Victorian Research

Whittlesea District 1940

Copyright © Rex Gilroy 2003

My research into the elusive ‘Australian Panther’ often digs up old but interesting stories, such as a case from 1940 outside Melbourne in the Whittlesea district. Locals had found a number of large paw prints, and discovered that numerous poultry had been taken by an enormous cat-like beast which persisted in terrorising the community and raiding farms in the area for some weeks.

One day, a Mr Bob Wilson went rabbit shooting with one of his cattle dogs from his farm. They were moving through tall grass on a hillside toward trees when his dog stopped and sniffed about, showing the whites of its eyes. Bob, however, proceeded a few yards. Suddenly a large black shape sprang from the grass, knocking and badly scratching him as it dashed off through the grass.

The dog gave chase. There was an agonised yelping. Dazed, Bob got to his feet, retrieved his .303 rifle and dashed ahead to find his dog badly chewed up. “I had to shoot him - it was horrible. All I can remember seeing for an instant was a large black animal with glaring eyes leaping up from the grass, and tearing through me to escape down the hill somewhere,” he told a neighbour, who informed me 25 years later.

Lake Merrimu near Bacchus Marsh West of Melbourne 1976

Copyright © Rex Gilroy 2003

On the morning of 29th January 1976, at Lake Merrimu near Bacchus Marsh west of Melbourne, a farmer and his family claimed to have seen a “six foot [1.83m] length, two foot [61cm] tall, black-furred cat-like monster”, as it moved across their property, dragging a dead calf in its powerful jaws.

They stood dumbfounded for a moment before the farmer raced into the house to grab a rifle. The animal and its ‘kill’ had by now vanished into scrub, but the man and his teenage son gave chase. The strange beast, however, eluded them in the dense bushland.

“Hastings Monster” 1977

Copyright © Rex Gilroy 2003

East of Melbourne, near Hastings in 1977, a farmer, Mr Todd Anderson, lost three pigs in the space of a week, to a mysterious animal that visited his property at night. Each time it carried off a pig, the creature left behind enormous claw and pad marks in the farmyard soil.

In fact, the “Hastings Monster” has been known for generations to the locals. East of Hastings, across country in the Warragul-Moe districts, this ‘monster’ continues to make its presence known.

Moe District 1999

Copyright © Rex Gilroy 2003

In 1999, there were several sightings of a sleek, black-furred, panther-like animal, or animals, in the Moe district. Late one night in March that year, a motorist, John Clark, had to apply the brakes when a large ‘panther’ appeared ahead of his vehicle in the headlights, standing on a lonely bush road. It was dazzled by the headlights glare momentarily, before dashing off the road into the darkness.

“Moe Monster” 2000

Copyright © Rex Gilroy 2003

During 2000 there were reports of fresh tracks of the “Moe Monster” found on properties about the district. Back in September 1978 a long ‘trackway’ of 15.3cm length paw prints were found on a muddy bush track close to the town.

Grampians Mountain Range in Western Victoria

Copyright © Rex Gilroy 2003

The Grampians mountain range in western Victoria has been the scene of ‘panther’ sightings since the pioneer days of the 1800’s. In 1976, several panther-like creatures were sighted over a wide area from Halls Gap to the southern end of the range near Dwyer Creek.

In one instance, one night in January 1977, a group of campers, high up in the range, were terrorised from around midnight to 3am by loud, piercing screams and growls coming from surrounding scrub. Next morning they found large paw prints in the soil near their camp.

In the same area later that year, two spotlight shooters out on a hillside late one night, saw in the glare of their lights, a huge black panther-like animal running from them along a ridge. They fired at it, but it eluded them in the dense scrub.

One July day in 1981, two young women were driving through the Port Campbell National Park, when what they later described as a “large black panther-like animal”, appeared ahead of them, perched high up above the road on an overhanging tree limb. In an instant it had leapt to the ground in front of their car, and bounded off in big leaps into roadside scrub.

• 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 *