BigCat Hunting

Posted: by mike in

Hi,
I just read an old article in the november 2005 Australian Shooter Magazine that i got the other day from someone who dropped them off at the Geelong Outdoor Sportsman. I'm not sure weather or not you are still wanting evidence of big cats in Australia as this email address was published at the end of the article entitled Big Cat Shot by Rebecca Lang focussing on the big cat shot by Kurt Engel. 

Anyway i just thought i would send you an encounter that i had about 5 years ago with my mates dad and his sister-in-law, his son and my brother. I had heard once about a big cat problem in Australia but i was fairly young at the time about 13 years old, i'm now 18. We went out for a little 4WD ride in Pricetown Victoria near Port Cambell just before dark and on the way back from this drive in the bush getting close to the camp ground we where driving fairly slow as the driver, my mates dad, was trying to do something. All of a sudden we seen this big black thing sitting on the track with large glowing eyes not like anything we had seen before. As we got closer we stopped the car and we could see about 40meters away this huge black cat. The thing was massive. But just as we stopped the car the thing got up and walked slowly through the fence followed by it's huge tail then took off in a hurry. The thing was shinny jet black and looked like a panther. I'd have no idea wether it was a panther or not but it was a massive big cat. It was just short in height of a great dane, just a little shorter and looked solidly built. I now believe in these big cats and know for a fact that they are out there and my friends dad who was driving the car has said that he had once shot at one with a .22 while foxing and rabbit shooting in a ute but thought that he had hit it in the back leg region. Any way he said that was a good ten years before we saw this one.

I thought that since i had this story and none of my friends had ever believed me i'd just let you know because i came across the old article from 2005 of Kurt Engel's big cat that he shot. One of mates at the moment said that we should see if we can go and try and shoot one sometime up around the Otway National park in victoria or Gippsland way it dosn't really bother us to much where we go we just really  want to help out the problem of big cats. We both doubt we would ever have any luck but id like to get in touch with a farmer that has had problems with live stock being killed by a predicted big cat and set up trail cams and try and see if we can help prove that these big cats do exist and help out these farmers that are loosing live stock. I have also heard a few stories from people who have spotted big cats recently up in the Otway's wether you knew about these ones that or not. 

Thank you for your time and hope that this is of interest to you.

from Jayden Brant

The Search that never was..

Posted: by mike in


What a %$#@ surprise..announce a "search" when in opposition.
Get in government..announce a "peek through the diaries of doggers" (how scientific is that)..and do nothing..and then cancel.. 

AN official search for the Otways big cat has been called off.
Department of Primary Industries staff assigned to a state-wide hunt have been redirected and Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh said the program had been shelved.
It was revealed in January this year that South Barwon MP Andrew Katos had sought advice on potential grants for DNA analysis, on behalf of a local group chasing proof of big cats in the Otways.
The two men heading the group, Simon Townsend and John Turner, have dedicated themselves to finding proof of the panther-like predators.
Mr Walsh was asked about the search for the big black cat during a budget estimates hearing at Parliament yesterday.
"It's something that has been a part of Victorian folklore for quite a few decades," he said."There are those who firmly believe there are some big cats out there. There are those who are equally as certain there are no big cats.
"When the resources are available, we will have a search of all the information about the big black cat issue."
Labor MP Martin Pakula said: "I reckon by the time they start looking for kitty, it will have gone the way of the Tassie tiger."
Mr Walsh said the DHS staff would be reassigned to a program tackling the state's wild dog program.
"The issues around wild dog attacks are well document, both on farm animals and native fauna," he said.

Panther in the Gully-Victoria

Posted: by mike in


 
Hi there,
This afternoon I was walking my dog at the quarry in ######## and my dog spotted an animal sunning itself on a rock. It was maybe 30-50 meters away and I would not of even noticed it if my dog hadn't frozen and stared. My dog then went to run at it and the animal got up and "slinked" into the bushes behind it. That's when i thought, What the hell was that? It was as big as a medium dog, but moved like a cat. It was black, but not pitch black, and had a hint of ginger or dark tan on its underside. I saw it move about 5 meters until it went into the bushes and it moved just like a huge cat. But the most defining feature of all.. It's tail. Almost 2/3 the length of its body, sloping downward then flattening out in profile, and the end seemed rounded. Dare I say it. It looked like a panther.

Hope this helps with your research
Thanks
T

The Project

Posted: by mike in




"The Project" on Channel 10 last friday did a short segment on bigcats in OZ. 
They must have spent minutes researching the segment.
 I had to endure several days of that tripe just to watch this episode.
 The 'bigcat researcher' on the show used the term 'anecdotal evidence' which is an oxymoron..so I switched off.
The Project is not even a lousy concept..

Yet another big cat has been sighted in Yarra Ranges

Posted: by mike in


Yet another big cat has been sighted in Yarra Ranges.
This is the third time the big cat has been spotted in the area over the past few months.
A teen was out for an evening stroll along the Belgrave-Gembrook Rd at 6.20pm on Tuesday, April 3 when she heard a deep growl in the bushes.
Jasmina Palarama, 13, swung round and to her horror saw a “gigantic” cat or puma slink into the undergrowth.
The Selby teenager was walking with her brother and his girlfriend when they heard the growling noise and the bushes rustle.
She spotted the animal as it moved off.
“It was a very large black cat with a very large tail. I saw its back leg as it walked into the bushes and it was waist or hip height,” Jasmina said.
“I only saw the large cat for three or four seconds and it had very short black fur.”
A number of sightings have been reported to the Leader over the past few months.
One reader wrote they spotted an animal with a big, black long tail in Steels Creek recently.
Millgrove resident Kym Burton saw a big cat strutting along Warburton Highway towards Seville in February this year.
She noticed the “great big black panther” had big yellow eyes.
And Healesville resident Irene Smith said she and her husband saw a “very beautiful” big cat on the road through Christmas Hills at 1.40am a while back.
“It was standing up on an embankment, it looked like it had black velvet fur,” she said.
A thoroughbred horse in The Basin suffered deep curved claw marks on its upper back flanks in November last year and owner Kate Barry is convinced a puma could be to blame.
The Wantirna South resident stables her seven-year-old horse Oki in a paddock in The Basin, and arrived one morning to find the animal in pain after being attacked.
“I think something came out of the bushes at him,” Ms Barry said.
“Whatever has come at him has come from the back and the claws have come in like hooks.”


How we bagged the Gully's panther

Posted: by mike in

Yes I know its a trick photo but it looks great.


The Gully's panther is dead. We're not making a fuss about it – no one wants the attention it'll bring. But the bloke who shot it is pretty pleased with himself.
Everyone knew there was a panther around here. A couple of people had actually seen it. Paw prints were found sometimes. A few farmers had lost sheep, though the unbelievers reckoned it was dogs.
But then yesterday, as I was priming the pump at the well, I heard a distant shot. Minutes later, the phone rang.
"Got yer camera?" asked the Captain. "Get down here quick smart cos I've shot m'self a panther!"
"A panther?" I asked suspiciously. "What, as big as that tortoiseshell tom Ted shot up on your hill?"
"A panther!" the Captain insisted. "A real, fair dinkum black panther. Get over here, now."
The Captain was still running around with his side-by-side 12-gauge in his hand, brimming with almost as much energy as his silky terrier.
"Strewth," I said. "You did shoot a panther." This was clearly not an African panther, but the American breed, which is a black version of a mountain lion or puma, as the Yanks know it.
"I told you we had one," he retorted. Many people believe they're here in Australia, and books have been written on the subject, but until now I'd never seen the proof.
"I heard it growl," he said. "I looked out the door and there it was, sitting on the edge of the pool looking down at Tilley." I'm sure it was – the little dog would've been a tasty snack.
The relatively small wound testified to how close the panther had been when John pulled the trigger. None of the pellets had exited the animal's big body.
It must have weighed 50 kilos and was solidly muscled. Its shining coat indicated it was in superb condition.
Then again, I could be mistaken. I've been known to be out in my weight estimates. Even exaggerate once or twice. It's all a matter of perspective, although the camera never lies.
Cheers,

source

Mick Matheson
18 October 2011


Gembrook bigcat

Posted: by mike in

To whom it may concern,
I would like to report a big cat sighting. 01/03/2012, 7:45am, xxxxxxxx Road, Gembrook, Victoria .
I pulled into the picnic ground off xxxxxxxxxx Rd, 30-50 metres from the road, early in the morning. As I pulled up there was a white 4wd with a horse float and two horse riders/horses approaching from a forest path opposite the park entrance. Not wanting to startle the horses I manouvered my vehicle around so I could drive straight out of the park and cause minimum fuss to the horses. At this time one of the riders was now ready to load the horses onto the float, as I started my light truck the horses became startled slightly and I drove slowly to exit the picnic ground. As I turned right out of the pic. ground onto the road(heading back towards Gembrook) and looked in my left side mirror I saw what I can only describe as a large black cat walking into the bushes on the opposite side of road to the pic. gnd. I was only able to see the cat from behind the front legs back to its tail. This animal was slightly larger than the Rottweiler we used to own, had short shiny black fur, solid rear legs, very large paws and a long thick tail, same thickness the whole length of the tail. It walked slowly and smoothly into the bush. I can only assume that this cat was curious about the horses and came for a closer inspection. This cat was incredibly close to us and the horses( within 25 metres) in this instance, did not seem alarmed at the presence of people or cars starting up/running, and in my opinion seemed quite at ease with it's casual exit from the scene. Thought I'd better report my sighting, and that's it.
Regards,
M

Tassie Tigers sighted locally

Posted: by mike in


DESPITE being officially extinct, the Tasmanian Tiger is still making news headlines, even here in Northern NSW.
There have been several recent sightings of an unusual 'dog-like' animal, seen in and around the region and north coast wildlife expert Gary Opit has been taking note.
For the past 15 years, Mr Opit has been a regular guest speaker on ABC North Coast (formerly 2NR) and in that time he has received around 50 reports from callers describing an unfamiliar animal that he said resembles one of two species, possibly the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex), or the Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus).
While the last known Tasmanian Tiger died in Hobart Zoo in 1936, Mr Opit said that the most recent fossil evidence of the marsupial lion, which lived on Australia's mainland, was dated at around 3000 years old.
Many of the recent sightings have occurred around Mullumbimby, Nimbin and Byron Bay.
But before you jump to any conclusions, Mr Opit has been gathering newspaper clippings and eyewitness reports from all over Australia since the early 1960s when, as a young man, he first became interested in unusual and unclassified native animals.
(Pictured right: Gary Opit's drawing of a Queensland Marsupial Tiger)
"I always wanted to be a zoologist, was always visiting Taronga zoo and the Australian Museum and, as a 19-year-old Sydney teenager, I bought my first zoological text book, 'Furred Animals of Australia' by the Curator of Mammals at the Australian Museum, Ellis Troughton, our top zoologist," Mr Opit said.
"I was surprised to find between the studies and descriptions of the Tasmanian Devil and the Tasmanian Tiger, two pages dedicated to the Striped Marsupial-cat of North Queensland. Years earlier, in 1963, I had kept a clipping from one of the Sydney papers with a photograph of an unknown animal, described as the Ozenkadnook Tiger and taken by a Melbourne lady named Rilla Martin," he said.
Not long after, the young Gary Opit moved with his family to Surfers Paradise and it was here that he read and kept a letter to the editor to the Gold Coast Bulletin, published 22 September 1967, from Mr Carl Lentz, an early pioneer, who wrote in response to articles on a mystery animal observed by people on the edge of Southport living beside the State Forest.
He wrote: "Then a great strange head appeared out of the thick foliage. It was about to jump towards me so I quickly fired and it fell with a hard bump onto stones only two yards away. It was as big as an Alsatian dog. We tied its legs together with tough vines and stuck a long pole through them, by which we carried it home about half a mile. It was heavy. I intended to take it to Nerang 10 miles away by pack horse the next day and send it by train to the Brisbane Museum but owing to heavy rains all night causing the creek to flood we couldn't make the journey to Nerang so we measured it and skinned it instead."
"From the tip of the nose to the end of its long thick black tail it measured six feet, height of shoulder 25 inches, around the chest 23 inches. It was long in the body and strongly built on the forequarters, but more slightly built around the waist and hindquarters. It had two extra long sharp fang teeth, one and five eighth inches long besides the four ordinary incisor teeth. Its forehead and face was a light bronze colour. It had five bright orange rings of very short hair around its eyes. Its eyes were puce (purplish-brown) coloured. It had round ears of a pale fleshy colour, almost human ears. It had a short thick coat of light pale blue-grey and white stripes running downwards with bright, marble-sized orange to yellow spots along the flanks."
"From the back of the head covering the body it had a dark thin coat of black hairs and this made it appear a brindled colour at a distance when seen standing up from the side. The light pale blue-grey and white stripes running downwards along the flanks shone through the long thin outer coat of black hairs and looked very pretty close up. Its tail was covered with long black hair, underneath that, white and blue-grey rings an inch wide. It was a magnificent, male, specimen."
After this, Mr Opit heard reports of a similar experience, which happened to Gilston's first pioneer, Mr. William Duncan who related that the blacks called the animal a 'Punchum'
A couple of years later in 1969, Mr Opit was fortunate to himself see this animal cross the road at night and drew a picture.
"I used to work with Australia's most famous zoologist David Fleay at his zoo at West Burleigh, he was famous for filming the only movie footage of the last Tasmanian tiger in Hobart in 1936 and the first to breed the platypus. A couple of times people described to him the same animal that I had seen and he wondered if it could be a mainland representative of the Tasmanian tiger."
In the early 1970s, Mr Opit began working as a park ranger for the QLD National Parks, and while at O'Reilly's in Lamington National Park, he recorded wildlife but never heard any more about the Punchum and he thought that whatever it was it was probably extinct.
Then, in the mid 1980s and early 1990s, Mr Opit received reports and drawings from people on Tamborine Mountain where he lived on and off for 25 years, but he had never seen it himself even though he explored most of the forests identifying plants and animals.
"It was only after moving to live on Jones Road between Wooyung and Yelgun that I finally observed again what is probably the same unknown carnivorous marsupial, the Punchum, though this individual is very dark brown," he said.
"I have found it two other times in the Billinudgel Nature Reserve and both times it moved off rapidly."
"I have never really gone too public about it before, except mentioning it on my Wildlife Wednesday broadcast two or three times over the last 15 years of broadcasting, when listeners described a similar animal that they had observed. Eventually I put all the reports that sounded most like a thylacine together for the ABC website. I still don't know what it is."
As an Environmental Scientist, Mr Opit has assisted Australian Government's in all areas of conservation and is highly regarded in the Australian Crypto world as an authority.
To view Mr Opits log of eye-witness reports, visit www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/02/262172927
Have you seen an animal you can't identify?
We'd love to hear about it.
Better still, if you have a photo or video, please get in touch and we will put you in contact with Mr Opit.
source

Wildcats spotted in Yarra Ranges

Posted: by mike in Labels:

YARRA Ranges residents believe pumas are not the only big cats to roam the hills.
Healesville farmer Ken Lang believes there are both leopards and pumas living in the area.
>> Have you seen or heard of any big cats in the area? Tell us below.
“When I first came here in about 1980 a neighbour complained they found two dead lambs that had been chewed, high up in the fork of a tree,” Mr Lang said.
“Puma’s don’t do that.”
He said several years ago a big cat tried to pull down a pony on Don Rd, Badger Creek, leaving the animal with big claw marks down its flanks.
“Pumas eat anything from insects to antelopes, but I doubt they could try and pull down a pony.
“Leopards, however, can eat small game,” Mr Lang said.
He regularly loses stock to foxes and eagles, and the occasional wild dog - and is adamant he has seen a large black animal stalking his deer.
He said he had talked to a Healesville plumber whose father was in the Australian army when the American officers were rumoured to have released pumas into the Victorian countryside.
Mr Lang said the soldiers released the large cats onto a farm in Gippsland, and said the felines would come up to the farm to be fed for the first six months after their release.
After that they were never seen again. Leader has been inundated with phone calls and letters following last week’s report Cat scanned (February 15), with residents confirming sightings from Dixons Creek, Gruyere, Gembrook, Emerald and Upwey.
Toolangi naturalist Bernie Mace has researched big cat sightings for more than 30 years and has seen and heard pumas in the area.
“It is my belief that we have at least one exotic species of big cat in Victoria which is the puma, Felis Concolor,” Mr Mace said.
“If a puma doesn’t want you to find it, you won’t because they are brilliant at keeping out of sight.”
He said he had talked to a family whose encounter with a leopard matched the physical description of the animal.
Mr Mace said the sightings of big darker-coloured cats could be a “melanistic” puma, which are distinctively black.
The scientist said he had talked to witnesses who had been at the farm where American soldiers set a puma and her cubs free.
“The farm had changed hands a couple of times by the time I got there, and I was shown the spot where the pumas were released,” Mr Mace said.
“I believe the pumas were a popular US mascot when the soldiers were in Australia, and I’m of the belief there were several releases around Victoria.”
He said there must be a “nucleus” of male and female pumas, otherwise there would be significant genetic issues.

Six-foot Big Cat captured on video

Posted: by mike in Labels:

I had to pull the embed video link which "The Sun" supplies because for the first time ever..someone wanted me to pay £500 for using the embed code on my site..amazing..
Here is the video..
A LEOPARD-like creature 6ft from nose to tail is caught on video bounding across a field at dusk — which an expert believes is final proof Britain's Big Cats really do exist.
Why big cats may roam UK
TV naturalist reveals why he thinks we share the countryside with animals like pumas 
The film was taken by teaching assistant Coryn Memory close to the site of a recent spate of deer killings.
But it was not an isolated sighting. Coryn, 45, says she has seen the animal, described as a "slim, black leopard" in a valley outside Stroud, Gloucs, FIVE TIMES — before finally getting the evidence on film.
She said: "It was around for about 20 minutes and luckily I had my camera. It was probably 300 yards away and I don't think it was aware I was there.
"It came in and out of the field and at one point seemed to be having a root around, probably for small animals.
Video: Big cat gets caught on tape
BEAST moggie is '6 feet long', and is 'one of UK's most brutal predators'
"At one stage a fox was in the same shot so you could compare the difference in size.
Coryn added: "I would describe it as a small leopard-like Big Cat and I think it's been around for a couple of years.
"But I don't think it's a danger or threat."
Wildlife expert Frank Tunbridge, who has spent 25 years investigating Big Cats in the Cotswolds, described the film as "conclusive proof" they exist.
To work out the animal's size, he was filmed with a cut-out of a Big Cat at the spot where the "Beast Of Stroud" was filmed. That footage was then superimposed over the original.
It showed the Big Cat was even bigger than his estimate — 6ft long and 2ft high to the top of its shoulder.
source