several cases, especially in the later 19th century, when lions, pumas and so forth have escaped from travelling menageries and nicked off into the scrub. Waldron has a collection of skeletal remnants lodged in Federation University's library.
The myth kicks in with the idea that these cats somehow survived, bred, and established permanent populations. The usual evidence for this - bizarre stock mutilations - is easily explained.
''Most likely, the mutilations are caused by multiple animals,'' said Waldron. ''A wild dog kills the sheep, then a fox has a go, then birds, rats, and so forth. The result looks unusual.''
Back in NSW, Rex Gilroy, perhaps surprisingly, rejects the idea of wild big cats roaming the bush.
''The panther is a marsupial,'' he says. ''It's a large marsupial, possibly a relation to the extinct marsupial lion. There have been plenty of sightings around Katoomba.''
While many professional scientists dismiss cryptozoology as complete fruit-loopery, Professor Bill Laurence, a distinguished biologist at Queensland's James Cook University, sees great value in the field.
He points out that cryptozoologists have a good record of finding ''Lazarus species'' - types of animals presumed to be extinct but subsequently rediscovered. If the thylacine turns out not to be extinct, it will be a cryptozoologist who finds it, if only because no one else is looking.
''I think there is something similar between cryptozoologists and people who search for aliens, for instance,'' Laurence said. ''There's a desire for mystery, a love of the notion of something out there that we don't understand. It touches something deep in the human spirit.''
As for Sykes' possible Himalayan bear-cum-yeti discovery, Laurence is waiting for the full results to be published.
''A giant bear there would be very remarkable,'' he said. ''What's its food base? I'm a bit leery about it, but it's certainly put the cat among the pigeons.''

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/where-the-wild-things-arent-20140103-308eu.html#ixzz2pfaz5zAE

No myth-taking what he saw - it was a big cat!

Weeks after the government declared the Blue Mountains big cat file closed, a Sydney father has spoken of a terrifying encounter with a panther-like creature outside his Riverstone, NSW home.

Peter Russell told NSW Police he feared for his life after being stalked by a large, ''completely foreign'' feline predator at Riverstone, on the fringes of dense national park bushland.

It has been sighted at least 12 times in the Riverstone area in recent years.

On December 5, Mr Russell went to investigate why his neighbour's dogs were acting ''so distressed''.
He said, as he looked along the path that led up the street, a very large, broad, cat-like creature ran straight for him.

''This was definitely no dog,'' he said. ''It had a low rumbling growl. It was between knee and hip height, extremely stocky and very fast. I spun on my heel and ran back towards the house. I didn't know that I was going to make it to the door.

''My mind was completely thrown by what I had just witnessed. I thought I was a goner.''

Mr Russell made it safely inside and called Riverstone police.

''The officer laughed and I acknowledged her reaction was understandable,'' he said. ''But I also explained that if some poor kid ends up being taken, and I hadn't called, I would be left devastated.''

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/blue-mountains-panther-spotted-again-20131214-2ze1p.html#ixzz2nUgwK3zd

NSW big cat report says 'matter closed'

A doctor, dentist, solicitor, clergyman and Qantas pilot have all seen it, as have numerous Rural Fire Service volunteers and an officer from the Department of Agriculture. A NSW detective spoke of how he watched the beast, from barely 50 metres away, for more than a minute. And like most others, he is "convinced" it was a black panther.

Rumours have circulated for decades about a colony of "Big cats" roaming Sydney's western fringes and beyond. But today, a report commissioned by the State Government has concluded that the many hundreds who have seen the panther are wrong.


Ms Coffey said of the report: "We continue to be treated like fringe-dwelling idiots. This is an insult to everyone who has seen the creature."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/the-matter-is-closed-new-report-into-blue-mountains-big-cat-20131018-2vs6v.html#ixzz2i6oJqaeG

Interestingly, like many state government 'big cat' reports before it, the book Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers was used as a resource!

On the trail of the Black Panther

He’s devoted more than a decade to investigating sightings of the elusive Blue Mountains panther.

Hazelbrook’s Mike Williams and partner Rebecca Lang were pleased to hear that the black cat is back in the news with the state government investigating sightings of the panther.

The Department of Primary Industries is holding an independent inquiry into reports of large free-ranging cats following discussions with Hawkesbury MP Ray Williams (no relation), the parliamentary secretary for Western Sydney. A DPI spokesman said the report would look at past evidence to “assess the likelihood of the presence of large free-ranging cats”.

It’s due at the end of the year and Williams and Lang’s 450 page book Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers is in the mix as a resource for the inquiry.

So do  big cats really roam the bush? Mr Williams and Ms Lang believe something is definitely out there, probably an animal escaped years ago from a private zoo in the Penrith area.

“I think of all the mythological supposed animals, cats can be proven to exist, it’s much more plausible that a large black cat exists or that a smaller cat could be misidentified,” Mr Williams said.

“They’re there, it’s a mystery, but I don’t know what they are.”

The duo will hold their own 3km Blue Mountains Panther Bushwalk — In Search of Big Cats around Knapsack Creek in Glenbrook during the coming Festival of Walking. Walkers will hear about “compelling” local sightings, see casts taken of suspected big cat prints and see photos of the suspected monster moggies.

“We will probably get someone at the end who complains about not seeing a black cat, but it’s a bit of fun and they will learn about local folklore,” Mr Williams, 53, said.

Participants have been asked to wear sturdy shoes and bring water, a hat and “an open mind”. The event is on October 5 from 10.30am and, for insurance reasons, registration through the festival’s website is required before attending.

Blue Mountains Panther Walk

Save the date!

On October 5, Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers authors Rebecca and Mike are hosting a Blue Mountains Panther Walk during the annual Festival of Walking in the Blue Mountains of NSW.

It’s one of Australia’s greatest wildlife mysteries – do ‘big cats’ really roam the bush? Sightings of black panthers have been made all over Australia, many of which have taken place in the Blue Mountains.

Join the authors of Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers and hear about some compelling local sightings, see casts taken of suspected ‘big cat’ prints, look at some of the best photos taken of monster moggies, and find out what might be behind these stories.

Are you brave enough to join the hunt?

Come join us for a walk and a talk.

Register here: http://festivalofwalking.com/events/blue-mountains-panther-bushwalk-in-search-of-big-cats/

Seen a big cat? Tell us about it!

Pine Mountain panther on the loose

Is there a black panther on the loose in Pine Mountain, Queensland?

That's the question locals are asking following sightings of a giant black cat after recent stock losses.

Sightings have been reported in Chuwar and Pine Mountain in recent years, and now local resident Raylene has come forward to tell how she saw the big black cat recently:

"It was huge and black. It was as long as the car is wide and it had orange eyes," she told the Queensland Times.

"It was just before dark and my daughter saw it with me when we were coming home. It jumped out of the bushes, so we startled it as much as us being frightened by it.

"I called it a panther right from then...but I haven't seen it since. It stood very high and had a long tail.

"There was a pony farm nearby and they'd had two horses killed. That's what sparked the idea that it was a feral cat.

"We found the footprints in the mud and took multiples cast of them. They were definitely of a cat...and they were very big paw prints.

"I googled it and learned there had been one at Marburg and another that had escaped from a circus."

In 2009 a Chuwar resident, Andy, reported seeing "an enormous black cat in the paddock next door as I stood on my back deck".

"I then went to get the video camera but the cat was gone by the time I returned," he said.

"When I first saw it, it was approx 25m to 30m away from me and I had a great view of it as is slinked down the paddock towards some old animal shelters.

"I estimate the cat was about 1.5m long excluding its equally long tail, and probably stood 700 to 800mm tall. I have seen some big feral cats in my time but this was off the Richter scale. It was no feral cat."

Australian Big Cats facelift

The Australian Big Cats website has received a long overdue facelift, and now incorporates elements from the original book promotion website, which went the way of the Dodo (albeit temporarily) when its website host folded.

The site now incorporates the blog of big cat researcher Mike Williams and information about Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers and the reprinted Savage Shadow: The Search for the Australian Cougar by David O'Reilly.

Pop on over and check it out!

Victoria backflips on big cat hunt - it's on again!

Just a couple of months after it shelved plans to solve Victoria's 150-year-old big cat mystery, the Victorian Government now wants to put the matter to rest once and for all!

Witness sightings have been recorded for the past 60 years of cougars, panthers or pumas in a wide stretch of Victoria from Gippsland to the Otways, the Grampians, central Victoria and at Beechworth in the northeast.

An official investigation has now been launched in line with a 2010 pre-election pledge from Nationals leader Peter Ryan, who said "there were enough credible observations" to warrant the effort.

Mr Ryan possesses a copy of Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers, and is well aware of the plethora of compelling witness testimony and evidence to date.

Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh said work on the big cat study had already started. Mr Walsh said wild-dog control remained the Government's priority but there were now "sufficient departmental resources available".

"The study will review existing literature, reports, correspondence and other evidence for the presence of big cats in Victoria, and it includes liaison with relevant community groups and individuals who have reports or records of possible sightings," Mr Walsh said.

"The study is expected to take several months to complete."

The investigation is known to include staff from the Department of Primary Industries and the Department of Sustainability and Environment.

Historic Emmaville panther reports come to light

The Glen Innes Examiner recently featured the reflections of several readers about their personal 'Emmaville panther' stories and sightings, as related by journalist Liz Chappell. She wrote:

When I was growing up at Dundee in the 1950s I longed to see the Emmaville panther.
But my mother told me it was only seen by men who were out too late at night.

Since the Examiner revisited the legend of the local panther a couple of weeks ago, several other believers have come forward with reports of sightings or strange yowls and things that go thump in the night.

It seems the panther has made its appearance in places other than Emmaville, sometimes in broad daylight.

John King from Matheson can clearly remember an incident 18 years ago.

At around 3am he and his wife Val were woken by a blood curdling screech in their front garden, followed by a loud thump of something hitting the ground.

“I went out and found our pet cat right at the top of the tree.

“The yowl I heard was definitely not from a domestic cat and the weight that hit the ground made a loud thud.” He recalls.

This was one of four reported incidents around Matheson within around three weeks, attributed to a panther type creature.

A large black cat was sighted crossing the Gwydir highway one night. Another Matheson resident reported their dogs being terrified and unwilling to come outside.

Local grazier, Jenny Anderson, then living at “Caloola” at the top of the Matheson Valley, saw a large black animal she believes was a panther.

“I was mustering sheep for crutching in the hills at the back of our property. I had dogs with me and was moving the mob down a fence line when I saw a large black catlike animal sitting on a log on the other side of the fence.

“It was definitely not an illusion,” Mrs Anderson says.

“This animal was black and shiny and about the size of a well grown kelpie. By the time I got the sheep through the gate it was gone.

“When I got the sheep down to the shed my husband said I looked very pale and shaken.

Those who have seen the panther recall it vividly even decades later. Cathy Potter, who now lives at Tenterfield, was newly married when she, with her husband Peter and his mother, sighted a panther at their Emmaville property “Wongalea” in 1967.

“Peter’s mother saw it first and called us to look. It was early in the morning at this animal was only about 500 meters from the house. We were looking at it uphill against a fence and it looked about the length of two fence panels (4m) from head to tail.

“I’ve never forgotten it. It was phenomenal, not an everyday thing. Horses wouldn’t go near the area where we saw it. There was an unusual smell around there.

“The next day we came across three big paw prints on the road,

“We had a number of sheep killed on “Wongalea” at this time. They were hollowed out like a cat eats, nothing like a wild dog kill. One morning on the other side of the property about 2 miles from the house I came across a sheep with its leg completely bitten off,” Mrs Potter recalls.

Peter Potter and his mother had previously sighted what they believed to be a panther in 1963. This one was sitting near the Bungulla Hall, not far from the road when they drove past, in separate vehicles one night.

Mrs Potter remembers quite a few people around Emmaville saying they’d seen the panther around this time.

“Some people wouldn’t report it because they thought they’d be laughed at,” Mrs Potter said.

Stuart Boyd-Law from National Parks and Wildlife Service is quite sure no panther or panthers are at large in the district now.

As Pest Management officer for the NPWS Glen Innes and Tenterfield areas, Mr Boyd-Law is responsible for monitoring and controlling all pest animals on the parks area of 324,000ha.”For the past 3 to 4 years we have had remote cameras across most of our parks tracking animal movements and we have never seen anything like a panther, “ Mr Boyd-Law said.

“ No panthers have been found, dead or run over on the roads. I haven’t seen a good photo of one or scats or paw prints. This gives me grave doubts about panther sightings.

Mr Boyd Law said the largest feral cats are 8-10 kilos, much smaller than the animals reported as the panther.

Have you entered the CFZ's Australian Big Cats competition? It closes September 1, 2012!

Meow! Australian Big Cats Competition

*** WIN 2 BOOKS and a beautiful big cat SCULPTURE! ***

To celebrate the fact we have two books out now and a third underway (shhhhh! a secret for now) we want to run this fabulous competition to reward you, our loyal readers and Facebook likers!

Win this beautiful David Geenty cold-cast bronze sculpture of a Puma/Cougar/Mountain Lion mounted on a wooden base. We love this so much we have one of our own on our bookshelf (and no, you won't be getting that one!). You will also win two signed copies of Savage Shadow (1 copy) AND Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers (1 copy). Altogether the prize is worth more than A$120!

To go into the running, you need to post a review(s) of one or more of our books (Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers and/or Savage Shadow: The Search for the Australian Cougar) to Amazon.com and/or Amazon.co.uk. It's easy to join these sites and your positive reviews will help support us in selling our books.

The more reviews you post, the better your chances! The maximum number of times you can enter is four (4) - a review of each book on both sites.

We will be drawing the winner (there is only one (1) prize) on Sepetember 1. This competition is open to all.

So get moving and get your reviews posted!

Mystery track puzzles Queenslanders

Over at the Australian Big Cats blog run by CFZer Mike Williams is this bush mystery - a clawed print found in the muddy red soil of far north Queensland.

"We were walking thru the bush along side a man-made dam and found these tracks running along side a cow's tracks. It measured 11cms in width..."

You can read about more sightings at www.australianbigcats.com

Sabrina's island cat sighting puzzling

Back in September 2011, CFZ Australia was contacted by Sabrina Tessari, an Italian tourist who had visited Magnetic Island. She emailed us and the Magnetic Times with some very interesting news.

On her visit Sabrina was keen to see the local wildlife, but she was shocked and surprised to see a big black cat on the island - an animal "equal to a black panther". At the time even we were puzzled but open-minded. And now subsequent reports have everyone scratching their heads.

~~~

My name is Sabrina Tessari, I live in Italy near Milan, and I returned
yesterday from a trip to Australia, doing a search on the internet I found your
site and I decided to write you immediately.

Between September 16 and September 22, 2011 I stayed in the Bungalow Bay Koala
Village structure in Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island. This is a camp in a
nature reserve. I slept in a bungalow in the back row next to wire that marks
the camp from the surrounding forest. Every day and night in camp I've seen
every kind of animal: kangaroos, wallabies, possums and parrots that I have fed
... but the last morning (it was around 7 and there was already light) as I
found on the veranda of the bungalow I noticed a noise over the wire and
thought it was the usual kangaroo, but I saw an animal that was equal to a
black panther (start by saying that I did not know that in Australia there were
no cats in the wild until then) are remained motionless, watching her walk
slowly for a few minutes near the wire, unfortunately,  his face was turned
towards the forest and I could not see, but the sinuous body with short hair,
shiny, black and stealthy pace, the unmistakable long tail with a rounded tip
have left me in doubt.

Soon after I went to ask the people of the structure (including a ranger) if
there were like animals in the reserve, but they said they were unaware of this
type of fauna. I ask you kindly to give me an answer, it is possible that on an
island in Queensland has come a big cat?

Sure of what I saw, I documented until I came across your site and I hope that
finally someone may now believe.

Is it possibile  the existence on Magnetic Island of a black panther or a big
cat?

~~~

Intrigued, we replied:

"Thanks for your interesting email. Is it possible that a small island could have a big cat? Yes.

"Is it probable? No.

"You may well have seen one of Australia's mystery cats, as I am sure you can tell the difference between on normal feral cat and something exotic like a panthera."

Panther talk around Lake Macquarie, NSW

Residents fear a panther is prowling the woods in the border region of southern Lake Macquarie.
A big cat could be lurking in thick scrub around Wyee, Morisset and Lake Munmorah, resident Jim Briggs has told the Newcastle Herald.

Speculation is rife among residents about several big-cat sightings.

Mr Briggs, of Lake Munmorah, said he recently found paw prints in sand in his backyard, which adjoins a state recreation area.

"I thought straight away it was a panther because a few big cats have been sighted around here," Mr Briggs said.

"The paw prints were as big as my hand and I have a bigger than normal hand size."

Mr Briggs said he showed pictures he took of the paw print to National Parks and Wildlife Service officials and they were "astounded".

A ranger later told him it appeared to be the print of a "huge wallaby", but Mr Briggs said there was no way it was a wallaby.

A National Parks spokesman said its officials had been shown the photos but couldn't draw any conclusions.

Mike Williams, of the Australian Big Cats website, said it was hard to tell anything from the pictures.

"I'd love to tell you it's a panther, but it could be a double wallaby print," Mr Williams said.

Mr Briggs said there were other signs of a big cat in the area.

"Not so long ago a workman found a half-eaten wallaby in bush between Wyee and Morisset," he said.

He believed a big cat was near his yard around Christmas.

"My son's dog, a Staffy, sensed something and he came to the door looking absolutely petrified," he said.

"Staffies aren't frightened of anything, but we couldn't calm it down."

Chris Coffey, from Grose Vale in the Hawkesbury area, established a "big cat database" in 1998.

Ms Coffey has recorded 560 big-cat sightings in NSW since then, including at Palmdale, Narara and Gosford on the Central Coast and at Berowra.

Ms Coffey began the database because she had seen a black panther on her property five times.

She said panthers were "leopards or jaguars".

"Years ago you could buy them on the black market for $5000," she said.

"Many people were told to put them down, but they didn't have the heart to do it so they let them go."

BLACK PANTHER TALES

* In 2002, a NSW government inquiry found it was ‘‘more likely than not’’ a colony of big cats was roaming Sydney’s outskirts and beyond

* American soldiers brought panthers and pumas (cougars) to Australia as mascots in World War II

* American goldminers brought big cats to NSW in the 1850s

* Black panther sightings in NSW have been happening for decades

* In May 2001, a freedom-of-information request revealed the state government had been keeping a secret file on panther

Thylacoleo alive and well up north?

Not everyone is prepared to dismiss the Tweed legend of a large flesh-eating marsupial lion stalking the dense hinterland near Tumbulgum, with a handful of locals convinced the beast is real - according to the Gold Coast Bulletin.

For years an urban myth about this ancient creature has circulated on the Tweed.

But experts reject the theory, saying Thylacoleo carnifex (murderous lion) was too long extinct.

Fossils indicate the marsupial lion was the largest meat-eating mammal known to have ever existed in Australia.

The beasts were about 75cm high at the shoulder and about 150cm from head to tail and had retractable claws, a trait unique to marsupials.

Tweed Historical Society member Brian Boyd said he heard the stories about a creature near north Tumbulgum and from the descriptions he had been given, it could only be one thing.

"I know a few people who have seen the creature. They have recalled it for me and provided sketches," he said.

"Every time we get the same description. It looks like a large tiger or lion but it has cramped-up hind legs more like a marsupial.

"It has a thick stunted nose like a wombat and is covered in brindle fur with sulphur yellow spots.

"These descriptions fit the bill with the marsupial lion."

Mr Boyd is so engrossed by the stories and descriptions he has been given by locals that he has built a scale papier mache model of the creature, which turns heads when he puts it on his front lawn in Tweed Heads West.

"I have a friend who has seen it twice and he said it was like no other creature he had ever seen in Australia," he said.

"Just maybe one of these creatures survived and it is happy out there feeding off the wildlife near Tumbulgum."

Northern New South Wales environmental scientist Gary Opit, 64, is adamant a marsupial lion does exist, saying he has seen such a creature at least four times.

Mr Opit, who hosts a weekly radio segment on the north coast about Australian wildlife, says his encounters with the beast have stretched as far north as Mt Tamborine.

"I first saw it in 1969 when I was working as a National Park Ranger at O'Reilly's," he said.

"I got a perfect view of it and you could tell it was some type of marsupial because it had that waddling walk."

Mr Opit, who grew up on the Gold Coast and studied at Griffith University, said he had seen a marsupial lion again in the Billinudgel Nature Reserve several times since 1995.

Jean-Marc Hero, an associate professor with the Griffith University School of Environment, is less convinced about the possibility a marsupial lion has survived.

Prof Hero said no physical evidence of live marsupial lions had been recovered since British settlement.

"It's more likely to be a quoll or an escaped feral cat, which can get quite large," he said.

"You certainly get quolls out at Springbrook so it would be possible a large one has ventured down further near Tumbulgum."

2011 - Year of the Big Cat?

First of all - Happy New Year!

In light of the calendar ticking over to 2011, it seems prudent to remember an enthusiastic cryptozoological promise made by Victorian Nationals Leader Peter Ryan in the lead-up to the 2010 state election.

Ryan nailed his colours to the mast and stated he was determined to get to the bottom of the big cat mystery - whether or not puma-like cats are roaming the Victorian countryside - and duly promised an official inquiry into big cat sightings.

In September 2010 he said it was time to establish whether Victoria really was home to more than just oversized domestic cats gone feral.

"I might be a sceptic, but we just need to bring in people with the relevant skills and back that up with the resources of the Department (of Sustainability and Environment)," he told The Weekly Times.

This won't be the first time an inquiry has been held into the existence of big cats - NSW has held two and WA one - but it has the potential to be the most thorough if all of the evidence is considered.

And he's off to a good start with his very own copy of Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers.

Now let's see if he can deliver!

The adventures of Tim Tyler and 'Fang' the black panther #5

Dead Panther Pt II

Our recent 'dead panther' investigation gets another plug, this time from a rival local paper, the Hawkesbury Gazette, which also plugs a recent sighting in the area. To see footage of the 'dead panther' skull (and hear a rather dispirited Mike Williams commentary on yet another false alarm) go here. As you can see from the picture above, our initial excitement wasn't entirely unwarranted - it did look like a BIG cat!

A false alarm on panther find

Despite a Hills paper declaring panther remains were found at a South Maroota property, the experts have said it was only a large feral cat.The owner of the property said his three dogs had brought the mauled carcass to him on Sunday, November 28.

He buried the carcass due to the stink and to stop the dogs mauling it even further.

Mike Williams, co-author of Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers was contacted about the find and drove from west of Lithgow to examine whether the carcass was really a “panther”.

He said he told the Hills paper it was a “large Felis cattus”, the species name of a domestic cat but it was reported in the paper as a “big fearless cat”.

“I burnt rubber to get down there and used a shovel to dig it up,”

Mr Williams said.

“I would’ve moved about a tonne of earth.

“I finally found it, and it was rotten and liquefied.

“I saw the remains and I saw the skull, and I’ve gone ‘you’re joking’.

“There are panthers out there, but this was not one of them!

“However it was a very large feral cat, and they are interesting to me as well.”

Grose Vale panther expert Chris Coffey said if it had been a panther “it would’ve made my Christmas”!

“I would’ve paid for the DNA testing myself,” she said.

Mrs Coffey said the incident was typical of a common misunderstanding that people made about the panther.

“They’ve got to understand the enormity of the animal,” she said.

“It would be at least the size of a rottweiler, a German shepherd or a labrador.”

Mrs Coffey said there were several physical differences between a big cat and a feral cat.

She said a panther would be at least a metre in length, 40-50cm tall at the shoulder, have a tail that is two thirds as long as the body, have rounded ears where feral cats have pointed ears, and have its ears on the side of its skull. Feral cats have ears on top of their skulls.

Mrs Coffey said the last Hawkesbury sighting of a panther had been at Cabbage Tree Creek two weeks ago.

The Adventures of Tim Tyler and 'Fang' the black panther #4