PHANTOM CAT


'Phantom Cats' also known as 'Alien Big Cats' (ABCs) are a phenomenon of a number of countries and states including Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Denmark, and Hawaii. The reported sightings, tracks and predation indicate large felines, such as jaguars or cougars. Many academics consider the study of ABCs to be, at best, fringe science, although a minority of academics consider this dismissal to be misguided. Evidence for the existence of ABCs is patchy but significant. Although ABCs are often referred to as "big cats", this term is often a misnomer as some sighted and/or caught ABCs are smaller cats such as lynx.

Contents
UK
Australia
Denmark
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Hawaii
Evidence for alien big cats
See also
External links
Australia
Denmark
New Zealand
U. K.
United States
References

UK


Main articles: British big cats

Since the 1960s, there have been many sightings of big cats across Great Britain. Puma, clouded leopard, jungle cat, leopard cat and lynx have also been killed or captured, as documented by Dr Karl Shuker in ''Mystery Cats of the World'' (1989).[1]. An unusual concentration of sightings are in the West country region of England.

Australia


Sightings of exotic big cats in Australia began more than 100 years ago.
In the Gippsland region of south-eastern Victoria, the origin of the cats is claimed to be American World War II airmen who brought cougars with them as mascots and released them in the Australian Bush. No conclusion has been reached, and photographic evidence is often difficult to interpret. The mass slaughter of sheep is often given as evidence to support the big cat theory. They are often killed by a clean puncture or slit in the throat. The animals' insides are then eaten precisely and with no mess, in the same way a big cat kills and eats its prey.
Several sets of video footage - claiming to show black panthers in the Australian bush - have shown animals that share the morphology of felis cattus, but the size range of leopards. This was "proven" to a degree when Victorian Steve Temby filmed a monster felid and showed a footprint from the sequence that was over 60mm - a fact conveniently ignored by many critics because it ruled out "feral cat" ideas. Zoologists look at the monster felid footage and see the shape and disregard the size and conclude "feral cat", whilst big cat hunters see the size and disregard the shape, and conclude "panther".
Claimed sightings of big cats and their effects have led to government studies of the Grampian Mountains Cougars in Victoria, and the Blue Mountains panther and Lithgow Panther in New South Wales.

Denmark


In 1995, a big cat usually described as a lion (but sometimes as a lynx) was dubbed the 'Beast of Funen' by numerous eye-witnesses. There was an earlier big cat sighting from 1982 in southern Jutland.

The Netherlands


In 2005 a black cougar was allegedly spotted on several occasions in a wildlife preserve, but the animal, nicknamed Winnie, was later identified as an unusually large crossbreed between a domestic and a wild cat.

New Zealand


Since the late 1990s, big cat sightings have been reported in widely separated parts of New Zealand, in both the North and South Islands. There have been several panther sightings in Mid-Canterbury near Ashburton and in the nearby foothills of the Southern Alps, but searches conducted there in 2003 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry found no corroborating physical evidence.A search in 2006 showed a Big black cat roming a local farm,it was recorded on video camera.

Hawaii


Stories of "mystery big cats" on the island of Maui have been circulating since the late 1980s. In December 2002, sightings of a big cat increased in number in the Kula (upcountry) area, and the Division of Forestry and Wildlife requested the help of big cat wildlife biologists William Van Pelt and Stan Cunningham of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. It is theorized that a large feline was illegally brought into Hawaii as a pet and released or allowed to wander in the wild. The big cat managed to elude traps, infrared cameras, and professional trackers. A fur sample was obtained in 2003 but DNA analysis was inconclusive. Experts speculate that the big cat may be a Jaguar, Leopard or Mountain Lion.

Evidence for alien big cats


Zoologist and cryptozoologist Dr Karl Shuker provides the most detailed documentation in book form of ABCs worldwide in his definitive book on this subject, ''Mystery Cats of the World'' (1989).[1]
Dr Darren Naish of the University of Portsmouth in Britain discusses some of the evidence for ABCs on his blog. Naish blog.
The New South Wales State Government reported in 2003 that it was "more likely than not" that there was a colony of exotic big cats living in the bush near Sydney. SMH.

See also



British Big Cats

Cryptozoology

Loren Coleman

Blue Mountains panther

Gippsland phantom cat

External links


Australia


Australian article from The Sunday Herald Sun

Australian article from The Bulletin

Australian article from the Sydney Morning Herald

Australian map of sightings near Sydney from the Sydney Morning Herald

An overview of big cat sightings in Australia

The largest data base of videos and sightings of big cats in Australia.
Denmark


The Beast of Funen
New Zealand


List of sightings in New Zealand

NZ Herald: MAF staff, wildlife experts hunt big black cat in vain

Ashburton Guardian: An unsolved mystery
U. K.


Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976

September 2004 - Family Claims "Big Cat" Caught on Film


Video

January 2003 attack

BBC report

★ http://www.britishbigcats.org/


United States


Hawaiian Status Report on the Mystery Big Cat


Expert to Train Hawaii DLNR in Safe Capture Snaring Techniques

References


1. Mystery Cats of the World, , Karl P N, Shuker, Robert Hale, 1989,
2. Mystery Cats of the World, , Karl P N, Shuker, Robert Hale, 1989,


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