Mystery Australian Big Cat Shot 421
mugley writes "The Sunday Herald Sun is running a story about the shooting of a large cat, believed to be a leopard or puma, in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. Alien big cats have long been a topic of interest for cryptozoologists (and more recently, Lance Henriksen and his credit card) - is this the first real evidence of their existence?" From the article: "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. "
Why (Score:5, Interesting)
Why oh why?
Re:Endangered species? (Score:3, Interesting)
If they were introduced by humans, they should be eliminated from Australia, since they are likely going to make native species extinct.
Re:That's a Cat? (Score:5, Interesting)
I haven't done that - I'm too interested in keeping the skin on my hands and forearms.
I think you're right about it being a cat though. It's proportions are similar to a domestic animal, and the hunter has been careful to put the carcass in the foreground where it will appear large compared to reference objects like the motorcycle in the background.
I've shot feral cats in the north of WA which were much larger than domestic cats - bigger than foxes in the same area and comparable in size to a small to medium dog. They tended to be a fairly uniform brindle colour, but every so often you'd see a ginger or black cat.
I think this is mostly a scam. The guy has shot a large feral cat, played with perspectives in the photo to make it look bigger, and will dine out on the tabloid news media for a few days until the DNA evidence shows he's shot a wild felis cattus.
On Meeting Big Cats (Score:5, Interesting)
I've hiked in areas with cougars, ( nagali is the indian word it means Lord of the Forest ). I've been tracked by cats. They're big kitties and like all cats they're curious. I've woken in winter and exited my tent to find paw prints up along side the perimeter of the tent, the cat having walked quietly all around the tent. I've backtracked to find a fresh kill twenty minutes back from where I had been and had not noticed a cat ( they smell like big wet dogs ).
You can talk with multitudes of wilderness pros and not meet one who has actually seen a big cat. They're next to invisible. I've meet 5. One lay a few feet from me in the dark outside the door of an 8 x 8 cabin an airborne colonel had flown into a wilderness area. When I open the door to go for wood ( the cabin had a small firebox ), the single candle that lit the cabin cast a long light out the door and onto the cat. I was carrying an axe. I dropped the axe, flew backwards into the cabin and slammed the door ( adrenelin can give you superpowers), while the cat tore out of the underbrush and sprinted into the treeline.
In my meetings with cats only once did I know I was approached as prey. Cougars don't see us as prey.
In the hundred or so years records have been kept there have only been a handfull of lethal attacks by big cats on the west coast. Interestingly nearly all have been on Vancouver Island. The theory goes that the thick sala underbrush allows the cats to get close. Almost all attacks have been by sick or old cats.
Wild animals met with knowledge and respect can usually be party to an incredible experince (my north american exceptions would be grizzilies, polar bears and wolverines, oh and skunks). I've gotten close up and personal with wolves (very rare experience, beautiful, beautiful animals) and countless bears (most black, one grizzily and her cub very very scary).
On the other hand there is near unanimous agreement that pound for pound a leopard is the most dangerous lethal killer on the planet.
WW2 US Army units let their mascots free. (Score:1, Interesting)
Another possible source is circuses losing animals (or setting them free after they lose their licence for the animals? anything is possible).
I wouldn't be at all surprised if this cat turns out to be some kind of hybrid.
For those who are interested, a Scotsman released moose into the wilds of the South Island of New Zealand a hundred years ago and they have never been seen since. Every now and then a camper comes out of the bush with tales of a monster. An intriguing prospect.
Aiming rifles (Score:5, Interesting)
He said he hit it behind the shoulder (which is about where you would aim) and the bullet destroyed the head. This implies either that the cat was running away from him, or the bullet was deflected inside the cat's body (probably by a bone or rib.)
Finally, if he was using hollow points (which is more likely in some rifles than in others) it could very easily blow the majority of the head off. So, maybe.
That paper's not very credible, though, and lots of people are saying the big cats are just myths, and he did throw away his best evidence. So, maybe not.
Interesting idea, either way.
tasmanian tiger (Score:5, Interesting)
Not the only mystery big cat (Score:4, Interesting)
details at expatica [expatica.com]
Re:On Meeting Big Cats (Score:3, Interesting)
They're beautiful killers able to bring down full grown elk usually by severing the vertebrae near the top of the neck. Martial arts teaches that any break above C4 is fatal. It's interesting cats have the same knowledge.
cheers
Re:Bull (Score:2, Interesting)
Some people do actually have the nerve to do it. Here's a video of people shooting a charging lion. Of course it didn't really work so well and it took more than one shot. http://www.big-boys.com/articles/huntlion.html [big-boys.com] (it was the first place I found the video...I don't know if they can handle the banwidth)
Re:Endangered species? (Score:1, Interesting)
I believe there's at least three venomous mammals, the male platypus (here in Oz), one of the shrews (Europe) and an incredibly evil looking lemur type thingy that lives in Madagascar.
Re:Call me a skeptic... (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm a Kiwi, you don't have to tell me about introduced species being threat to defenseless native wildlife (especially certain flightless birds). But for something this radically out of place I don't think even DOC (NZ Department of Conservation) would go in shoot to kill without scoping it in the wild first to see what kind of population it was associated with before figuring a way to remove them.
Even then, they'd much more likely trap it than hunt it, far more effective and efficient.
Killing a lone example doesn't help get statistics on population size, area, or other factors that would be essential information for removal purposes.
NZ has it's own mystery creatures like this, big cat sightings similar to these are not unheard of, and moose down in fiordland are quite possible (even probable perhaps).
Re:Endangered species? (Score:4, Interesting)
There were several large marsupials, such as the diprotodon [wikipedia.org], but I don't think they're cats. You might be thinking of the Thylacine [wikipedia.org] which is also known as the Tasmanian Tiger, but again isn't a cat.
But seeing as about 2/3rds of all native australian fauna have been wiped out since the arrival of the environmental disaster known as homo sapiens, it's certainly possible that there were some cats in there somewhere.
Re:First, let's kill it... (Score:2, Interesting)
Nothing but a spray of bone fragments and gore over a six foot area, just a ragged stump. Think wood chipper. Very freaky. Best we could figure was the bullet hit the spine at the base of the skull, causing the thing to pop like a balloon. Was ~40 yards out...