BigCats

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Created: 10 September 2006

Wildlife expert goes for feral cat option
Susan Sandys

Saturday, 9 September 2006

Sightings of a large black cat roaming Mid Canterbury are likely to be of large feral cats, rather than the district being home to a panther, says a wildlife expert.

Graham Petrie, Christchurch’s Orana Park head keeper of exotic animals, said domestic cats which had spent a few generations in the wild can become quite large and feral cats are more of a problem now in New Zealand than they ever have been.

“Any species that lives in the wild, it’s really only the big and strong that survive,” Mr Petrie said.

“This is what’s happening in New Zealand.

“Animals sometimes get smaller in captivity, but in a wild situation there’s always a chance things get bigger because the big will survive.”

Mr Petrie has viewed photographs of a large black cat walking stealthily along a stock track in the Pudding Hill area taken by Methven hunting guide Al Kircher almost two weeks ago.
“It’s a feral cat, that’s all it is,” Mr Petrie said after studying the digital images.

Feral cats are domestic cats – Felis silvestris catus - which have adapted to living in the wild, hunting prey and eating dead animals, and posing a threat to native birdlife.

Mr Petrie also said he was starting to get annoyed by the sightings reported by some people – “We are hearing people saying it’s the size of a mountain lion. This is the stuff that’s starting to irritate us.”

Mr Petrie has visited Mid Canterbury with MAF in an unsuccessful search for evidence of any such large panther-like creature.

Mr Petrie said the Mid Canterbury sightings may very well give legendary status to “New Zealand’s Loch Ness Monster”, but until someone brought in a black panther which had been caught in a trap or shot, or some other evidence which could lead to DNA identification, experts would not believe the cat sightings pointed to anything other than feral cats.

Nevertheless, the legend of Mid Canterbury’s mysterious black beast lives on.

Andrea Thompson is bar manager at Mayfield’s Panther’s Rock, named in honour of the black cat, first sighted in the district in 2001 at Mayfield.

Mrs Thompson said the legend was very definitely alive in the area.
“There’s people still coming in who have seen it. They just say ‘we saw this big cat’.”

Mrs Thompson also believes the cat is a feral cat, and she should know, having come closer than most to Mid Canterbury’s famed black beast.

In an incident reported in the Guardian at the time, Mrs Thompson last October witnessed a large black cat dragging a lamb about 20 metres across a paddock away from its mother on her neighbour’s property at Mt Somers.

The mother was bleating and headbutting the cat, but the cat did not let go of its prey until screaming and yelling from Mrs Thompson. The cat jumped over a one-metre-high fence to make its escape, leaving the lamb with bite marks to its head.

http://www.ashburtonguardian.co.nz/index.asp?articleid=7884

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Created: 13 November 2005

Location: Coffs Harbour

Event: Panther Sighting

Date: 1979

Source: Cherrie Waterhouse

My Mother was getting the property ready for sale, we had a large dam, and to make the property ready I was sent out to different chores around the place. The water for the house came from the dam at that time, and I was sent down to start the diesel pump to get the water to the house. I found footprints in the mud. I ran back to the house to get Mum to come and see them too.

We went back to the house, and she called the newspaper, who came out and took photos of the prints. There had been lots of sightings of the large black cat, but a lot of people said it was a dog, but there was no dog in the area big enough to make those prints. Anyway, they leave different prints, they have different pad marks.

The tracks went around the dam, and you could see where it went to the edge of the dam to drink, then went back into the bush. The prints were 5 to 51/2 inches across, and they were basically round. We did have feral cats in the area, but there was a story that a black panther had escaped from a circus.

I remember a friends Arab Stallion had the back leg ripped open. On another property two goats had been ripped apart and eaten. My pet lamb was killed, and it hadn't been stuggling as it wasn't at the end of it's tether. There was no sign of a struggle. A lot of people said it was dogs, but dogs make a noise, there was not noise, the lamb was just grabbed.

One of the butchers at Coffs Harbour also told the story of standing outside his house, watching a kangaroo go through his bottom paddock, and saw the panther come out grab it and pulled it back into the bush. He also relates a tail of startling it, and it taking off up into a tree, dropping a branch down on top of him.

The same butcher has made claims of seeing a Tasmanian Tiger. It is fairly common to hear reports of the Panther and Tasmanian Tiger being seen together.

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Created: 13 November 2005

22 Jul 1999 N.Z.: Big Big Cat

In mid August 1998, I was leaning against the DOC sign for the Young Australian mine at around 1400m in the Dunstan Range. I was scanning the hills on the opposite side of the gorge through the binoculars and sighted a large cat moving easily about its territory. It certainly appeared larger than our Labrador dog, dark orange-mustard in colour. I had it in my sights for 25 minutes.

The day was still, clear and cold. I watched the animal move up and down the steep slopes and lie out on exposed rocks. Its movements, its style, were pure cat. The animal was clearly comfortable with its habitat and its coat looked to be in good condition. Sheep grazing below did not appear to be aware of its presence. Soon after 4pm the temperature dropped significantly and I decided it was time to leave.

As I dropped down I kept the glasses on my mountain lion until the track led away from its territory. I made a formal report to DOC in Alexandra the next day with map references and since then have put up with the good-natured disbelief of friends. So, do we have one large North American type cat well able to traverse the distances between the two sightings or two large cats? Jim Walton Invercargill

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Created: 08 November 2005

I shot the big cat

KELVIN HEALEY
09 Oct 2005

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,16857414%255E661,00.ht\
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A VICTORIAN hunter believes he may finally have solved the state's big cat mystery.

Kurt Engel shot dead what is believed to be a leopard or a puma in Gippsland. Mr Engel photographed the dead cat and cut off its tail after shooting it while hunting deer in rugged terrain near Sale in June.

A sample of the cat's DNA, taken from the tail, has been sent to an international laboratory for analysis. The results, expected in about three weeks, will determine the feline's exact species. The breakthrough follows decades of sightings of mysterious wild big cats throughout Australia -- but no physical proof of their existence.

Big cat researchers have hailed Mr Engel's kill as the best evidence ever uncovered to confirm the predators roam in the Australian wilderness. Mr Engel, of Noble Park, said he was hunting in scrub when he noticed large paw prints in a dry creek bed.

Shortly afterwards, he saw a dark creature move, then caught sight of a crouching big cat. "I could see the eyes of the cat, I kept very quiet," he said.

The predator charged in his direction.

"He came very low to the ground. His chest was nearly on the ground (as the cat moved) and he came straight towards me. I saw his teeth and white eyes -- I was only about 80 yards away," he said. "I pulled up the rifle and at that moment it turned to the left. "He was making long jumps. On about the third jump I shot him."

The bullet entered behind the cat's shoulder and blew its head off, he said. Mr Engel said he found the remains of a freshly killed wombat nearby, which had
had its skull crushed. The 67-year-old said he had not believed big cats existed.

"I think it was a million to one chance -- I have been hunting in forests for 5 years and never seen a big cat," he said.

The retired engineer said he lugged the cat back to his camp, but put th carcass into the river after removing the tail and photographing it.

Mike Williams, a representative of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, a body that researches mysterious or out-of-place animals, said he believed it was concrete evidence that big cats are on the loose in Australia.

Hundreds of sightings have been reported over the years and a leaked government document revealed 59 sightings had been reported in Gippsland between 1998 and 2001.

The cats are said to be descendants of animals that either escaped from zoos or circuses or were released by US airmen who kept them as mascots while stationed in Australia in World War II.

"Kurt has killed an urban legend," Mr Williams said.

"He has proved all the hundreds of farmers have been telling the truth. "There is a breeding population of big cats." "The tail is 100 per cent -- it is a concrete case."

Mr Engel, who has also told his story to the Australian Shooter magazine, said he did not seek publicity for the find, and only agreed to speak after a fellow hunter put Mr Williams in touch with him.

Scientist Bernie Mace, who has been researching big cats in Australia for 30 years, said the animal was far too big to be a feral domestic cat, and predicted it would be identified as a puma.

"I feel this is a very important breakthrough," he said.

Richard Roswell, Melbourne Zoo's keeper in charge of carnivores, examined a photograph of the dead cat this week, but said it was inconclusive.

"We don't dispute that there is a possibility they (big cats) are out there, but we are yet to see a photograph that proves it categorically," he said.

Mr Roswell said the DNA would ultimately determine the breed of the cat.

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