An experienced bush photographer has captured images of a feral cat that she said was far larger than other wild felines she had come across.
Apollo Bay photographer Amber Noseda was taking pictures of birds when she spotted the jet-black feline in Mount Sabine, in Victoria’s Otway Ranges, on Friday.
‘It had a square jawline and a very thick tail, thicker than your normal feral cat. I’ve never seen anything like it before,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
Ms Noseda’s encounter came after two black panthers were reportedly spotted in Victoria last month.
Hundreds of sightings of the legendary ‘Otway Panther’ have been reported since the 1960s.
A large jet-black cat that looks suspiciously like a black panther was photographed in Mount Sabine, in Victoria’s Otway Ranges, on Friday afternoon
The feral feline was seen prowling around on the side of a road by Apollo Bay photographer Amber Noseda, who was taking pictures of birds at the time
Ms Noseda, who runs Great Ocean Photography, was heading home after her photography session when she caught sight of the cat.
‘I was taking pictures of birds and as I was leaving the car park, I saw it in my rear view mirror, so I quickly got out and snapped a photo,’ she said.
‘I’m a local in the area and I’m aware of pretty big feral cats but I’ve never seen anything like this before.
‘At first, I thought it was a wallaby and then a dog but it turned out to be a large cat.’
She consulted experts from Big Cats Victoria and Strange Creatures Victoria, who agreed that the cat’s tail was much thicker than normal.
Despite the repeated claims of a black panther roaming the area, Ms Noseda said she was convinced it was just a feral cat.
‘I didn’t think it was a black panther. I looked back at the photos and I just think it’s a very large feral cat,’ she said.
‘They’ve become extremely resilient to their environment, so they’ve become bigger. The only thing that hunts them is humans, so they’re mostly at the top of their food chain.’
Ms Noseda (pictured), who runs Great Ocean Photography, was heading home after her photo session when she sighted the feral feline
The photographer consulted experts from Big Cats Victoria and Strange Creatures Victoria, who agreed that the cat’s tail was much thicker than normal
In the Otways, feral cats hunt koalas, platypuses, possums, swamp wallabies, spot-tailed quolls and native bush rats.
Feral and domestic cats kill more than 3 million mammals, 2 million reptiles and 1 million birds in Australia each year, according to wildlife researcher Professor Sarah Legge from the Australian National University.
After her sighting, Ms Noseda shared a picture of the big black cat to Facebook.
‘I have lived here all my life in the Otways and have heard all the stories about the Otway Panther,’ she said.
‘Today I saw a cat that was bigger than a normal moggie.
‘If this is how the feral cats are growing then I’m glad I’m not out and about in the bush at night.’
Many people commented on Ms Noseda’s post, also saying they had encountered large cats in the area.
A reported black panther sighting in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. There have also been alleged sightings in the Hunter Valley in NSW, the Otways, the Grampians and in Gippsland in Victoria, the Sunshine Coast and Gympie in Queensland and south-western WA
An alleged sighting of a black panther. Black panthers are black variants of either jaguars or leopards, both subspecies of Panthera
Ms Noseda’s sighting in the Otway Ranges comes after twin brothers claimed to have spotted a panther while walking in the region last month.
Royce and Ben Chaffey, 43, said they also saw a large number of carcasses of various animals throughout the area, which is well known for large cat sightings.
‘It was not mistaken for something else, it was a large predator cat,’ Royce Chaffey told the Geelong Advertiser.
The twins said the panther was around 1.5 metres in length and jet black in colour.
They claimed to have spotted it as they were standing in the middle of a walking track and tried to capture it on film.
The panther disappeared into the bush a few seconds later.
Sightings of ‘black panthers’ have been reported in bushland around Australia date back to the mid-20th century (file picture)
Mysterious wounds consistent with a big cat claw attack on the throat of a cow, found by A documentary team as they searched for clues as to the existence of the big cats
TV presenter Grant Denyer also said he sighted black panthers on his Bathhurst farm last month.
‘Don’t think I’m crazy, but I am on the panther bandwagon right now,’ Mr Denyer told news.com.au.
‘I’m talking about the famous panthers that roam the Australian bush.
‘I’ve seen the panther twice on the bottom of my farm and I have video to prove it — although blurry and zoomed 10 times on my iPhone.’
To capture more proof of panthers, Mr Denyer has now installed infra-red and motion-detecting cameras on his property, hoping to catch a big cat.
There have been apparent sightings of exotic big cats like cougars and black panthers in the Otways, the Grampians and in Gippsland in Victoria.
The Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley in NSW, the Sunshine Coast and Gympie in Queensland and south-western WA are other hot spots for big cat sightings.
Former Australia Zoo big cat handler Vaughan King (pictured) said a ‘corroborated’ theory behind exotic big cats such as black panthers and cougars in Australia was that they were released into the bush by US soldiers during World War II
Former Australia Zoo big cat handler Vaughan King said a ‘corroborated’ theory behind exotic big cats was that panthers, cougars and the like were brought over by U.S. soldiers stationed in Australia during World War II.
‘That’s a story that’s been corroborated by a lot of different people around Australia over the years,’ Mr King said on the Today show last month.
By 1943, there were 150,000 American soldiers in Australia with the largest concentrations in Queensland near Brisbane, Rockhampton and Townsville.
The US Navy was often anchored in Sydney and Perth throughout the conflict.
American General Douglas MacArthur, who became the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in South-West Pacific, initially had his headquarters in Melbourne.
American troops march in Brisbane while stationed there in 1942. US soldiers may have used big cats such as black panthers and cougars as ‘mascots’ before they released them into the Australian bush