Rex & Heather Gilroy - Research of the Australian Panther - N.S.W. Legislative Assembly

Rex Gilroy hopes to inspire other future researchers to follow his example and dare to question long-established dogmas of our prehistory and, like him, reveal evidence for long-hidden mysteries about which the scientific establishment would prefer we knew nothing.
 
Rex & Heather Gilroy

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Rex and Heather Gilroy-Australia's Top 'Unexplained' Mysteries Research Team. Photos & Text copyright (c) Rex & Gilroy Heather 2010
• Research of Rex & Heather Gilroy - N.S.W. Legislative Assembly

Legislative Assembly- Thursday 22 May 2003

Luke Walkers Bloody Arm

Luke Walkers Bloodied Arm
Photograph copyright © Luke Walker 2007

Kenthurst Animal Attack

Mr LYNCH: My question without notice is to the Minister for Regional Development, representing the Minister for Agriculture. What is the Government's response to community concerns about an alleged animal attack in the Kenthurst area?

Mr CAMPBELL: Over the past three decades there have been some 60 separate reports of a large cat-like animal attacking livestock and people in Sydney's west, north west, the Blue Mountains and Lithgow. The animal has been described as being like a panther. Sightings have been reported to NSW Police, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Moss Vale Rural Lands Protection Board and NSW Agriculture. These sightings range from distant glimpses to close encounters. Other claims include large scratches on trees and instances where goat and sheep carcasses were found in trees. Video recordings were made on a few occasions, but they proved inconclusive.

Mr Armstrong: Point of order: The Department of Agriculture spent some hundreds of thousands of dollars investigating reports of large animals in the Blue Mountains. Why not put the effort into getting drought declarations right for farmers, instead of talking about a black panther from somebody's imagination.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. I call the honourable member for Lachlan to order.

Mr CAMPBELL: If the honourable member for Lachlan's mates in Canberra had approved the applications for the Southern Tablelands, farmers in that area would have been getting that special assistance.

In 2001 there was extensive footage broadcast on national television of a large black creature in a Mort Street backyard in Lithgow. A local woman, Gayle Pound, filmed it. Sightings of a monster cat around Lithgow sparked community fear. In response, the NSW Agriculture Protection Unit conducted a low-level inquiry. Officers tested droppings found in the area but could not conclusively identify the samples.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service used an expert tracker, but it was also unable to draw conclusive evidence. In January last year the State Government officially announced that NSW Agriculture had decided to wind up its investigation into the so-called Lithgow panther. However, it said it would reopen the matter if new material became known. It seems the panther is back.

On 20 March this year a 17-year-old Kenthurst boy came forward with deep lacerations on his right arm from what he said was an encounter with a black panther.

[Interruption]

It is unfortunate that members opposite do not see this as being serious because a 17-year-old from Kenthurst believes that he was injured by a black panther. Following that report, a public meeting was held at Windsor council chambers on 28 April.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Chair is pleased that so many members are enjoying question time. However, I am sure other members would find it more enjoyable if they could hear the Minister's answer.

Mr CAMPBELL: A wide range of people including council staff, the mayor Councillor Rex Stubbs, concerned residents and Moss Vale Rural Lands Protection Board staff attended the public meeting. They resolved to ask NSW Agriculture to reopen investigations into the possible presence of a large, cat-like creature.

Following the meeting NSW Agriculture decided to reopen investigations, but at a low level, without incurring major cost. The new work will build on earlier work undertaken by NSW Agriculture. Over the next few weeks NSW Agriculture will review any new available evidence and will analyse any hair and paw prints, and will seek help from residents in affected areas.

For the record, it is unlikely that there is an escaped panther or large cat from a circus, as some people have speculated. However, we take this issue seriously because the presence of a large cat or cats has not been disproven.

Large areas of the Great Dividing Range represent an ideal habitat for such animals. There are claims of an animal in the Kenthurst area. What we do know is that if these animals exist they represent a real threat to human safety and to the safety of livestock and domestic animals.

It is a threat that NSW Agriculture takes seriously, and that is why a new investigation is under way.

• Reports - Sightings From the 1995 Book Mysterious Australia - New * Click Here Now * New
• Original Newspaper Accounts * Click Here *
• The Best Sightings * Click Here *
• Theories - The Case For a Marsupial Cat * Click Here *
• Timeline of Sightings * Click Here *
• Expeditions Australia Wide * Click Here *
• Drawings * Click Here *
• Plaster Casts * Click Here *
• Compilation of Descriptions of Eyewitnesses * Click Here *
• Radio Interviews * Click Here *
• Television Interviews * Click Here *
• Newspaper Interviews * Click Here *
• Reports - Sightings From Out Of The Dreamtime - The Search For Australasia's Unknown Animals * Click Here *
• Message Board - Report a Sighting Australia Wide * Click Here *
State By State Sighting Reports
• Panther Research New South Wales * Click Here *
• Panther Research Victoria * Click Here *
• Panther Research Queensland * Click Here *
• Panther Research Northern Territory * Click Here *
• Panther Research Western Australia * Click Here *
• Panther Research South Australia * Click Here *
• Panther Research A.C.T (Canberra) * Click Here *
• Panther Research Tasmania * Click Here *
Reports on Panther Activity by Government Departments

• NSW Agriculture Report on information available on the reported large black cat in the Blue Mountains. Prepared by: Bill Atkinson, Agricultural Protection Officer * Click Here *

• Legislative Assembly - Thursday 22 May 2003 * Click Here *
• Australian Zoos * Click Here *
Internet Reports
• Message Boards * Click Here *
• Newspaper Reports * Click Here *
• Blog Reports * Click Here *
Photographs/Video/Video Stills/Drawings
• Large Cats * Click Here *
• Feral Cats * Click Here *
• Private Zoos * Click Here *
• You-Tube * Click Here *
When Animals Attack
• Attacks involving lions or tigers in Australia since 1980 * Click Here *
Contact Rex & Heather Gilroy
• New Email: randhgilroy44@bigpond.com

Rex & Heather Gilroy - Research of the Australian (Marsupial) Panther -Sighting Reports

Kangaroo Valley: If, as I maintain, we are dealing with a still unknown species of giant marsupial cat related to Thylacoleo, then we can cancel out the 'panther' feral cat theory. Undoubtedly, feral cats make up a large percentage of Kangaroo Valley 'panther' reports, but a comparison of physical descriptions and plaster casts of 'panther' paw-prints certainly distinguishes this animal from any feral cat.
Rex & Heather Gilroy
Rex and Heather Gilroy-Australia's Top 'Unexplained' Mysteries Research Team.
Photos & Text From mysterious Australia copyright (c) Rex & Gilroy Heather 2010
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