Are there black panthers roaming the outskirts of Australia’s biggest cities? A lack of evidence, even after official investigations, doesn’t stop grainy photos and far-fetched stories making it into the news.

Rumours have circulated around Melbourne and Sydney for decades about foreign felines prowling the bush around the cities. Most commonly, locals spot a big black cat or panther — in New South Wales, the Penrith (also Blue Mountains) panther apparently roams around between the Blue Mountains and the Hunter Valley, and in Victoria, Gippsland and the Grampians have both been named as homes to mysterious big black cats.

The black cat reports and sightings have been making regular appearances in the news for decades. In both NSW and Victoria, the sightings became so regular that state authorities conducted investigations and reviews to see if they could track down the elusive creatures.

 

Both investigations reported back without finding any evidence — other than the eye-witness reports — that there were large felines in the bush. In 2012, the Arthur Rylah Institute investigated in Victoria, but found it “highly unlikely” there were black cats on the loose in Victoria. In 2014, a New Zealand invasive-species expert John Parkes, hired from across the ditch to look into NSW sightings, couldn’t find any evidence of felines, saying in his report: 

“The sightings are mostly of black animals but the occasional reports of brown or tan cats suggest either more than one species is present or that people are mistaking other animals for cats. Large dogs, large feral cats or swamp wallabies have been suggested as candidates by some people.”

And yet, the reports continue. Just this year, reports have been rolling in from the Yarra Ranges in Victoria of big cat footprints, a big black cat the size of a German shepherd (not pictured), and, last year, two different cats at the same time in Melbourne’s outer east.

 

The big black cat legends are not unique to Australia. Many people are convinced they also roam Britain, with sightings collated by a group of amateur enthusiasts. 

In Tasmania, it’s not a panther that gets punters reaching for the camcorders. In the bush of the island, you’re more likely to be calling The Mercury with blurry pictures of a Tasmanian tiger, than a big cat. There have been sightings reported since the death of the last thylacine in captivity, in 1936. Some video, released in early September, apparently shows a thylacine nudging a camera set up to capture the officially extinct creature, barking, and stalking around bushland. 

 

And the Tassie tiger sightings aren’t limited to, well, Tassie. Scientists from James Cook University started field research in June on Cape York after what they said were credible sightings.

In Darwin, in 2010, a “monkey” was caught on a bus’ CCTV camera, prompting authorities to check with the local wildlife park all its primates were present and accounted for (they were), and advised it had probably been brought in illegally and could carry diseases. A few days later, the monkey had disappeared without any further sightings and head of Park and Wildlife Graham Phelps was telling the ABC they needed to wait for a more credible sighting, and there’s been nothing since.

 

There are various explanations for how foreign felines might have made their way into Australia. Some think they could have bred from animals released or escaped from circuses or zoos, while others believe they could have been the offspring of mascots for visiting US soldiers during World War II.