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1788, the first British colonists set Fast forward to the 1940s, a period Recent Reports of Big Cats foot on Australian soil. These of great disruption in Australia with Sightings of large cat-like animals, resourceful men, women and American servicemen thick on the whatever their origin, appear to be on children quickly established ground. When they weren't being the rise in Australia's western and themselves and introduced arangeof despatched to war zones or eastern states. In Western Australia animals once foreign to these shores, romancing Australian women in in the late 1970s, the state including rabbits, foxes and the first crowded dance halls, it seems that, if government initiated an inquiry into domestic—and soon-to-be-feral— __ folklore is to be believed, they were spiralling reports of strange cats. Could descendants of these _ busy caring for exotic unit mascots— __ predation in the Cordering district. small British cats (and perhaps those namely, "black panthers". NSW has experienced a profusion of rom Dutch shipwrecks) have Did servicemen really keep wild big-cat sightings in the Blue morphed into the super-sized cats cats as unit mascots? And, if so, Mountains and Hawkesbury areas, so irst spotted in the bush less than once they got their marching orders much so that the state government 00 years later? and realised they couldn't take them initiated two inquiries into the In the 1850s and 1860s, gold matter in 1999-2001 and 2008. ever gripped the nation. The wilderness of the Blue Prospectors flocked from as far Mountains, west of Sydney, away as China and America to | __[¢ js not unreasonable to suggest stretches over one million he goldfields of Victoria and . hectares. It is a vast landscape New South Wales in pursuit of that something more than of sheer cliffs, swamps, rugged instant wealth, some of them so ancient trees might be lurking tablelands and deep, intent on guarding their claims within that rugged landscape impenetrable valleys that hat they often took A 2 harbour many secrets— extraordinary precautions— some parts of which have yet to including, in the Wollemi including, it is believed, be explored by man. National Park, the recently chaining pumas to their rediscovered “living fossil", the diggings. Are relatives of those Wollemi Pine. It is not gold-rush pumas on the loose in unreasonable to suggest that Australia's wilderness? something more than ancient trees In 1876, the megacircus of Cooper, into battle, did they release these might be lurking within that rugged Bailey & Co. (precursor of the famous same "panthers" into the wilderness landscape, some parts of which have Barnum & Bailey Circus) came to. rather than humanely put them yet to be explored by man. Australian shores. The dazzling down? On the western side of the Blue spectacle toured New South Wales Finally, we have the growing Mountains lies the small coal-mining and Victoria, and featured a swag of menace of feral cats in the Australian town of Lithgow. On the morning o! "alien" animals including jaguars, bush. Domestic cats quickly got their 9 May 2001, residents Gail and leopards, bears, tigers, hyenas, claws into this country, rapidly Wayne Pound were at home getting elephants, zebras, a hippopotamus, spreading and_ establishing ready to go to work. It was abou monkeys and camels. The presence themselves across the continent. But 7.00 am; Gail was getting dressed of the large American circus with its are they now changing, mutating and while Wayne was in the shower. extensive exotic menagerie no doubt growing to sizes far larger than has Looking up, she spied a large fera inspired Australia's St Leon circus to. previously been expected of Felis cat in the scrub outside her bedroom add big cats to its line-up in 1882— catus, the domestic house cat? Could window. However, it was the cat's the first travelling circus troupe in an evolutionary quirk be responsible much larger feline companion tha Australia to do so—enthralling for the hundreds of big-cat sightings caused her to do a double-take. "We audiences and becoming a major around Australia? were quite mesmerised," Gail told drawcard. However, circuses were Or might feral cats have crossed Channel Nine's A Current Affair, which not without problems, including with Indonesian jungle cats from went to air with the story the nex frequent crashes en route and careless earlier Aboriginal-Indonesian evening. Added Wayne: "I got the handling, often resulting in escapes. interactions over thousands of years, binoculars and had a good look at it. Are the descendants of circus creating genetically superior And! was still looking at it and all o escapees living and breeding in the "monster cats" through hybrid a sudden it got up and I said, 'No, bush? vigour? hang on...that's a giant cat!', and Fast forward to the 1940s, a period of great disruption in Australia with American servicemen thick on the ground. When they weren't being despatched to war zones or romancing Australian women in crowded dance halls, it seems that, if folklore is to be believed, they were busy caring for exotic unit mascots— namely, "black panthers". Did servicemen really keep wild cats as unit mascots? And, if so, once they got their marching orders and realised they couldn't take them It is not unreasonable to suggest that something more than ancient trees might be lurking within that rugged landscape, some parts of which have yet to be explored by man. into battle, did they release these same "panthers" into the wilderness rather than humanely put them down? Finally, we have the growing menace of feral cats in the Australian bush. Domestic cats quickly got their claws into this country, rapidly spreading and_ establishing themselves across the continent. Bu are they now changing, mutating and growing to sizes far larger than has previously been expected of Felis catus, the domestic house cat? Could an evolutionary quirk be responsible for the hundreds of big-cat sightings around Australia? Or might feral cats have crossed with Indonesian jungle cats from earlier Aboriginal-Indonesian interactions over thousands of years, creating genetically superior "monster cats" through hybrid vigour? NEXUS ¢ 67 AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2011 www.nexusmagazine.com