Snarls From the Tea-tree looks at Victorian big cat reports

The Australian big cat phenomena gets the academic treatment from David Waldron and Simon Townsend, who have penned an examination of Victorian reports in their new book Snarls From the Tea-tree: Victoria's Big Cat Folklore.

Check out the book blurb:

Big cat scares have for generations haunted Victorians; stories of stock killed, claims of paw-prints left behind, rumours of 'beast' attacks only breeding the 'myth'.

Often there was a large local response, with massive bushland hunts that focused on the notion of escaped lions, tigers or other big cats.

The 'myth' of the big cat has evolved over time, but relates closely to Australia's engagement with its environment.

Waldron and Townsend study this big cat folklore evolution across Victoria.

Hunt goes on for big cats

Geelong region researcher Simon Townsend claims the Victorian Government has predictably whitewashed an independent report into existence of big cats in the state, the Advertiser has reported.

Mr Townsend yesterday vowed to continue his work in the field seeking conclusive evidence, despite Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh washing the state's hands of any ongoing research.

"It's as expected, sadly disappointing," Mr Townsend said.

"I'll look after things from here on he's not up to this."

Mr Walsh said a "desktop study" by Peter Menkhorst and Leigh Morison for the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research had found there was a lack of hard evidence that a population of wild big cats existed in Victoria.

"No big cat has ever been detected in a formal wildlife survey, shot by a hunter or farmer or killed by a vehicle, and no skeletal remains have ever been found," Mr Walsh said.

"Nor have big cats been identified in wildlife studies involving the analysis of thousands of mammalian faecal samples.

"The study concluded the most obvious explanation for many of the reported sightings of big cats over the years is that they were large feral domestic cats."

Mr Townsend, of Freshwater Creek, has devoted decades to big cat research and is founder of the Big Cats Victoria website.

He hailed the Menkhorst report and its recommendations as excellent, but believes a government pre-election promise to explore Victoria's big cat legend never held genuine intent. "I don't believe the Government even intended this to get off the ground," Mr Townsend said.

"The fact of the matter is there is some evidence, which is presented within the report, talking about existing DNA evidence indicating there may well be leopard present in the Otways.

"It's the only time DNA evidence has been done and the minister doesn't want to spend any money on doing any more."

He said technology was accessible. DNA analysis was already routinely used in instances including dog attacks on people.

Mr Walsh said the DNA evidence could not be entirely dismissed.

"But it is not sufficiently conclusive to prove beyond reasonable doubt the identity of an animal," he said.

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Southern Right of Frankston
Posted at 09:20pm Wednesday 19th
Ive seen a giant hairy half human, half cat running around before the football at Simonds stadium. I can't beleive no one else has seen it! it's out there I'm telling ya!

Jack V Russell of Torquay
Posted at 07:25pm Wednesday 19th
Hmm, big cats, big scats! Our state governmenta can spend money better than on scat projects. Having said that, the Victorian government has obviously made a silly election promise, and tnen spent a few hundred dollars in secret to meet the promise. That is why they won't disclose how much they have spent when the relevant department's budget (and others) is cut. P.S. lok up the definition of scat before commenting.

of Barwon edge
Posted at 04:19pm Wednesday 19th
Reality I think it is too late I saw one at Full forward in the All Australian Team, He is huge, well over 6 foot and 100+ kgs.

Mick of Geelong
Posted at 02:42pm Wednesday 19th
Is that the same guy from Wonderworld?

Wiz.
Posted at 02:42pm Wednesday 19th
Go Simon, why not form a club - this could end up being a great tourism dollar earner when you find the truth.

Reality of Torquay
Posted at 12:03pm Wednesday 19th
Quick ! surround Kardina Park and dont let cats out !

Rob of Bellarine Posted at 10:43am Wednesday 19th
Typical on again off again funding attitude across all areas is what the current government is gaining a reputation for. In the overall scheme of things, a small amount of funding to help scientifically prove the presence of a big cat in the Otways, is a small sum indeed, but it would be of great interest to many people. Like so many other government ministers at the moment, as Mr. Townsend implies - they are just not up to it.

Rob S of Hampton
Posted at 08:20am Wednesday 19th
In a couple of weeks time I'll be bush walking and riding in the Otways, I'll keep an eye out for it, and the Loch Ness monster too!

Dreamer of Freshwater Creek
Posted at 07:49am Wednesday 19th
Good luck Mr Townsend, if you want to believe then you pay for you own research, not us tax payers.

lee of geelong
Posted at 07:08am Wednesday 19th
grow up and accept it mate ,there are no panthers in vic !

Big cat hunters vindicated

Big cat believers are no longer considered 'nutters' but people worth listening to, writes Chris McLennan for the Weekly Times.

Simon Townsend has been vindicated.

His obsession with mysterious big cats is no longer considered as weird as it once was.

The Victorian Government has made big cat hunting almost mainstream.

Simon's not alone.

Hundreds of people have come forward in the past week with their own hesitant eyewitness accounts of a big cat.

Powerful animals with giant eyes shining like torches in the car headlights.

Black cats running into the bush, jaws dripping crimson from a fresh kill in a farmer's paddock.

These people have also been emboldened by the Government.

Their stories can now travel further than the safe confines of family gatherings.

There is a community-wide protection afforded to big cat tales this week that didn't exist last week.

For many decades, Simon and fellow big cat hunter John Turner had occupied a space that included UFO believers, bunyips and yowies.

"We knew we weren't crazy, perhaps a bit odd, I'm certain everyone else thought we were crazy," Simon said.

First, we should say Simon is not the Townsend of television fame, but a well-spoken retired farmer from the Geelong district, snake catcher, justice of the peace and odd-jobs man.

He was once a councillor on the Surf Coast Shire, which he laughingly admitted was no guarantee of sanity.

Forty years ago, when he was 17, he had an experience with a big cat in the Yarra Ranges that changed his life.

"I saw a black panther at close range. Other people with me saw it too. It was as real as it can get," he said.

It filled him with questions, but Simon was surprised to find little written material on Australia's mystery animals.

"There was lots about the Loch Ness monster or Abominable Snowman but nothing about Australia."

Over the years, Simon and John have done their best to set that right.

Their bigcatvictoria website is the cutting edge in research as far as the big cat mystery goes. Within two days of news breaking of the Government search, they had 4309 hits on their website, equivalent to their normal traffic over a month.

Simon was no longer a fringe dweller but an authority.

He conducted six radio and two television interviews last Wednesday alone, including one with Radio New Zealand.

Government researchers have already rifled through Simon and Paul's collection of big cat reports, pictures and frozen kill samples.

His only disappointment thus far about his newfound popularity is that Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh hadn't spoken to him personally.

"We seem to be doing a lot of the work for the Government, I am surprised it wasn't acknowledged," he said.

There are several books in the wind, including one with a Ballarat academic, and given the Government's search, sales of the book might be better than originally expected.

Despite this renewed interest in big cats, Simon hopes no-one catches one.

"It would be traumatised, it would cause all sorts of problems. No, that's not what I want at all," he said.

Simon is not certain a big cat will be run to ground.

"They've been around for more than a century and they still haven't been caught," he said.

"The reports we get are all so consistent there's no doubt at all in my mind they are still about, and all over the state.

"People see dark-coloured animals which are scared of them and run away."

Simon said that "for the moment" he was merely interested in tapping into the sudden rise of interest to collect all the eyewitness accounts people may have been too embarrassed to offer in the past.

Simon and John have a network of big cat watchers all around the state.

He admits their own days of hiding out in the bush covered against the elements in a rain-proof poncho hoping for a big cat sighting are in a more athletic past. They prefer to be called out now after a mauling or a fresh kill.

With modern scientific analysis, Simon believes the DNA evidence would be more important than a blurry picture or indistinct video.

"Even if we find one or two there's still going to be lots more that are never going to be found," he said.

"The search for the big cats will go on for another hundred years. With the right attitude we might be able to answer a few questions right now but no way are we going to be able to answer them all."

No reward for big cat scalp

Last week's story about the hunt for big cats throughout Victoria has caused plenty of interest for readers of the Weekly Times.

The Victorian Government will not be offering a reward for a big cat.

There are fears a cash reward would lead to a rush of indiscriminate shooting and trapping across the state.

The Victorian Government has been taken aback by the huge public interest in its big cat hunt since it was first reported in The Weekly Times last week.

Thousands of people have taken part in media polls and many hundreds more have offered reports of eyewitness sightings of the elusive big cats.

Several people have suggested the Government offer a dead-or-alive reward as a cheaper way of doing its largely office-bound research.

Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh offered a flat "no" to the idea.

Big cats researcher and author, Dr David Waldron of the University of Ballarat, said a reward would be terrifying.

"You will get people going out there who don't know what they are doing," he said.

"The likelihood that someone would get seriously hurt is very high."

The state's leading big cats researcher, Simon Townsend, said a reward would be inappropriate.

"You would have a lot of incompetent people wandering around in the bush ... some of them would be trigger-happy, something tragic would happen," he said.

Many rewards have been offered for evidence of a big cat over the years.

One of the most recent was in Gippsland's Glengarry, where a hunting store owner offered $10,000 for a big cat killed with an arrow. The reward was never claimed.

A national magazine offered $20,000 for the capture of the Beast of Bealiba in the 1980s.

The beast, supposedly a rogue puma living and hunting in central Victoria, was never found and the reward never claimed.