Another ABC Article

Big Cat sightings have gotten quite a bit of media attention lately, and ABC News Australia is the latest to have an article on the phantom felines.

It starts like this:

"Have you ever seen a big cat in the Australian wild? Not just an oversized house cat, but a panther, a lion or a tiger? 

"If you have - or at least, think you have - then you're not alone.

"Many Australians say they've encountered some kind of mysterious big cat in the bush. So is there a whisker of truth to all these alleged sightings?

"In the central Victorian town of Lancefield, it's not hard to spot a big cat.

"Right in the centre of the main street, the hulking frame of a jet black panther stands ready to pounce.

"Cast in steel, the statue appeared mysteriously in the middle of the night in 2015.

"Made by an anonymous artist, it stands as a monument to all the rumoured local sightings of big cats. Over 30 years, there have been many.

"Local doctor Paul Carter had a farmer visit his GP practice in 1988,  claiming to have made a sighting.

"'We had a local character who came in in an extremely agitated state, saying that he had sighted the panther,' Dr Carter said.

"'It was obvious that he was pretty inebriated.'

"While Dr Carter doesn't believe the panther story himself, he said many locals have told him they've seen a big cat.

"'I've had people take me out to their property to show me footmarks in the mud by their house because they were so frightened they were going to be taken by the panther,' he said.

"John Nightingale, who owns the local cafe and gallery, thinks he's seen one.

"'We were driving down a track not often used. There were thick ferns on either side, about two metres high, and all of a sudden there was a flash,' he said.

"'It was black, it was long, it was quick. People have said it was a wallaby or a kangaroo and it wasn't, so my theory is it had to be the panther.

"'I'd say there's a 99.9 per cent probably that panthers have been here.'

The full article can be found here.

(ABC News)