08 Aug 2000 AUSTRALIA:
Zoo officials warn off hunters.
By NEIL WILSON.
ZOO authorities yesterday appealed for hunters not to go after a huge cat in central Victoria after a Ballarat man allegedly captured evidence of the beast on video. The plea from the Melbourne Zoo came as the hills from Malmsbury to Ballarat were alive with speculation on how the big cat could finally be tracked down after generations of sightings. The Herald Sun yesterday spoke to two people who said they had seen the cat - a leopard or panther - within the past month. Each said footage taken in the Ballarat area by big cat enthusiast Steve Temby, shown on Channel Nine last night, showed a smaller cat than the one they had seen.
Melbourne man Allan Griffin said he saw a "jet black" animal, too big to be a feral cat or dog, cross the Western Highway a fortnight ago. And Bendigo roof tiler Doug Steele said he and two workmates had seen a similar animal on a property near Malmsbury about a month ago. The zoo's conser vation and research director, Peter Temple-Smith, does not believe the video is conclusive proof a panther exists. But he is also worried the animal would not have any protection under state law.
"There's a lot of people out there who would see this as a great trophy, some people would go and shoot it without any problem at all," he said. "I wouldn't like to see an animal killed because it has been brought to the attention of the public. I would be very disappointed. The public has to discuss this and make some decisions on what to do with it."
Mr Griffin, 73, said he now believed the story of a friend, a driver for the US Army Air Force during World War II, who told him of the release of smuggled cats in the Grampians by officers who had kept the animals as pets. At dusk on July 22, Mr Griffin was driving towards Melbourne, about 10km west of Beaufort, when he saw an animal bound across the road. "It was a puma no doubt," he said. "When it leapt out I thought it must have been a kangaroo, but there's no doubt it was a cat - a big fellow, jet black."
Mr Steele said he and his workmates had seen a panther about 400m away in a property on Drummond Rd, Malmsbury, and he was certain it could not have been a feral cat. "It was bigger than the animal on television. It was black, like a little panther," he said.
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