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Bitten by Big Cat Mystery - Unexplained Animal Sightings Reignite the Belief Panthers and Leopards are Running Wild in Australia
By Glenis Green
Glenis Green goes on the prowl for the mystery feline that has given the sceptics paws for thought
"Everyone believes it is impossible for any big cat to be free within Australia . . . If ever one becomes a man-eater, we've got real problems''
THERE'S nothing quite like a mystery animal sighting to divert attention from life's less-exhilarating realities -- such as the global economic crisis.
So this week's reports of a big cat prowling the rural suburb of Glenwood, north of Gympie, have not only given some light relief on the news front, they have also reignited the age-old debate over the existence of mythical and mysterious creatures in Queensland.
From the Kilcoy Yowie to the Logan Bunyip; the Buderim Beast to the Gayndah Bear, this state has had more than its fair share of unexplained animal sightings over the decades.
Whole websites are now devoted to Australian cryptozoology, featuring regular blogs detailing the latest sightings, recording local legend and analysing every skerrick of data, from prints and poo to grainy photos and video clips.
And now the Glenwood Panther can be added -- thanks to the quick thinking of Pepper Rd pensioner Colin Rossow, 67, who managed to take a plaster cast of a huge paw print in soft dirt near his grape trellis last week.
Despite an initial flurry of scepticism, other Glenwood residents have come forward to relate their own close encounters of the big cat kind.
David Nelmes, who lives nearby in Fleming Rd, has even produced photographs of a similar panther-sized paw print he found in soft-packed clay around the water tank he installed some months back. He took measurements and took his evidence to the local vet but did not go public for fear of ridicule.
Mr Nelmes said whatever made the prints had a stride measuring 130cm and he actually measured them against a neighbour's husky to see the difference.
``It was definitely a big cat and not a dog,'' he said. ``When I went to the vet he said, `There's no dog that size', because when you look at it, it would have measured 1.3m from toe to toe."
Mr Nelmes said he had shot at feral cats in the St George area in his younger days and while some of them could get to the size of a young cocker spaniel, they were nowhere near as big as the marks near his tank indicated.
Wayne Welch, 53, of Kallangur, who is helping big cat expert Mike Williams with research for The Centre for Fortean Zoology and his new book, Big Cats in Australia, said he had been studying big cats himself since he was eight years old and he thought Mr Rossow's paw print looked genuine.
``Everyone believes that it is impossible for leopards or any big cat to be free within Australia,'' Mr Welch said.
``I can tell you now that the illegal wildlife animal trade is alive and well. You can get any animal you like into Australia and they are being brought in by the Indonesian fishing boats that poach our waters . . . what about that alligator that was captured in southern New South Wales?''
Mr Welch said Mr Rossow's plaster cast indicated the big cat was probably a big male weighing up to 100kg.
``If ever one becomes a man-eater, we've got real problems,'' he said.
Mr Welch said he had once seen a mystery big cat in the northern Tallebudgera area of NSW when he was out shooting to feed his dogs. ``I was about 4km from home and I'd shot a small wallaby and the sun was going down and suddenly all the birds went quiet and the hair on the back of my neck stood up on end,'' he said.
``I was taking the skin off the 'roo and there was a blackberry bush with what looked like a dark shadow under it. I picked up my Winchester and as I put the shell in, the shadow jumped up and took off. It was no pig, it was running like a cat. It would have been 6 or 7 feet from (nose) tip to tail and would have gone 90kg. I've seen feral cats and it was no feral cat.''
Another Glenwood area resident, Mark Ward, said he had pictures of a ``big, ginger cat'' the same size as a dingo, moving through his property; while other Courier-Mail bloggers have related similar stories of seeing huge wild cats all around Australia.
One Brisbane reader said he could usually be very sceptical about things such as ``panther'' sightings.
``However one of the strangest things I've ever seen was a big black cat crossing the highway in front of my parents' car near Gayndah (northwest of Glenwood) about 15 years ago,'' he said.
``I know what we saw that day wasn't just a feral cat. My parents and I, to this day, are still convinced that it was a panther that crossed the road in front of our car. Believe what you like, but we know it's out there.''
However, lecturer in wildlife ecology at the Sunshine Coast University, Scott Burnett, told ABC News the Glenwood Panther was most likely a very large feral domestic cat.
Mr Burnett said such cats could reach big sizes but their feet usually stayed a more normal size.
``If it's a genuine big cat, the feet will be much bigger than a dog's,'' he said.
The Courier-Mail: 17th January 2009