The Hunt for an Secret Legend
You may have heard of the Blue Mountains Panther, but have you heard of the Macarthur Big Cat?
Since the 2000’s the people of Appin, Bargo, Campbelltown, Tahmoor, Narellan, Airds and Pheasant’s Nest, NSW, have been reporting sightings of a large black cat in the bushland.
The most recent sighting of the creature reported was in April 2018 at Emu Plains in Outer Western Sydney.
Aussie CryptoZoologist Rex Gilroy has allegedly got casts of the creature’s massive pawprints, captured in Appin, that he tours with.
But where could a panther, or large cat of any sort, have come from in such a remote area of southern Sydney?
Some theories include circus escapes, WWII soldiers setting animals free, or even animal park escapees.
Stafford Bullen — son of Alfred Bullen, the founder of Bullen Bros. Circus — opened an animal park in Wallacia; Bullen’s Animal World. He also owned the African Lion Safari in Warragamba, which was closed in 1985 and 1991 respectfully.
After its closure, however, the park still looked after animals on site which were used in a circus rather than shown to the public as part of an amusement park.
What lends itself to the possibility of escaped animals from these parks, is that several lionesses and a bear escaped from the African Lion Safari in 1995 — four years after it closed — and entered Warragamba and Silverdale, killing a dog.
The lioness who killed the dog and the bear were both shot… but was that all that escaped?
Or is there a select species of wild Australian cat living in the NSW bushland that seems to have gotten very good at going unnoticed in the south?
It was obviously a question that warranted investigation, as an inquiry was lodged to the Department of Primary Industries in 2013 with no findings.
If you’re keen Cryptozoologist, you can take a trip into the local bush by following the Macarthur Panther Geocache Series found here, but better take a friend, just to be safe…
…and maybe some catnip.
