Report backs sightings of Australia's big cats

An official report has apparently confirmed what many have suspected for years - that a population of big cats is roaming Australia's mountains and forests.

Sightings by farmers, hikers and wildlife rangers date back decades. Witnesses have spoken of large, cat-like creatures running in front of their vehicles night, while farmers have reported sheep being slaughtered by what they are convinced are pumas or panthers.

Sightings have been reported in southern Queensland, the outback of New South Wales and the Grampian Mountains of Victoria.

Sceptics said people were either mistaken or were seeing large feral cats, which have roamed wild across Australia since European settlers brought them as pets. Surviving on a diet of wallabies, rabbits, birds and other wildlife, feral cats are often significantly larger than their domestic cousins.

However, an inquiry by the Agriculture Department of New South Wales has reported that it is 'more likely than not' that a population of big cats lives in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

The four-month inquiry's findings, reported in the Sun-Herald newspaper yesterday, stated: 'Nothing found in this review conclusively proves the presence of free-ranging exotic large cats in New South Wales, but this cannot be discounted and seems more likely than not on available evidence. These animals may have escaped or were released, causing numerous sightings.'