BIG CAT seen crossing the Sturt Highway - 3 cars stopped for it!

Hi Granite,

I have no idea whether or not there are panthers or other bigger cats in Oz.
Here in California in the canyon country where I live, although they are not plentiful
and are not growing in population, they most certainly are real.

I agree that there doesn't seem to be direct evidence of them where you are,
but they can be incredibly shy when they want to be.

I saw two large feral cats on a trip to WA in 2009 up in the lower and upper Pilbara region of the state. One was out in the bush about 60km south of Newman and the other about 80 north of Marble bar. Both were big cats out in the bush nearly twice the normal size of a normal domestic cat and very muscley shoulders and build. An they could run fast, really fast as the one near Newman i chased for about 20 seconds in the 4wd. Before it darted off into some scrub.

Even though both sightings i made of these feral cats were about 500kms apart they both had the same matted brown and slightly grey colouring. Never seen a pure black with shiney coat panther or a lion or tiger or Tasmaninan Tiger while in tasmania.

I would like to think the Tassie Tigers still exist but since the last one officially sighted in 1933 from memory was in a zoo. An non have been seen and photographed since I think they are all wiped out. But it is nice to dream and believe they are still about as they make good camp stories while sitting around a fire at night.

As for what was seen around the south of Darwin who knows but it seems a little unlikely that it was. But then on saying that isn't there a guy or lady that are multi millionaires up that way that are resettleing african wild life in the NT????? thought i saw it on 60 minutes once!!!

Probably the most convincing video out there with footage of an animal that simply can't be confused with a large feral cat - re Utube video

I beg to disagree. As soon as I saw this black cat jump off the stump, I thought it was just a domestic cat and nothing more.

Jig.

On one of the Current Affair programs that interviewed the photographer, they sent the reporter to stand by the stump to show that the cat (when scaled correctly to the stump) was quite enormous. This shot here showing the scale next to a chain link fence showed the cat's size (at less than a meter and a half from the fence) was also far bigger than any feral beast. (below)




The tail of the black cat in the video was what interested me ... Big Cats (such as Panthers) have a tail that is much larger and thicker than feral domestic cats (for better balance during sustained chase) but it is the eyes that show the true scale of such animals... domestic cats which become feral can't alter their skulls though fat and fur and mass will increase... and the eyes remain proportionate to the relative head dimensions. I do agree that more needs to be done to ascertain the existence of these animals but with so many reliable witnesses (including sworn statements from Policemen and Magistrates) and with the Federal Government conceding that the animal most likely may exist in the Blue Mountains-to-Mudgee area, I'd say that it would be sensible to assume it may be out there. Quite a few members here have hunted feral cats but agree that they've seen animals like these that are best described as Big Cats. The gold diggers at Hill End bought Cougars and Mountain Lions with them from the Californian Gold Rush. The US Fighter Squadrens that lanbded at Richmond used live Panthers as mascots. Finally, there were five owners in the region of the Lower Blue Mountains that were said to own Big Cats before being told they were to be destroyed in the early 80s. And evidence is there to support the theory of a Colony of these cats growing out there. With so much native food, they don't need to attack or eat people... though people do disappear from time to time out here. Wikipedia says that Black Leopards are smaller than spotted leopards. It also says that Black Leopards are also quite commonly found in Java... which isn't far from Australia, all things considered.

Here's some pictures I've taken of the Big Cat habitats here in the Sydney Blue Mountain region. Looks dense enough to allow plenty of critters to roam unfettered.


Big cats have been reported throughout this valley and up into the mountains beyond (taken on the way to Mudgee, just past Kandos(?) ).



More than two dozen officially reported sightings here (taken at Lithgow)... apologies for the blur. You can see how dark this area is after dusk.



Katoomba Looking Right (East) - where many sightings are reported each year.


Katoomba Looking Left (West) - where many sightings are reported each year.

From WIKIPEDIA:
"Reports of black panthers in Australia

At the end of World War II, United States soldiers re-stationed in Australia reportedly brought black panthers as mascots. Within weeks of arriving in Australia, an unreported number of panthers supposedly escaped.[citation needed] Today, black panther sightings are frequently recorded in rural Victoria and New South Wales[9] and Western Australia. The Australian "phantom panthers" are said to be responsible for the disappearances and deaths of numerous cats, dogs and livestock.

Animal X Natural Mysteries Unit led an investigation into the phantom panther. They discovered that scat and hair found by locals and sent to a lab came back as scat from dogs that had feasted on swamp wallaby, and hair from a domestic cat. In an experiment, the Animal X team sent in leopard scat and hair collected from a private zoo. These samples came back with the same results[10]."

Seem that even the experts, weren't immune to a blind test. LOL!

WIKIPEDIA: In 2010 a black panther sighting was reported in Madison Mississippi but most people believe it was simply a Labrador Retriever.

Cats hunt at night and sleep during the day now which nutter beside madtuna is going to be walking around the bush at night it just never happens and if on the rare times that a human is walking in the bush at night then you have a torch and will be making noise in that situation a cat would know your there pretty fast and you would not know it was there unless you stood on it. which wouldnt happen because they have excellent night vision and while on the move they make virtually zero noise, i could believe that there has always been cats here its just the opertuinity for man and cat to come face to face will be rare.

not forgetting that a cats senses are many times better than ours and also cats dont really like people much and will of course tend to hide from us even house cats will hide and not come out and you will never find there hiding spots because they are naturally shy, also there was a land bridge at some time between Indonesia and Australia and Indonesia does have big cats so why is it such a huge stretch to imagine that there could also be cats here.

On one of the Current Affair programs that interviewed the photographer, they sent the reporter to stand by the stump to show that the cat (when scaled correctly to the stump) was quite enormous. This shot here showing the scale next to a chain link fence showed the cat's size (at less than a meter and a half from the fence) was also far bigger than any feral beast. (below)


Marco,

That picture of the cat behind the chain link fence does not look like a moggy. But I do not believ that this cat, is the one that jumped off the stump - that still looks and walks likemy moggy. So to me, that makes the video a bit shonky straight up.

Do you have any movie footage of the reporter standing next to the log - or was it a still photo ? If it is a still, is it possible it was photoshoped ?

I want to be convinced, but I am a dyed in the wool skeptic when it comes to stories like this.

Jig.

granite2 wrote:I haven't seen an alien but I still don't think we have had any visit earth. So why should I believe that something exists when all actual, commonsense evidence points to it being impossible that something like that could be out there. There has never been a carcase to prove they are there. If they had been there since WW11 they would have bred up to be very common. But if there is only one it must be the longest living big cat in the world.

Cheers, with hallucinations to you. The stuff these people are smoking must be very strong stuff indeed.

Cheers, Jim

Hi Granite,
Yes seeing is believing for some people but just because you have not seen one personally doesn't mean they do not exist.
Just take a look at religion.....Now I am not of any religious belief but there are Billions of people out there that believe in A god of some description or other. Now none of these people have seen their god in the flesh (so yo speak) well, some say they have I suppose.
I personally believe in aliens. I have never seen a real alien in person but I have seen things in the night sky (and on one occasion daylight), that I could not explain.
Dont get me wrong, there are certain things I do not believe in. But I think there is a good chance that wild cats do actually exist in the outback. They are obviously not the same cat as the life expectancy of these cats are around 12 years of age. But, I am sure there are a few of each of these species out there and it is down to nature to do the rest. Each litter generally comprises of 2 young but sometimes 3 and these numbers could susrain at a small number seeing as they would literally become fairly high up in the food chain. Good runners, great hunters etc. Plus, there is plenty of food out there for them. How many roos do you see on the side of the road freasly killed by traffic etc. These big cats are also renouned for theit slealth abilities, this is possibley why they are not seen as often as you would think. We as people are not the quietest creatures when wandering around in the bush, especially with our 4 wheel drives. These cats could hear and spot us a mile off.

In reply to a previose post about cats sleeping during the day and hunting at night so you wouldn't ever see one is true in most cases. The first time i saw a big cat was over the road from our property in The Otways about 15yrs ago. I came home from work one afternoon and the Department of Smoke and Embers were having an Uncontrolled burn over the road from us. As usual the wind had changed and the fire had gotten away on them. The fire was only about 30mts from the road and i stopped just outside our front gate in my 4wd watching it, next thing i saw this big black cat bounding over the bracken fern which was waist high towards me trying to escape the fire. I sat watching it and when it was only about 10mts from me it saw me and stopped. It stood and stared at me for about 5 seconds then turned away and ran along the face of the approaching fire. I spoke to my next door neigbour who was a local policeman and he said they nearly ran over it in the divy van the week before when getting dropped off at home from night shift at 2am. Cheers Grumpy.

stayyerAU wrote:Gday

In the same areas where friends said they saw a puma, I happened apon an Emu carcass, a short time dead, the feathers were scattered for hundreds of meters, blood spread a hundred meters or more up the hill, scrapes and scratches all over the place, the whole scene had the appearance of the Emu being persued and chased down where it still continued to struggle, the carcass was partially eaten, from what I have seen in the past dogs will eat almost everything and are not really too selective, also I have wondered whether a dog would tackle an emu in the first place, anyway the scene looked unusual due to the area the killing covered and the apperance of the emu being taken down in full flight, it appeared more the work of a cat than a dog.

cheers

stayyerAU

Hi stayyerAU, I had a pet dingo many years ago that was a great companion and the best dog I have ever owned, I used him as a hunting dog when I was a roo shooter. He brought down an adult emu by chasing it and jumping on the back whilst running and grabbing the neck of the emu. In most cases the emu would stop dead or turn rapidly in another direction, flinging the dog off but my dingo was a little smarter... he didn't let go and effectively ripped the head and neck right off. The only problem with that was the emu did the chook trick and run into everything. Put a big dent into my ute and I had to scarper on top of the car quick smart. Anyway the point was I never trained the dingo to do that and was natural for him, so dogs will attack an emu. I also whilst roo shooting in WA and SA seen what I believed to be big cats and not feral species. One in the South west of WA in the Pemberton area, the other in the Port Augusta region of the Flinders Ranges. Both were black and what I imagine a panther would look like. Never seen anything recent and all of the above was in the '70s. Made me a little bit wary as most of the places you mentioned I frequently go, ALONE and I no longer own any firearms!! Used to carry a small crossbow but dumped them when I moved back to Perth... Must look at getting something again...

Jigalong wrote:Probably the most convincing video out there with footage of an animal that simply can't be confused with a large feral cat - re Utube video

I beg to disagree. As soon as I saw this black cat jump off the stump, I thought it was just a domestic cat and nothing more.

Jig.

I also believe the same. I looked at the video at home and apart from the very first frames showing an obvious "big cat" the one on the stump and the next 2 were without doubt a black "moggy" cat. Look at the way it walks and the ears in the last frames. Obviously slowed and blurred to disguise and get a more dramatic story. The stump is a little iffy but not seeing the photo of a reporter standing there very hard to say. I still believe the big (real) cats do exist in Australia or maybe even an indigenous species but not the ones on the channel nine report... If it was real why was the second one obviously slowed down and more blurry than the first?

Off topic I know,

but Grumpy, your comment:

"...As usual the wind had changed and the fire had gotten away on them..."

was hilarious, thanks for the great laugh.

Gday

I have done a bit of research on the Puma as thats exactly what I saw, recognising it instantly due to having seen them often enough on early western movies, there is no way that it could have been confused as a domestic cat or dog, they are simply way too distinctive a cat.

What I did find out about them is that they are in fact very closely related to our domestic cats, and that out of all the big cats they have one of the highest kill rates, they rely on surprise and will kill by getting their prey by the throat, people have been killed by Puma's and have been attacked while riding pushbikes or when bending over or sitting down, children have also been killed as well, they will not eat carrion and that is why they are such effective killers.

The puma is a reclusive animal, people who have hunted them say that they almost only see it when their dogs get them treed, very rarely are they seen otherwise, they are not particularly scared of humans but being a very smart cat they will not attack anything that appears big enough to hurt them, they recommend that if you are confronted by a Puma hold your arms above your head, wave and shout and make yourself look as big as possible, if for any reason you are attacked by one they say that due to its method of killing, you have to try as hard as you can to protect your head and neck, scratches and bites to your arms will be less likely to be fatal than if it manages to get a bite on your neck.

I dont believe that they are any great threat to us, but I do believe that they are out there, so its smart to be aware and due to the way we go head down and bum up a lot when detecting its probably wise to keep your wits about you while doing it.

I know that I have been stalked in the past when wandering the bush, I have been followed by dogs and it does not take long for you to realise that they are there, they are clumsy and noisy, but I have also been followed by something unseen, I have very accute senses in the bush probably due to my military experiences and have experienced the hair standing on the neck and the feeling of being watched, this feeling is quite overpowering and I think its wise not to dismiss it for many reasons.

Whether you are a believer or a sceptic it doesnt hurt to be aware of the possibility of these animals being about the place.

cheers

stayyerAU

Used to laugh till 8yrs ago upon shifting into new house when 2.30am an almighty roaring scream came from the tree line up the back aprox 200m away made the hair stand up on the back of your neck,grabbed the spotlight and picked up a pair of eyes being quite large,the staffy's were screaming so opened gate to let them off veranda as normally do when they hear fox's but come back after 10 or 15mins later,but no way hosay they weren't going anywhere.Now 5 ex trotters up the paddock whom I have never seen get out of a trot before were in full gallop along our back fence and congregated in the far corner next to the house next door 600m away ,our three steers took flight down to the front fence also running and never seen them bunch up so close before or after .Well this went on for about 5mins then screaming off up the back through the forest fading away,then about 2mths later the same scenario again at a simular time but only a couple of roars then off,so upon mentioning it to a American friend he did say it may have been a young one and when mother has weened them and think it's time to fend for themselves they leave,and the grown cub may have been in search for her,who knows???,as someone said dah it must have been a fox, DH ,this was ten times louder than and enough to wake you out of a deep sleap to sitting upright in bed,as I said we used to laugh cheers Dougy

PS. Also detecting in the bush between maryborough & talbot came across a bone yard,hundreds of bones all sizes ,quite eary in the middle of nowhere

I wish you would all stop beating around the bush, you know very well that it's the long thought extinct marsupial lion. I know full well that you all work for the "Goverment" and are keeping it a secret so as not to scare away the tourists. Come on fess up, you've been exposed. I can't talk anymore, nursie's coming back.

"A panther was found Oct. 16 in a garage freezer at the home of a Loxahatchee man (USA)."

/Interesting way to store your panther.

This week in the Hawkesbury Gazette

http://www.hawkesburygazette.com.au/news/local/news/general/hawkesbury-panther-or-big-cat-alpaca-attack/2352352.aspx

Fly_Dirt wrote:This week in the Hawkesbury Gazette

Bilpin?! Jeeze, that's right on the road to the goldfields from Sydney to Lithgow.

Nowhere is safe.

I'm not having much luck posting pics on this site. It seems very difficult when compared to other sites that I've used. Any help pls?

ichi-ban wrote:I'm not having much luck posting pics on this site. It seems very difficult when compared to other sites that I've used. Any help pls?

Yeah mate, read this.... https://golddetecting.forumotion.net/t2759-posting-pictures

Cheers

dougy wrote:

PS. Also detecting in the bush between maryborough & talbot came across a bone yard,hundreds of bones all sizes ,quite eary in the middle of nowhere

On the slope just west of tunnel hill reef Talbot theres a shallow hole with stacks of cocky feathers and other bird feathers and i mean like dozens apon dozens of birds there is no sign of bones or anything and leading from this pit i did pick up tracks that looked like cat paws. dont believe go and check it out if your local its on the track running west opposite tunnel hill the pit it 5 metres east of track and 50 metres north of tunnel hill entrance and i did take video of the tracks on the track of course and did follow it for a bit this was over six monthes ago but im sure someone knows what im talking about.

Also i was detecting north of there between Amherst and daisy hill and got hairs on the back of my neck standing up for no reason what so ever, i couldnt figure out what was going on and come down with a bad feeling after looking around the extremly thick dead wattles i couldnt see anything so i put ear muffs back on and tryed to detect again but i couldnt i just had very powerfull eerry feeling so i got off the ear muffs and had a very good llok and then i noticed that i could not hear one sound at all nothing not one bird anywhere the bush was just silent i just decided right then that there was no gold to be found here and left.

Another time i was going to stay the night in waanyarra and i was sitting on my chair on the computer after just unpacking everything i had a light on and everything then something came right at me i could here it coming and mean right at me but stopped before coming into the sphere of light i was packing dax at this point i grabbed the sportco chucked in a magizine of BB and shouldered it but i couldnt see out because i was in the light i dunno what it was but without waiting another second i packed my stuff got the hell out of there shaking a bit. and i know it could have been a roo or wallabie but it didnt change course and whatever this was, was moving very fast coming right at me and i didnt hear it go away or go around me and i do know what roos sound like you normally here one big crash or something then it stops has a sticky nose and then bounds off there wasnt a big crash as a roo comes to a stop.

Who knows probarly a wallabie ive seen them around there during the day little bas-tards.

Also the prospector who told me he saw a large cat not fifty metres away from him do the bolt was not far from Maryborough and he said it was the size of a labrador he was prospecting at the time in heavy scrub this guy and what he says i hold in high esteem because he has never heard of big cats in the Vic bush but he said to my mother that he had just seen it and my mum told me and i spoke to the guy about it where it was sleeping etc i dont have a reason to doubt this guy.

Yellow and black in colour, big silver teeth, makes an almighty roar when really wound up?? We get them all the time here in WA and, yes, they really do stop the traffice when they're on the road!

gollstar wrote:

dougy wrote:

PS. Also detecting in the bush between maryborough & talbot came across a bone yard,hundreds of bones all sizes ,quite eary in the middle of nowhere

On the slope just west of tunnel hill reef Talbot theres a shallow hole with stacks of cocky feathers and other bird feathers and i mean like dozens apon dozens of birds there is no sign of bones or anything and leading from this pit i did pick up tracks that looked like cat paws. dont believe go and check it out if your local its on the track running west opposite tunnel hill the pit it 5 metres east of track and 50 metres north of tunnel hill entrance and i did take video of the tracks on the track of course and did follow it for a bit this was over six monthes ago but im sure someone knows what im talking about.

Also i was detecting north of there between Amherst and daisy hill and got hairs on the back of my neck standing up for no reason what so ever, i couldnt figure out what was going on and come down with a bad feeling after looking around the extremly thick dead wattles i couldnt see anything so i put ear muffs back on and tryed to detect again but i couldnt i just had very powerfull eerry feeling so i got off the ear muffs and had a very good llok and then i noticed that i could not hear one sound at all nothing not one bird anywhere the bush was just silent i just decided right then that there was no gold to be found here and left.

Another time i was going to stay the night in waanyarra and i was sitting on my chair on the computer after just unpacking everything i had a light on and everything then something came right at me i could here it coming and mean right at me but stopped before coming into the sphere of light i was packing dax at this point i grabbed the sportco chucked in a magizine of BB and shouldered it but i couldnt see out because i was in the light i dunno what it was but without waiting another second i packed my stuff got the hell out of there shaking a bit. and i know it could have been a roo or wallabie but it didnt change course and whatever this was, was moving very fast coming right at me and i didnt hear it go away or go around me and i do know what roos sound like you normally here one big crash or something then it stops has a sticky nose and then bounds off there wasnt a big crash as a roo comes to a stop.

Who knows probarly a wallabie ive seen them around there during the day little bas-tards.

Also the prospector who told me he saw a large cat not fifty metres away from him do the bolt was not far from Maryborough and he said it was the size of a labrador he was prospecting at the time in heavy scrub this guy and what he says i hold in high esteem because he has never heard of big cats in the Vic bush but he said to my mother that he had just seen it and my mum told me and i spoke to the guy about it where it was sleeping etc i dont have a reason to doubt this guy.

Mate I don't know you but where you are talking about near tunnel hill is our place 200 to 300m away and we have had a couple of other scenarios as well since living here so I don't doubt you at all, cheers Doug

PS a yugoslavian couple fro Melb who have been detecting up here for more than 20yrs now scoffed when I told them our story till early one morning driving down a track between Amherst and daisy hill a big big cat run across in front of them last year,so they called in to join the club LOL and took the day off.

Gday

When I started to research sightings of big cats here in WA I found a lady who headed a group that carried out research on unexplained animal sightings, when I told her of the time I had seen what I believed was a cougar, she was not at all surprised and not surprised at the location I saw it in, apparently during the seventies there were many sightings in many nearby areas including Jarrahdale where it was known as the Jarradale Lion or something of that sort, in later years I saw stickers that had been made up by the publican and sold to tourists.

She told me of many sightings and encounters in the Perth hills and south of Perth, in areas on the outskirts of Mandurah and down south to Nannup, there are still reports from time to time apparently of farm animals being killed by an unknown predator in the South West.

The most hair raising story she told me was one from a prospector, he contacted her and told of an encounter with what he believed was a cougar while detecting outside of Cue, he was detecting several hundred metres away from his caravan with his dog, the dog took off after something down in a gully and was barking madly, fearing that the dog had bailed up a roo he raced after it to get the dog away, as he got to the gully he was shocked to see that the dog had a cougar like cat bailed up in a tree, he was calling the dog as the cat was hissing and spitting, as the dog started to come back to him the cat leapt from the tree and advanced on the dog, the dog shot in behind him and the cat slowly came towards him snarling and hissing, he was madly waving his detector and pick in the air, after a few moments the dog shot back towards the cat and the cat took flight back into the gully, after getting the dog to come back he bolted for his van to get his rifle, when returning back to the gully the cat was nowhere to be seen.

Another big cat was sighted sitting by the side of the road on the Big Bell mine road,west of Cue, very early one morning, apparently cleaning itself, this one I believe was a black one, it seems there are at least two big cats in the areas between, Cue, Meekatharra, Youanmi, Quinns, I know of 6 sightings to date, the area where I believe I was being stalked possibly by a cat was north west of Mt Jackson.

cheers

stayyerAU

Since I got into this Gold Detecting thing a little while ago, I've camped overnight on my pat malone in the Amherst/Daisy Hill/Talbot areas 4 times. I am planning a little trip up there next week for a couple of days. So to dougy and gollstar, thanks very much guys!!!!!!! I've got the wind well and truly up me now. Looks like I'm going to have to put the Shotty in the car. Notice I didn't say I wasn't going. It would take more than a panther to stop me looking for gold.
panhead

About 15 years ago I was staying on a large station with two mates hunting pigs near the Menindee lakes in NSW.
The Darling river passed through the property, and the homestead was next to the river bank, the opposite side of the river was land with no road access and was a mix of big gums and thick scrub with some large open grassed areas.
We took the tinny from the homestead to cross the river and fanned out looking for pigs, moving as quiet as we could which at times was hard below the gums as the ground was covered in leaves and twigs.
No wildlife was seen and for some reason I had that uncomfortable feeling, after an hour or so we met up and discussed the situation and plan of attack, my mates said lets get out of here and head back to the boat as in their words this area creeps them out and we haven't even seen any pigs, just then a big pig bolted past us running flat out towards the river and didn't even seem to notice us .
With now knowing pigs were in the area we moved on in the direction where the pig came from, I was working through a patch of scrub when I came across a clearing with a dead kangaroo laying in the middle.
Moving towards the roo I soon noticed it was missing it's head, there also was no blood to be seen on the ground or the animals fur, by this time my mates came over and I grabbed the tail and lifted the carcass and it was warmish to the touch and still limp.
This animal was only just killed, and looked like it's head had been pulled off , we searched the surrounding area for it's head and found nothing, we looked at each other and thought what in the hell could do something like that .
I hunted this area a few more times that trip by myself as my mates refused to hunt this side of the river as to put it bluntly wimped out.
I had my Sako 243 and a 1911 model 45 in the holster so felt confident I could protect myself well enough.
Due to the noisy ground I thought my best chance was to build a hide and stake out this area, I saw nothing except one pig that I got on the last evening just on dusk.
We told the station owner and he said screaming noises have been heard coming from across the river and a husband and wife who were camped out on the bank opposite this area cut their trip short because of the noises.
I have no idea what other animal could have done this to the roo except a big cat.
I have only ever once again seen sign of a big cat and this time it was only a single big footprint near the Grampians in Vic .
Even though I have never seen one out there I'm sure they do exist and wouldn't now even shoot one if I did come across it unless it was to defend myself.
Anyway now-days I'm walking around mostly with a detector looking for nuggets with earphones on ,so I probably wouldn't even see it unless it was ahead of my coil.
Cheers Mark

There are still doubters out there
Why would property owners dilliberately mutilate their livestock for the sake of a news story.....and numerous property owners in the lower blue mountains
I have hunted for about 30 years,and in that time have shot some large feral cats. I shot a big black tom cat one arvo,it was heavy set with all the features of a typical aussie feral;small ears,big mouth,eyes and paws. Now this cat was about the size of a blue healer or my trusty Cockerspaniel (RIP Ralph,he was a great dog) so there was no mistaking what I saw on Bells line of road that night.
That cat was a panther and id bet my house on it.

Since a New South Wales report on the "Lithgow Pather" confirms that scat and fur found in the area was identified by DNA testing to belong to Leopard/Panther and Mountain Lion/Puma.

To the best of my knowledge there has never been any dna results from NSW that gave a species id of an exotic large felid.
If this test had actually happened then the "case" for exotic cats would be closed and "proven" to a degree...
And..if this test had given a result it would have either been Leopard or Puma..not "and"..since they are different species of large cats.
Really interesting post by the way..!!

all the best!!

Mike

Mountain lions here in the southwest have ranges the cover hundreds of square miles.
There are six or seven in our area (the Santa Monica Mountain's), that are wear gps tracking units on collars.
You can sign onto a site and see a live gps track of their whereabouts.
I have never done it but I hear it's pretty cool.

the site below is a map of the gps track of a single mountain lion
that roams between Southern California and Mexico...
It gives a detailed picture of the immense range a single lion covers.

http://www.nature.org/idc/groups/webcontent/@web/@california/documents/media/prd_017602.jpg

This second site is the article that explains about how they tracked the lion
and about what they learned from it.

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/california/explore/dual-citizenship-protecting-mountain-lions-across-borders.xml

a recent article about other mountain lions in the San Diego area.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jun/26/tracking-a-big-cat-researchers-follow-tagged/