Panther, puma or feral cat? Expert weighs in on mystery sighting near Ballarat

Gold prospector Gold Coin and Relics Australia posted the video to Facebook, which seems to depict the Ballarat panther, or puma, slinking through a paddock in broad daylight.

Many theories were posted about the elusive feline - a perennial favourite being that the panther/ puma was released by the US army during World War II, who kept them as mascots on their military bases.

Of course, nowadays the video could have been the product of fanciful CGI or AI generation.

Keep in mind Ballarat isn't the only town in Australia to have reported sightings, with Freedom of Information documents sought by independent researchers revealing big cat sightings in every state in Australia.

There was even an investigation opened in 2014 by Federation University researcher David Waldron about the big cats after mysterious stock deaths.

For The Courier's resident nature expert Roger Thomas, the most likely outcome is that the video depicted a large feral cat, commonly found in the region.

"Feral cats are big, there are big breeds of cats and if they become feral they can grow to a metre-long from nose to tail tip. That is a big kitty," Mr Thomas said.

Mr Thomas said as a former park ranger he had caught several of the feral cats and that their size and hardiness would surprise people.

"If you set a cat trap you will soon catch one almost anywhere in the bush," Mr Thomas said.

"They are roaming around and they are feeding on the native marsupials, birds and reptiles," Mr Thomas said.

"That is their natural inclination, natural habit."

Mr Thomas said he had noticed feral cats grow bigger each generation, and tend to lose their white spots and grow darker.

It's not just feral cats however, Mr Thomas said house cats which find their way outside also prey on native animals in the region.

Such animals include the little mice-like marsupial Antechinus, sugar gliders, scrub wrens and quails.

"Cats can sneak up on them. I often see unwanted cats in my place showing too great an interest in skinks and lizards," Mr Thomas said.

Since 2018, Wildlife Victoria revealed the number of cat and dog attacks on wildlife in the Ballarat region had risen by more than 300 per cent with the amount of calls reporting incidences jumping from just 22 in 2018 to 90 in 2022.

Of the injuries recorded, the most common species impacted were native birds which represented 51 per cent of all calls, followed by ringtail possums at 42 per cent.

According to data from the Invasive Species Council, feral and roaming cats kill a combined total of over two billion animals in Australia every single year.

The council said cats have played a role in the extinctions of over 30 Australian animals since colonisation, including the Yallara, or lesser bilby, the paradise parrot, and the Marl, or western barred bandicoot.

The City of Ballarat introduced a cat curfew at night between sunrise and sunset, however conservationists have called for the curfew to be extended to protect threatened species.

So perhaps think about locking little Mittens inside overnight, and try not to think about the hundreds, or possibly thousands of small animals they have killed.