Mysterious Black Cats

well a big cat, a real one, either panther or leopard was shot in gippsland, wich is in eastern victoria, australia, yesterday. saturday 8th october.
sightings have been happening for 50 years and no one ever got one till now, so maybe there is some in uk

Thanks for the update

Do you have a link to a news article covering it?

Here is a link with a picture of the animal:

www.thesundaymail.news.com.au

The tail was severed and is being used for dna analysis.

I agree with Boswell in that article: that could be a large feral cat. Although it's hard to really tell in the minuscule photograph provided in that article.

Just from what I see in that, it looks like the hunter is standing a bit further back from the carcass than it would seem, making the cat look a bit larger than it actually is. Secondly, the fur. It seems a bit long, considering the climate around Gippsland (websites I've seen state that it's around 86 degrees in summer). Pumas (the species they think it might be) have shorter fur when found in warm climates, and leopards/black panthers are known to have short fur because, again, of the climates they're found in.

This is just from a photo, though, and not a very big one at that. It would be interesting to know how long the tail is. Shame that he dumped the carcass afterward.

right now though we are comming out of winter, and the cat would have its winter coat, or something maybe.

but after looking at the photo in the paper, the cat is out of focus with the hunter, and you cant see where its legs are suspended from

so if it was closer to the camera it would be out of focus

can any one find out wat rifle he used? and wat round?

Originally posted by tiddly54
can any one find out wat rifle he used? and wat round?

That's another thing I'm curious about. It would take a pretty powerful rifle to decapitate a big cat; not so much to decapitate a large feral cat.

Edit: Another article on the matter, this time stating that it really is most likely a feral cat: Herald Sun article.

Like me, they state the length of the hairs as the main argument.

[edit on 9-10-2005 by Wolvaurynphamir]