Over the past decades Spy has spoken to some truckies from around Australia who claim to have seen big black panther-like cats while travelling on remote highways at night.
Nobody has ever been able to take a genuine photo of such a cat, but a Victorian couple travelling in a caravan claim to have seen one cross the road in front of them on a sunny day.
In the latest alleged sighting Don and Nicole Street were cruising along the Gregory Development Highway between Greenvale and Charters Towers near Basalt around 2pm on Sunday, July 9.
“It wasn’t a feral cat. It was a panther. It was jet black and was glittering in the sun. It was about 80cm tall, 3m long, in- cluding its tail which was long and hooped,” Nicole told the Townsville Bulletin.
Having done stories on such sightings back as far as the eighties, I was always intrigued as to how these panthers, which supposedly don’t inhabit Australia, could possibly be here.
Some of those claimed they had spotted black panthers in the Gippsland area of Victoria and in parts of NSW.
They had all been reluctant to go public for fear of being ridiculed.
The theory was always that some American servicemen who were stationed in the far north during WWII had young pet panthers.
Rather than have them euthanised when they had to return home after the war, they released them into the bush and some have bred.
So if you are a truckie and have seen one, please let Spy know – better still if you can snap a pic.