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Another live black panther report


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:D, This evening on the tv news there has been another report of the black panther, this time at Kenthurst in Sydney's west about 20 miles or so east of Richmond. a young fellow saw the animal eating a wallaby and because it had attacked a neighbour about 2 years ago when he got too close this young bloke kept his distance but was fortunate enough to be able to gather up the remains of the wallaby and have them examined by experts. The neighbour who was attacked a couple of years ago showed his scars, large claw marks to one of his wrists and the claws are far enough apart to be those of a large cat. No domestic cat here.

With over 500 sightings and numerous photos and videos of this animal and near misses with its claws in the last 15 years I believe there has to be something in this story. Maybe 76Sqn RAAF got it right after all. Before I left the RAAF from Richmond in 1989 there were already several reports of sightings of this animal up around Springwood in the lower Blue Mountains. I now have to wonder about the Wikipedia article's statement that there is no such thing as a black panther. Let's hope a team of experts can get close enough to this animal to be able to study and analyse it without getting into harms way.

:cheers:,

Ross.

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I now have to wonder about the Wikipedia article's statement that there is no such thing as a black panther

Pretty much all big cat species exhibit melanistic oddballs, Jaguars, Cougars, even Tigers. People tend to call any of these "black panthers" for some reason. In this case, I suppose it could be anything. Given the climate there, I would expect wild releases of pets/zoo escapes etc to survive reasonably well. I'm pretty sure that many of the "big cat" stories have some truth to them, and the fact that they tend to be solitary, with large ranges, and secretive habits, lends credence to the lack of firm evidence.

Hopefully, whatever it is, can be captured humanely and transferred to a zoo, without the ridiculous scenes we have had elsewhere of gangs of eager hunters bent on its destruction.

Edited by MattC
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If this has been going on for 15 years and if the people are correct with what they see, then there has to be more then one Animal.

15 years is pushing it for one in the wild.

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Agreed 15 years is sort of pushing it, although 15-20 is deemed about average, the oldest Jaguar found in the wild was about 18.

However, melanism isn't always hereditary, but can also be adaptive. So, for example, if there were, say, a small breeding population of leopards in the area, if that area is fairly highly populated with humans, that would encourage a nocturnal rather than a crepuscular habit, which in turn would give an advantage to melanistic animals. So, its conceivable that there are several offspring of an escaped pair.

Bear in mind also that many cat species can interbreed, particularly Jaguar and Leopard, so there also exists that possibility, particularly as the parents are likely to be escapes, and not being subject to their normal geographic seperation, could, and probably would, interbreed.

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Agreed 15 years is sort of pushing it, although 15-20 is deemed about average, the oldest Jaguar found in the wild was about 18.

However, melanism isn't always hereditary, but can also be adaptive. So, for example, if there were, say, a small breeding population of leopards in the area, if that area is fairly highly populated with humans, that would encourage a nocturnal rather than a crepuscular habit, which in turn would give an advantage to melanistic animals. So, its conceivable that there are several offspring of an escaped pair.

Bear in mind also that many cat species can interbreed, particularly Jaguar and Leopard, so there also exists that possibility, particularly as the parents are likely to be escapes, and not being subject to their normal geographic seperation, could, and probably would, interbreed.

Tho I would expect to see more non black/brown then there would be black or brown. I could see one or two "if" there was say a hunting ranch that a few got away from. Hunting Black Panthers for cats seems to be an ego thing, at least here in the states.

If one has been viewed/sighted for about 15 years, I would speculate that animal would have to be 17-18 years anyway. Takes about 2-3 years to adulthood if I recall right.

Heck I would have to look into them more, tho I think majority of the cats even in zoos around here might reach 12 years and that is in captivity.

Reality thinking about it, Sounds like all the stars need to be alined, tho saying that, Florida for instance has seen some strange crap happen were species have adapted to their environment there, only stars alined were runway lights before opening cages.

Edited by Wayne S
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:D, There are no "hunting ranches" that I know of in Australia, in fact we banned such things many years ago and there is a push to even ban circuses that keep animals here although I think that will take many more years for those pushing such things to achieve if ever. I put more credence in the theory that there may be several of these animals roaming around the particular area as there is a lot of bush between Kenthurst and Springwood to give them cover and one has also been seen in Galston Gorge north of Kenthurst where the bush is extremely dense; beautiful scenic driving road by the way with many hairpin bends and a little one lane bridge across a creek at the bottom of the gorge. Panthers, cougars or whatever you might like to call them are solitary animals so it follows that there is the likelihood of only seeing one at a time in the wild even if there are a number roaming around this pretty vast area.

In my first post I said that there had been reports of one being seen over 23 years ago in this area so if they live to be about 18 years old then it seems likely there are several breeding pairs out there as that first one would more than likely have died by now. Witnesses say it has a roaring growling voice not unlike a lion's. Adaptive melanism is also quite likely given that these cats seem to be most active at night and probably only hunt during the day if they're very hungry and haven't been able to find anything to eat the previous night. Thank you for the extra information Wayne and Matt, much appreciated.

:cheers:,

Ross.

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:D, Not according to whoever wrote the Wikipedia article there isn't. That's why I got a bit sarcastic in my first post in this thread; the evidence is quite plain that there is such a thing and I've seen the videos on tv and now I come to think about it I remember the man being attacked being reported a couple of years ago. I'm convinced there is such an animal. There's just too much evidence to deny it now.

:cheers:,

Ross.

Edited by ross blackford
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"Black Panther" is a bit of a misnomer. There are black cats for sure, and they all tend to get called Panthers, but depending where you are from, the species varies, so in America, a black Jaguar (like the one in the pic Jennings posted) will be called a "Black Panther" whereas elsewhere, it might be a Black Leopard, Cougar, whatever, that gets the "Panther" moniker, because we've sort of become indoctrinated to call all black cats "Panthers".

So yeah, there are lots of black cats of one species and another, spread all over the world.

Finding them is another thing. Big cats are notoriously difficult to spot, even when you know what you are looking for and where. To locate an unknown individual, with an unknown territory, in a habitat where its behaviour might be atypical, is nigh on impossible to do, other than by expending a great deal of time and patience, and being in the right place at the right time.

It'll happen eventually, as we encroach more and more with development and fragment the useful habitat ranges further, the conflicts are liable to become more common, and potentially, more aggressive as individuals try to defend a shrinking territory.

Edited by MattC
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:D, G'day Matt,

Years ago there were a few small farms and market gardens at Kenthurst, now it's a full blown suburb. You're right, we're encroaching more and more into the habitats of many wild species as our ever expanding suburbs expand even further. Other animals that are finding it difficult to live outside "our" claimed zones are snakes and even foxes. There have been brown snakes, blackies and green tree snakes and foxes seen in the grounds of the hospital where I work this year and in fact just last week I was on a night shift and my colleague and I were checking out one of the multi level carparks on a mobile patrol when we stopped to reset the gate counter. As we stepped out of the car we heard a fox bark. My colleague who's somewhat older than me asked me what it was. I couldn't believe that at his age and having had a small farm in his younger years with a managerie he'd never heard a fox bark.

:cheers:,

Ross.

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We have the same sightings here in The south west of Australia. Big cat sightings, blood-curdling screams etc.

I know that feral cats can get damn big in the bush, but it makes you wonder.

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"Black Panther" is a bit of a misnomer. There are black cats for sure, and they all tend to get called Panthers, but depending where you are from, the species varies, so in America, a black Jaguar (like the one in the pic Jennings posted) will be called a "Black Panther" whereas elsewhere, it might be a Black Leopard, Cougar, whatever, that gets the "Panther" moniker, because we've sort of become indoctrinated to call all black cats "Panthers".

This is exactly right. A Black Panther is a genetic mutation in many of the large cat species.

Wikipedia does have an article on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_panther

In which they do say there is no evidence of Black Cougars.

Edited by dmk0210
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I live in Eastern Ontario, Canada and just saw a news report that our guys who manage wildlife had to shoot a Cougar, 4 legged kind!! It had killed a dog in the Muskoka area, this is what we call cottage country, removed from the city and usually surrounding a lake. These animals adapt, the news also mentioned there had been no positive proof of Cougars in Ontario (a very large province) since 1884!!!!

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