Panther on the loose in Mid Canty
Original Article
http://www.ashburtonguardian.co.nz/index.asp?articleid=2636
By Annie Studholme
Stock-truck driver Chad Stewart got the fright of his life last Friday when he went to drop off stock at the Mayfield property of Blair and Sarah Gallagher he saw what he thinks was a big cat, what some people would call a black panther.
As Mr Stewart drove into the sheep yards he noticed a large black animal sitting at the bottom of the hill, right beside the yards.
At first he thought it was a dog, but then realised its tail was too long.
He watched it for about five minutes, and then it took off up the hill, stopped half way before slinking out of sight.
Initially I thought I was seeing things, its not every day that you see a big black cat running up a hill, he said.
Once he got over the shock, Mr Stewart was convinced of what he saw.
I am pretty sure it was a black panther not that I am a big cat expert, but it definitely wasnt a dog.
After it disappeared Mr Stewart unloaded the sheep while looking over his shoulder to see if the animal was coming back to get me, and he warned the Gallaghers about it.A helicopter search on Saturday found nothing.
Mr Gallagher said he did not hear the big cat reports until late on Friday, but recalled noticing some strange behaviour among the stock at the time.
It seemed very unusual that there was quite a lot of sheep moving up behind the woolshed. I thought there must have been a dog off, but there wasnt.
Peoples safety and especially his sons was weighing heavily on his mind, Mr Gallagher said.
I am certainly not exactly comfortable with the situation. I have a young son, and I certainly wouldnt feel comfortable letting him play out there at the moment.
Mr Gallagher also expressed concern for people coming into the area.
He wanted people to be aware that the animal had been spotted, but like others, did not want hundreds of people coming into the area on a manhunt.
The last time a mysterious black cat was spotted in Mid Canterbury was in 2001.
Alford Forest resident David Wightman confirmed a large black cat was spotted in a gorge area of his Winterslow property in the winter of 2001. Mr Wightman said his worker Marcus Ewart and an English friend, David Tattum, were both looking through binoculars when David spotted the animal.
The pair watched it slowly walk for about 100m before disappearing into the undergrowth.
Mr Wightman said at the time they did not come forward at the time out of fear people wouldnt believe them. However, when he started to make enquiries other stories surfaced.There was also a positive sighting of a cat matching the description in the Bushside area just prior to the sighting at Winterslow.Mr Wightman said three men saw an unusual animal at twilight in a deer-fenced area.
They didnt get a clear view of it because it was swampy, but it was really dark. Almost black. They followed it to the corner but when they got there it was gone, he said.
There was also a report of a sighting on Banks Peninsula in late 1999 by a pest destruction officer.
Although people have said the animal may be a black panther, technically black panthers dont exist. There are only two black cats in the world; the black leopard from Asia, and the black jaguar from South America. Jaguars and leopards differ in their spots.
New Zealand is not the only place with a mysterious black cat.
In the past month alone, there have been complaints of big dark-coloured jaguar-like cat in Cornwall, Northern Ireland where farmers complained of slaughtered sheep and two separate reports in Scotland. There had also been reports of other black cats on the loose in Frankfurt, Malaysia and even in Australia in the past couple of years.