Panthers in QLD??

[calais_304]

Taken from http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574...1-1248,00.html
--------------------------------------------------------
A GIANT cat is stalking wildlife in rural Glenwood, north of Gympie, and Colin Rossow says he has the proof - a plaster paw print cast.

Mr Rossow, 67, who retired to his rural acreage in Pepper Rd 16 months ago, said there was no doubt some sort of panther-size cat was living in the area, The Courier-Mail reports.

"I grew up in the bush and I know when big cats are around," he said. "I've heard this cat before. It's not a kangaroo or a dog ... it's a caterwauling and sometimes it sort of grunts and chuffs."

Mr Rossow said his suspicions were confirmed when he was using his excavator to move stumps after heavy rain last week and spotted big paw prints in the mud.

"There was still this one big print where a kangaroo had come around the corner fast and sort of half slipped and the cat had come around after it and leaned into the corner with its front right paw," he said.
Your Say
If you look closely at the "paw print" you will notice that the "retractable claws" are not between the toes as is 99.999% of the time the case with any cat, but...

Patrick
"There was one, big, perfect print and I had some gyprock plaster in the shed so I got a cast of it."

The cast shows a lion-sized paw print, bigger than his fist, measuring 14.5cm long by 13cm wide with a deep pad and four toes with retractable cat-like claws.

He said that since the incident he had hardly seen any kangaroos grazing around his property.

Mr Rossow said he had also spoken to a neighbour who told of two girls who reported seeing a "big, black cat" in bush fringing the area.

The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service has a file documenting a report from a farmer at Withcott, at the bottom of the Toowoomba Range, who saw "a very large black cat" in 2003, and other reports of big cat sightings in the Toowoomba region, particularly in 1997.

Local legend also includes sightings of a black panther-like creature in the Gayndah area, northwest of Gympie.
--------------------------------------------------

What do people think? I recon it could be true.

[jas98]

lol i live not far from there...its probably just some local chick prowling in the night

on a serious note i think its 50/50..i mena ive seen some big bloody paw prints where i live here (kinnda rual) after its rained but i know its just this dog which looks like a horse that prowls around here.....you can get some big dogs you know

[Troy711]

The print doesn't look right.. it looks fake

[naf33n]

there was meant to be a panther in the blue mountains (nsw) a few years back, apperently got out of a zoo or something

could be the same cat on a holiday????

[Torquative]

yeh sounds lik the old Penrith Panther has taken a holiday up north

theres still reports about the panther around lithgow and stuff, the latest was late last year

[betts]

There have been numerous articles and news stories on these big cats in over the last few years, aparrently more and more sightings are being reported. Farmers and people living in rural areas are reporting more and more livestock deaths, and some have recorded the cats on camera. There have also been reported sightings of big black cats in southern WA, around the donnybrook and balingup area. I personally think its quite possible that a couple of big cats have found their way into our outback and bred, possibly coming off a boat, or have been let into the wild deliberately by somebody.

[Keepleft]

Do a search and you'll find certain US Forces (USAF) had bought over a few panthers during WWII that represented their mascot.

I understand these were relesed in the Grampians in VIC. Thing is, big cats have been reported in AUS by aboriginal populations for eons.

Similar sightings over the last 30 odd years at Kangaroo Valley and in Sydney's deep West, BM et al.

More casts of the Kangaroo valley cat, see similarity with the QLD cast:-
Australian Panther Research - Kangaroo Valley

Australian Marsupial Lion - The Kangaroo Valley Panther Page

Research of the Australian Panther

December 27, 2008 Daily Telegraph, clear pic of big cat Western SYD.
Trail of the black panther leads to Kenthurst | The Daily Telegraph