Seem's we have about 1000 Puma's in Australia

[phlogiston]

Plus in the photos he was standing about 3 kilometers behind the tree the cat was hung in.

 

[KoichCPA]

BLITZY SAW IT ON THE NEWS OR IN THE PAPER THUS MAKING IT TRUE.

 

[Sydo]

I believe.. I just think that this guy in question is full of shit.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I didn't hear much about the guy in question, and to be honest I never saw the photo myself, I was just aware that it was on the front of the Herald Sun. It probably was a load.

I do know that I saw a massive cat myself once, as I said earlier in the thread, so there is something out there, whether they are a big cat like a puma or are just massive ferals...there is something.

 

[MeKaChrOme]

I decided to consult Google about this.. here;s the latest case:
http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,16855046%5E5422,00.html

that's a damn big cat, but i'm puzzled as to why you'd throw the thing in the river rather than leaving it around for analysis. I guess he just didn't think much of it at the time. Well a month later, I haven't heard any confirmations that it was a puma.

Agree with Sydo though about the perspective.. he shoulda just lined it on the ground and put the gun next to it or something!

Someone just solve this damn mystery!

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Ahh, it is a dodgey looking photo.

 

[Goreripper]

It certainly is. The guy with the gun is standing waaaaay back in the back ground of the shot and the "puma" is up real close to camera. It's like the way they put Dani Filth at the front of COF pics so he doesn't look so short. Also, the cat's head was completely blown off. Pumas are big fuckers. I don't know that much about guns, maybe Koich or Shannow can steer me right about this, but that looks like a lot of damage from a rifle bullet to a big cat.

 

[Shannow]

Gorey,
the November Australian Shooter mag has an interview with the guy. He was using a 7mm (doesn't explain which 7mm), on a deer hunt.

He states that the thing was running (bounding), and he shot it just behind the front leg when it hit the ground, the bullet exited the chest, and then the head as it came to it's lowest point in the bound. The damage sounds about right for the description.

There's another photo, nowhere near as impressive as the first in the same article, shot on a different perspective.

 

[Goreripper]

Fair enough. Still looks bodgy there.

 

[MeKaChrOme]

And I'm still puzzled as to why he threw the rest of the body in the river... Given the chance to 'solve' a pretty big mystery.. my logic would suggest that you wouldn't simply throw it away if you were confident it was more than a feral cat. But hey, he might just not have thought about it. But that doesn't make sense because he thought about it enough to chop off only the tail... Ah well.

 

[Shannow]

He reckons that he's kicking himself, and that as a trophy hunter, he'd all but obliterated the trophy aspect by destroying the head.

Anyway, chucking dead animals in waterways is way less than cool (as is trophy hunting)

 

[phlogiston]

That was actually the part of it that bothered me the most, to tell you the truth. Way to ruin someones or somethings irrigation/drinking water there, buddy.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

The story I heard was that he wasn't looking to get his 15 minutes of fame from it and didn't particularly care. He cut the tail off to keep as the head was too mangled, and got rid of it. Apparently he only took the photo and told the media about it because his friends talked him into it.

I was all for believing this guy as I know I have seen something myself, but after seeing that photo I am not so sure.

 

[MeKaChrOme]

Fair enough. shame he didn't keep the whole body though.

 

[Sydo]

Results are in;
One fucking big cat.

 

[Shannow]

linky ?

 

[Icarus]

I read it in the sunday paper today as well.

 

[Sydo]

DNA tests conclude it is a (very) big cat
By KELVIN HEALEY
27nov05

DNA tests have revealed a mysterious cat shot in Gippsland was a gigantic feral domestic cat.

Big cat researchers have claimed it could be the state's largest feral tabby. The size of the cat led to initial predictions it was a leopard or jaguar. The tests could end decades of speculation over big cat sightings in the Australian wilderness.

The feral cat's tail was 65cm in length, nearly twice the length of the largest recorded domestic cat tail. Monash University experts analysed a sample from the tail of the cat, shot by Melbourne hunter Kurt Engel, and have concluded there was a 98 per chance it was a feral cat. Mr Engel, 67, who photographed the cat and disposed of the carcass, but kept the tail as a trophy, said he accepted the finding but was adamant the cat was extremely large. "If it was just a pussy cat, it was the biggest in the world," he said.

The laboratory testing compared the cat tail DNA against several samples of DNA taken from feral cats and other big cats from around the world. In tests against DNA from feral cats, the tail DNA recorded several matches of 100 per cent and was always at least 97 per cent similar. But when compared against DNA from big cats including leopards, cheetahs, lynx and tigers, the results were a 90 per cent match or less.

Big cat researcher Mike Williams said he was stunned by the DNA result.
"It was so large I just assumed it was an exotic animal," he said. "I was obviously wrong, but it is extraordinary that Australia has a mutated cat that can grow to the size of a leopard. "This might explain why there are so many reports of monstrous black cats in Australia. "It is the world's largest feral cat."

Fellow big cat researcher Bernie Mace said it was an important finding. "It leaves a question mark over the feral cat – how big does it really get?" Mr Mace said. "It has implications for the native fauna and ecology in Australia."

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,17374294%5E2862,00.html

 

[Shannow]

Cool, thanks for that.

I hope that it was immunised against the Calisi virus then.

 

[Sydo]

The laboratory testing compared the cat tail DNA against several samples of DNA taken from feral cats and other big cats from around the world. In tests against DNA from feral cats, the tail DNA recorded several matches of 100 per cent and was always at least 97 per cent similar. But when compared against DNA from big cats including leopards, cheetahs, lynx and tigers, the results were a 90 per cent match or less.

Now I don't really know what I'm talking about, but this makes me wonder if 'it' could be a crossbreed or a feral and an exotic big cat..