Episode 10: Moggy or Monster?

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Australia has an abundance of unique wildlife, and that’s one aspect that makes this country iconic.

Though, throughout time, introduced species have also thrived on the land. But the existence of some of these animals have been questioned, as they’re rarely ever tangible. Are there really big cats such as panthers in Australia, or is it just mistaken identity?

Join me for this yarn about big cat sightings.

So under my podcast ad on instagram, I had a little exchange with a lady that had an extraordinary experience. She detailed a time that her and her sister were out on a walk out among the rocks on a riverbed in the Blue Mountains, Lyle River to be exact. As they walked along, they came across carcasses of sheep and cows, and further on, they saw it.

Up on the embankment, hiding itself among the shadowy trees, they could just make out a black panther watching them. Understandably, this incident spooked the sisters out.

This was no isolated incident. Big cat sightings have been reported all over Australia, despite there being no apparent population in the wild. Sightings of these enigmatic creatures have been documented since the 19th century. Typically, these big cats are either black or tan in colour, and are usually described as panther-like. They are sighted prowling around in the bush or on large properties, and in the case of farms, sometimes livestock have been found ripped apart and partially eaten, as if a large predator had attacked it.

A famous example of one such creature sighted is monikered the Lithgow Panther or the Blue Mountains Panther. As suggested by its name, this big cat was sighted in the Lithgow and Hawkesbury areas of the Blue Mountains, but has also been sighted within the overall general vicinity. Based on eyewitness reports, the beast is black in colour with a boxy face and long tail, and has been spotted by residents, bush walkers, tourists, and landowners alike. It’s alleged that at the time of this recording 600 witnesses have seen a panther-like creature. However, some of these sightings have been debunked; for example, in June 2018, a video went viral that showed an apparent black panther prowling a paddock, not too far away from the Coxs River. But then it turned out that this mighty, exotic feline was actually a family’s pet cat named Toby. The rest of the sightings, however, are left in ambiguity and speculation.

Now I’m not exactly a fan of this guy, but let me talk about the TV personality Grant Denyer for a minute. Denyer lives on a property in Bathurst, a town not too far away from Lithgow. On a 2020 airing of The Project, he claimed he saw it on his own property, saying, quote, “I know it’s real because I know what I saw with my two eyes. It was five to 10 times bigger than a normal domestic [cat], I saw it. My wife saw it. I have some hazy and shaky video footage of it but I promise you it is out there. Panthers are real.” Unquote. I’m gonna have to say, that he had the balls to admit that he saw elusive creature on TV, and I’ll get to why later, but I think you already know anyway.

Big cats have also been sighted in the Gippsland region of Victoria. The legend goes that back in World War Two, US servicemen had pet panthers, since the animals were their mascots. Prior to returning back to the United States, the soldiers released the cats into the wild. To this day, there are reported sightings of big cats in the area. Likely, if there were male and female panthers in the bunch that was released, they mated and now there are generations of panthers making Victoria their home. Allegedly, big cats have also been seen in the Grampians and the Otway Ranges.

Recently, in October of 2022, a retired couple in WA, near Lancelin to be specific, saw what they believed to be a big cat. Helen Gardiner was in her home office when she briefly saw something out the window. She called out to her husband, Wayne, and both saw what appeared to be a large black feline on their property, around 50 to 60 metres away from their house. They also claim that in no way could it be just a mere feral cat as the animal was far too large to be just that. The Gardiners have reviewed their CCTV footage and confirmed that they weren’t seeing things.

These big cats have also been spotted as far up as Far North Queensland. A local resident had recorded footage of an unusually large black feline in South Mossman, near the industrial area. The enigmatic big cat was seen at around 8:15 in the evening, and was recorded with a trail camera, which was used to monitor the resident’s goats. Additionally, in 2018, a motorist spotted a large black panther-like creature on the side of the road as she was driving home from Cairns to Port Douglas.

There’s a lot more stories from all over the country, but if I told them all, this episode will go on forever.

Now we get to ask the question: why are these phantom panthers so good at hiding in plain sight if they do in fact exist in Australia?

In order to try and gauge why, let’s have a gander at big cats in the wild. To be specific, let’s have a look a how leopards, pumas and cougars behave, since many of the big cats described in these sightings often resemble these species.

These big cats are described to be solitary and nocturnal, usually only being active and hunting at night. The rare times they do look around for others of their kind is during mating season. And just like tigers, lions, and even your own moggy if you have one, these cats are stealthy when they hunt. They can hide, stay silent and be undetected. Another thing I want to point out is that half-eaten carcasses of livestock and other animals like kangaroos and wallabies are only discovered in the daytime, with their predator unaccounted for.

There have also been footprints that have been discovered in the areas that these alleged panthers have been seen, and by the looks of them, they do actually look like they may be made by a big cat rather than, say, a dog. You might think to yourself, well, any old animal could’ve made those prints; but I do have a few pictures of the paw prints up on Instagram, so you can have a look and maybe make up your own mind.

Another thing I want to talk about are the videos of these abig cats prowling around. I will have to say that a lot of these videos aren’t of the best quality. Most of them are kind of fuzzy and shaky; usually because they’re zoomed in and yeah… doing that usually compromises the quality of the video you’re taking. Additionally, it makes it difficult for others to see if what they’re seeing is indeed a foreign panther or just something else. I will say that in one of the clips I watched, I deducted that it was just a cat. It showed a black feline perched on top of a wooden fence post or a tree stump, and then it jumps off the post and saunters away. I kind of figured it was just an ordinary kitty cat because of the size of the animal in comparison to the post. Unless that wooden post was ginormous, then I don’t really believe that it was a panther in this instance. But hey, what do I know.

Of course, I want to explore possibilities, cause that’s what we do here on Bizarre Yarns.

First off, why don’t we look at it from a skeptic’s perspective?

The thing that most skeptics will say is that these animals are not panthers. If anything, they’d likely be either a regular moggy or a feral cat. Typically, feral cats can grow much larger than a standard domestic cat, with males growing over 6 kilos in weight. Although they typically have a tabby pattern, feral cats, you guessed it, can be solid black in colour too. It’s also noted that some feral cats have grown to about one a half metres in length, so a similar size to a small leopard. In 2005, a man named Kurt Engel had actually shot a cat this large, in the Gippsland region: mind you, an area where these apparent panthers have been sighted.

And with the dead animals being found half-eaten and shredded apart, it very well could be any other predator that caused the blood and gore fest. We have our array of wild dogs, dingoes, and even birds like the wedge tailed eagle that could be responsible.

If you’re a doubter of big cats in the wil as d, the people that have seen these spectral creatures could either be 1: seeing things, 2: making it up, or 3: on drugs.

These sightings either happened as the witness was driving or was far away from the animal. It’s likely that they assumed that what they were seeing was a panther, or it could be merely wishful thinking or maybe even an unreliable memory.

Even with footage and pictures captured of these mysterious creatures, it can’t exactly be 100% proof that panthers live among us and wreaking havoc on kangaroos and cows. Like I said earlier, a lot of this media is zoomed in, jittery, and of not so good quality, so, there’s just one big question mark that looms over the existence of these big cats in Australia.

On the contrary, it’s not entirely impossible that panthers roam around in the scrub. Remember when I told you that these big cat sightings have been around since the 19th century? During this time, there was an exotic animal trade happening. There were classified ads selling cubs. You could see and purchase one on the docks of Sydney or Melbourne, and surprisingly enough, even at a pub. It’s possible that way back when, someone probably bought a cub to raise as a pet, but the bigger the animal got, the harder it was to control, so they probably had no choice but to release it into the wild. And multiple people had to do this.

There’s also the story of the US servicemen releasing their pet panthers into the wild prior to leaving Australia. And also, there’s speculation that these big cats may have escaped from a zoo or a circus at some point. But if that happened, you’d think that there’d be at least an article in the paper about it, right? Anyway, the theory is that these big cats were introduced one way or another.

If that were the case, then the big kitty would have no issue integrating itself into the Australian wildlife. In the case of panthers, they can thrive in woodland and savannah biomes, hence the phantom big cats have been seen in areas that are similar, and not the desert outback. And I should also reiterate that panthers are rather secretive, solitary creatures that are a lot more active in the night, and are generally elusive anyhow. So you can’t exactly expect to be up close and personal with one.

There are images out there of a cow on a farm in rural Victoria that has scratches that looked like they were made by something with large claws. You can find these pictures in my source list, but I’m warning you that it’s a gallery, and if seeing mutilated animals upset you, I’d probably steer clear of this one.

Overall, I personally don’t have a conclusion as to whether panthers really do live among us here. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t have an open mind. The witnesses that came forward regarding what they saw are, to me, quite brave for doing so. Of course, there will be some people that’ll respond to their stories with skepticism and disdain, but we got to remember these witnesses are people like us. In fact, I’ve read a few comments and posts while I was digging around online, and a lot of the people said that they either didn’t believe or didn’t know that big cats could exist in Australia until they saw what they saw. I don’t think they’re stupid or on something or making it up. Sometimes we see things that we just can’t explain away with logic and facts.

Going beyond Australia, phantom big cats have been sighted in other continents that typically don’t have big cat populations. For example, England has their fair share of big cats prowling around in the countryside. A famous example is the beast of Exmoor. Apparently, there was also sightings of a supposed lioness that lurked around in Berlin in June 2023. Even in the Americas, people have seen big cats that either no longer live in their certain area or never did at all.

What I want to know is, why? I wonder why it is that people are seeing these big cats everywhere, and it’s not any other animal? It’s almost as if it’s a sort of joint phenomenon. I dunno, maybe I’m just overthinking it.

All in all I just find it so intriguing that for almost 200 years in Australia, there have been countless reports of big cats sighted in the wilderness, and these people are seeing similar things. Surely, they can’t all be explained away as just a feral cat, right?

And that’s all I’ve got for now. If you’re interested in big cat sightings and witness testimonials, I highly recommend a podcast series called Missing Panther, hosted by Ben Beed. He had his own strange encounter with black felines in the wild, and he also interviewed and recorded numerous witness stories regarding their sightings. I’ll link it in my show notes if you want to go have a listen.

I also want to say that black panthers are beautiful animals. But if I ever see one out in the bush, it’d probably rip me to shreds. Oh, and black cats are also beautiful in their own cute way.

If you’ve ever seen a phantom big cat where it technically shouldn’t be, come let me know because I’d love to share your story.

Anyway it’s probably time to cut it short here. I’ve waffled on for long enough. Be a darling and rate and review the podcast, and recommend it to your friends, family, neighbours, and person at the drive-thru at Macca’s.

As always, stay safe and look after yourselves. Lock your doors and tell the RSPCA they’ll need a bigger cage for that stray cat you saw. Bye for now!

Episode 10: Moggy or Monster?

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