Phantom cat
Encyclopedia
Phantom cats, also known as Alien Big Cats (ABCs), are large feline
s, such as jaguar
s or cougars, which have been purported to appear in regions outside their indigenous range. Sightings, tracks and predation have been reported in a number of countries and states including Britain
, Australia
, Ireland
, New Zealand
, Finland
, Denmark
, Eastern United States, Hawaii
, and Luxembourg
.
As with other aspects of cryptozoology
, the study of Phantom Cats is considered by mainstream science to constitute pseudoscience
or fringe science
. In general, scientists reject the possibility that such mega-fauna cryptids exist, because of the improbably large numbers necessary to maintain a breeding population and because climate and food supply issues make their survival in reported habitats unlikely.
State Government reported in 2003 that it was "more likely than not" that there was a colony of exotic big cats living in the bush near Sydney
.
region of south-eastern Victoria
, the origin of the cats is claimed to be American
World War II
airmen who brought cougars with them as mascots and released them in the Australian Bush. Photographic evidence is often difficult to interpret.
Video footage showing a large black cat near Lithgow was examined by a group of seven zoo, museum, parks and agriculture staff, who concluded that it was a large domestic cat (2–3 times normal size) based partly on its morphology and partly on the behaviour of a nearby normal-sized domestic cat.
, a town in the south-east of South Australia
was supposed to have been the stalking ground of The Tantanoola Tiger during the late nineteenth century. In 1895 an animal believed to be the Tantanoola Tiger was shot and identified as an Assyrian wolf. It was stuffed and remains on display in the Tantanoola Hotel.
since early in the 19th century. These claims have been met with skepticism.
(but sometimes as a lynx
) was dubbed the "Beast of Funen
" by numerous eye-witnesses. There was an earlier big cat sighting from 1982 in southern Jutland
.
and South
Islands. There have been several unverified panther
sightings in Mid-Canterbury near Ashburton
and in the nearby foothills of the Southern Alps
, but searches conducted there in 2003 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry found no corroborating physical evidence.
, California
.
have been circulating since the late 1980s. In December 2002, sightings of a big cat increased in number in the Kula (upcountry) area, and the Division of Forestry and Wildlife requested the help of big cat wildlife biologists William Van Pelt and Stan Cunningham of the Arizona Game and Fish Department
. Van Pelt and Cunningham believed the cat was probably a large feline, such as a Jaguar
, Leopard
or Mountain Lion. It may have been illegally brought into Hawaii
as a pet and released or allowed to wander in the wild. No big cat was detected by traps, infrared cameras, and professional trackers. A fur sample was obtained in 2003 but DNA
analysis was inconclusive. The state's hunt for the cat was suspended in late November 2003, after three weeks without sightings. Utah State University professor and wildlife biologist Robert Schmidt expressed strong doubts about the cat's existence, likening it to the Loch Ness monster
. There was a sighting of the Phantom Cat crossing an intersection going into the mountains at 9:11 Maui time on the 6th of January 2011.
is a cryptid grey big cat, a feline; known to local people, allegedly living in the Western Ghats, India.
The name "Pogeyan
" is derived from the local dialect and means "The cat that comes and goes like the mist"
Felidae
Felidae is the biological family of the cats; a member of this family is called a felid. Felids are the strictest carnivores of the thirteen terrestrial families in the order Carnivora, although the three families of marine mammals comprising the superfamily pinnipedia are as carnivorous as the...
s, such as jaguar
Jaguar
The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...
s or cougars, which have been purported to appear in regions outside their indigenous range. Sightings, tracks and predation have been reported in a number of countries and states including Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Eastern United States, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, and Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
.
As with other aspects of cryptozoology
Cryptozoology
Cryptozoology refers to the search for animals whose existence has not been proven...
, the study of Phantom Cats is considered by mainstream science to constitute pseudoscience
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
or fringe science
Fringe science
Fringe science is scientific inquiry in an established field of study that departs significantly from mainstream or orthodox theories, and is classified in the "fringes" of a credible mainstream academic discipline....
. In general, scientists reject the possibility that such mega-fauna cryptids exist, because of the improbably large numbers necessary to maintain a breeding population and because climate and food supply issues make their survival in reported habitats unlikely.
Britain
Since the 1960s, there have been many sightings of big cats across Great Britain. A 15-month survey conducted in 2003-2004 by the British Big Cats Society gave the following regional breakdown, based on 2052 sightings: South West 21%, South East 16%, East Anglia 12%, Scotland 11%, and West Midlands 9%.Australia
Sightings of exotic big cats in Australia began more than 100 years ago. The New South WalesNew South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
State Government reported in 2003 that it was "more likely than not" that there was a colony of exotic big cats living in the bush near Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
.
Gippsland phantom cat
In the GippslandGippsland
Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
region of south-eastern Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, the origin of the cats is claimed to be American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
airmen who brought cougars with them as mascots and released them in the Australian Bush. Photographic evidence is often difficult to interpret.
Grampians puma
A study by Deakin University concluded that a big cat population in the Grampians mountain range is "beyond reasonable doubt".Blue Mountains Panther
The Blue Mountains Panther is a phantom cat reported in sightings in the Blue Mountains area, west of Sydney, New South Wales for over a century. Speculation about the Blue Mountains Panther includes the theory that it is descended from either circus or zoo escapees, or is a descendant of a military mascot.Video footage showing a large black cat near Lithgow was examined by a group of seven zoo, museum, parks and agriculture staff, who concluded that it was a large domestic cat (2–3 times normal size) based partly on its morphology and partly on the behaviour of a nearby normal-sized domestic cat.
Tantanoola Tiger
The region around TantanoolaTantanoola, South Australia
Tantanoola is a town in South Australia. The name is derived from the aboriginal word tentunola, which means boxwood / brushwood hill or camp. Tantanoola was originally named 'Lucieton' by Governor Jervois after his daughter Lucy Caroline, on 10 July 1879. It was changed by Governor Robinson to...
, a town in the south-east of South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
was supposed to have been the stalking ground of The Tantanoola Tiger during the late nineteenth century. In 1895 an animal believed to be the Tantanoola Tiger was shot and identified as an Assyrian wolf. It was stuffed and remains on display in the Tantanoola Hotel.
Sunshine Coast big cats
There have been some claims that "Big Cats" have stalked the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast, QueenslandSunshine Coast, Queensland
The Sunshine Coast is an urban area in South East Queensland, north of the state capital of Brisbane on the Pacific Ocean coastline. Although it does not have a central business district, by population it ranks as the 10th largest metropolis in Australia and the third largest in...
since early in the 19th century. These claims have been met with skepticism.
Denmark
In 1995, a big cat usually described as a lionLion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
(but sometimes as a lynx
Lynx
A lynx is any of the four Lynx genus species of medium-sized wildcats. The name "lynx" originated in Middle English via Latin from Greek word "λύγξ", derived from the Indo-European root "*leuk-", meaning "light, brightness", in reference to the luminescence of its reflective eyes...
) was dubbed the "Beast of Funen
Funen
Funen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 454,358 inhabitants . The main city is Odense, connected to the...
" by numerous eye-witnesses. There was an earlier big cat sighting from 1982 in southern Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
.
The Netherlands
In 2005 a black cougar was allegedly spotted on several occasions in a wildlife preserve, but the animal, nicknamed Winnie, was later identified as an unusually large crossbreed between a domestic and a wild cat.New Zealand
Since the late 1990s, big cat sightings have been reported in widely separated parts of New Zealand, in both the NorthNorth Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
and South
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
Islands. There have been several unverified panther
Black panther
A black panther is typically a melanistic color variant of any of several species of larger cat. Wild black panthers in Latin America are black jaguars , in Asia and Africa they are black leopards , and in North America they may be black jaguars or possibly black cougars A black panther is...
sightings in Mid-Canterbury near Ashburton
Ashburton, New Zealand
Ashburton is a town and district in the Canterbury Region on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the third-largest centre in Canterbury, after Christchurch and Timaru. The area around Ashburton is frequently referred to as Mid Canterbury, which is also the name of the...
and in the nearby foothills of the Southern Alps
Southern Alps
The Southern Alps is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the island's western side...
, but searches conducted there in 2003 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry found no corroborating physical evidence.
California
Phantom black "panthers" have been reported across the state, and are seen with particular frequency at and around Mount Diablo, in Contra Costa CountyContra Costa County, California
Contra Costa County is a primarily suburban county in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,049,025...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Hawaii
Stories of "mystery big cats" on the island of MauiMaui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
have been circulating since the late 1980s. In December 2002, sightings of a big cat increased in number in the Kula (upcountry) area, and the Division of Forestry and Wildlife requested the help of big cat wildlife biologists William Van Pelt and Stan Cunningham of the Arizona Game and Fish Department
Arizona Game and Fish Department
The Arizona Game and Fish Department is a state agency of Arizona, headquartered in Phoenix. The agency is tasked with conserving, enhancing, and restoring Arizona's diverse wildlife resources and habitats through aggressive protection and management programs...
. Van Pelt and Cunningham believed the cat was probably a large feline, such as a Jaguar
Jaguar
The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...
, Leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
or Mountain Lion. It may have been illegally brought into Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
as a pet and released or allowed to wander in the wild. No big cat was detected by traps, infrared cameras, and professional trackers. A fur sample was obtained in 2003 but DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
analysis was inconclusive. The state's hunt for the cat was suspended in late November 2003, after three weeks without sightings. Utah State University professor and wildlife biologist Robert Schmidt expressed strong doubts about the cat's existence, likening it to the Loch Ness monster
Loch Ness Monster
The Loch Ness Monster is a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, though its description varies from one account to the next....
. There was a sighting of the Phantom Cat crossing an intersection going into the mountains at 9:11 Maui time on the 6th of January 2011.
Mississippi
"Black panther" sightings have been reported in many rural areas of Mississippi. The existence of the Mississippi panther is accepted by many natives, even though there has never been any scientific proof to support this belief. The state's proximity to the habitat of the Florida panther is sometimes given as evidence that cougars could also exist in Mississippi. Opponents to the theory deny the existence of the panthers or claim that witnesses are simply mis-identifying the native lynxes or "bobcats".Delaware
There have been reported sightings of what is believed to be a mountain lion in the northern Delaware forests since the late 1990's. It is believed that the creature lives somewhere in the Pike Creek or White Clay Creek area, as this is where the majority of the numerous sightings have occurred. The Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife believes there may be more than one mountain lion in Delaware, and that they originate from animals released from captivity.Luxembourg
In 2009, a black panther was allegedly spotted in the industrial area of Bommelscheuer near Bascharage. When police came, the panther was gone. In the following couple of days, the panther was spotted all over the country. For a while it was alleged that a panther had escaped a nearby zoo (Amnéville), but the zoo later denied that any panther was missing. A couple of days after the Bascharage incident, it also was mentioned that although the police did find no panther, they did find an unusually large housecat. So it is probable that the initial witness mistook a common cat for a panther, and that the "witnesses" of the later sightings just wanted to join in on the fun.India
The PogeyanPogeyan
The Pogeyan is a cryptid grey big cat, a feline; possible leopard or out-of-place Asian lion, known to local people, allegedly living in the Western Ghats, India....
is a cryptid grey big cat, a feline; known to local people, allegedly living in the Western Ghats, India.
The name "Pogeyan
Pogeyan
The Pogeyan is a cryptid grey big cat, a feline; possible leopard or out-of-place Asian lion, known to local people, allegedly living in the Western Ghats, India....
" is derived from the local dialect and means "The cat that comes and goes like the mist"