Cape’s Mystery Cat Could be a Panther
Ross Irby irbyr@tcp.newsltd.com.au
BUSHLAND near Cooktown may home to a big cat. Oakey Creek resident John Merry has made plaster casts of large paw prints of the mystery beast.
Mr Merry, who is regarded as a rational man, said he saw a large black-and-tan animal twice in two days recently near a dam wall on a remote property.
Intrigued, Mr Merry was determined to gather evidence to prove that what he saw was no illusion.
He described the mystery beast to Cooktown locals as “3m long, including a curved tail, and about 1.2m high” with big, long legs.
The paw prints measured 10cm by 7.5cm.
Mr Merry said what he saw was definitely a feline, and too big to be a large dog. Both times he saw the beast at 8am and the first time he was able to observe it for a few minutes before it disappeared into the bush.
Cooktown pastor Wayne Brennan, who described Mr Merry as a very level-headed man, said he too had seen a mysterious animal last year.
He said he was driving the school bus towards Rossville when he saw the animal walk on to the road about 500m away.
“It turned it’s head and looked directly at me before it ran off,” he said.
“The way it bounded and leapt over the fringe of grass – its movements were definitely feline.”
Pastor Brennan said that animal was “pure black” in colour.
Cook Shire chief executive officer Mark Pitt examined the plaster cast and said if it was from a cat it was much bigger and heavier than any feral cat.
“It is not inconceivable that it’s from a panther,” he said.
“John said he saw something and what he saw is debatable. But it left a very big pad size.”
Mr Pitt contacted “big cat” authority and author on suspected panther sightings Prof John Henry, from Victoria’s Deakin University.
Prof Henry, who has seen a photograph of the cast, said there was strong evidence panthers may exist in remote parts of Victoria and the possibility could not be ruled out in the Cooktown sighting.
Mystery: Oakey Creek resident John Merry compares a plaster cast of the mystery animal’s paw with the size of a soft drink can.
The Cairns Weekend Post: 11/8/07