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Big Cats in Australia.


DKO

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This topic has been one that has always interested me. There have been many videos and photos of apparently large black cats living in the Victorian bushlands and Blue Mountains.

The rumours have always been of exotic pets that escaped and created a breeding population, or zoo's that dumped their animals. All pre-1950s.

The downside is that it's hard to judge the size of the cats in the footage. With nothing to use as a scale they could just be large feral cats.

I just came across this page the other day, It's the assessment the Victorian government released about the possibility of large cats in Australia.

http://www.dpi.vic.g...ion-of-big-cats

The conclusions for anyone who won't read the whole page::

  • The available evidence is inadequate to establish that a wild population of ‘big cats’ exists in Victoria.
  • The lack of any formal evidence from considerable mammal survey effort, using a broad range of techniques over many decades, strongly suggests that there is no wild population of ‘big cats’.
  • The most parsimonious explanation for many of the reported sightings is that they involve large, feral individuals of the Domestic Cat Felis catus.
  • Notwithstanding conclusions 1-3, some evidence cannot be dismissed entirely, including preliminary DNA evidence, footprints and some behaviours that seem to be outside the known behavioural repertoire of known predators in Victoria.
  • Only primary evidence in the form of specimens of unquestioned provenance, or DNA from sources of unquestioned provenance, can establish, once and for all, that a population of ‘big cats’ occurs in Victoria, and the specific identity of any such animals. High quality photographs of proven provenance would also constitute compelling evidence.

Edited by DKO
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Some video footage, hard to tell how big they are but they do appear bigger than the average cat. Could easily be a large feral cat, even though the reporter tries to turn it into a big mystery.

What I find interesting in all the video/photo footage is that the cats are all black. I Would think most feral cats would be mottled in colour.

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TodayTonight isn't exactly the most reliable resource being sensationalistic media.

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TodayTonight isn't exactly the most reliable resource being sensationalistic media.

Yes unfortunately that's true. Same with A Current Affair.

The only reasonable info I could find is the Government assessment.

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Head a little to small for body to be a big cat, and at around 2:40 you can see it has pointed ears, and all big cats have rounded ears. No tufts on it's ears mean it is unlikely to be bigger than a Caracal, though it would be rare to have a black one.

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Yes unfortunately that's true. Same with A Current Affair.

The only reasonable info I could find is the Government assessment.

Ah, the dynamic duo.

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Head a little to small for body to be a big cat, and at around 2:40 you can see it has pointed ears, and all big cats have rounded ears. No tufts on it's ears mean it is unlikely to be bigger than a Caracal, though it would be rare to have a black one.

Yes you are definite right on that. The way they move is similar to a smaller cat as well. Only real concern about this is how are they all black. The cow injuries are also interesting.

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Yes you are definite right on that. The way they move is similar to a smaller cat as well. Only real concern about this is how are they all black. The cow injuries are also interesting.

Yes, this is the strange thing about these reports from various countries. Always black, seemingly a domestic cat but bigger, and injuries to lifestock that a domestic cat or maybe even a lynx could not inflict. IF, it's some new type of cat, and that's a huge IF, then I suggest Felis domesticus panthera negris, or simply moggy...

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Yes I think it's far more likely to be large feral cats. Animals seem to grow larger in the outback or bushlands:

giant-feral-pig.jpg

377185.jpg

Also I've noticed all the footage/photos I've found are from the 90s - early 2000s. I don't know if that means anything.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I used to live in Victoria, and the authorities said that there was a possibility of a Black Panther living in the Otways. Later investigation showed that it was a hoax created by a farmer so he could keep people off of his land.. just thought that this info may help :)

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Thing is we do get animal attacks, but nobody has ever said it was a big cat. Quite plausible I grant, but the evidence is scant for such a voracious predator. If they do exist, we need to identify this as quickly as is possible to eradicate the non indigenous species. Worth looking into I agree.

If they accidentally eradicate fruit bats at the same time, I will buy that person responsible a carton of beer.

Edited by psyche101
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Thing is we do get animal attacks, but nobody has ever said it was a big cat. Quite plausible I grant, but the evidence is scant for such a voracious predator. If they do exist, we need to identify this as quickly as is possible to eradicate the non indigenous species. Worth looking into I agree.

If they accidentally eradicate fruit bats at the same time, I will buy that person responsible a carton of beer.

I just killed a fruit bat, so you owe me a slab
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I just killed a fruit bat, so you owe me a slab

Only about 10 billion to go?

But I would buy you a beer anyway.

The current rabies or Lyssavirus scare is a worry. Very sad about that young Queensland boy who died. That quite hit a heartstring with me. We have rabies here now. That sucks.

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we once went to the 'Swich to see the bats fly out over the river.

unsettling and awe inspiring at the same time.

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we once went to the 'Swich to see the bats fly out over the river.

unsettling and awe inspiring at the same time.

I have seen that so many times, they go over my work each evening on dusk.

Did you stand underneath them? It's a memorable smell. I agree, good description, unsettling and awe inspiring, it's an amazing sight indeed, but with all that potentially carrying rabies, crikey, that could be a serious disaster.

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