Australian Big Cats – www.australian-big-cats
Sydney Morning Herald 1958
Mystery Animal is probably a cat.
A mystery animals roaming dense bush in the Armidale area could be a panther or a tiger and was probably a killer of hmans, Sir Edward hallstrom said last night.Sir Edward, who is chairman of taronga Park Trust, said a plaster cast of the animals footprints showed that it was a very big member of the cat family."The animal is cerftainly a killer and people should be on their guard.The prints we were shown were definately not those of a dog, pig or wombat.".
Sir Edward said the cast had been compared with the footprints of a tiger and a panther."In the case of the panther, the centre pad was a different shape-
but the toes were in the correct place.The tiger footprints we had were similar but much bigger than those in the cast".Sir Edward said he would pay 1,000 pounds reward for the capture of the animal dead or alive, if it proved to be the Australian marsupial cat, believed extinct.
Uralla residents plan to hunt the animal with staghounds because cattle dogs will not hunt members of the cat family.
Uralla police yesterday received an offer of a staghound-but several are needed before the hunt can take place.A 'mystery' animal was first reported early last month on a property near Emmaville, about 20 mile noth of Glen Innes.Some residents said they believed it was a panther that escaped from a circus in the district 6 years ago.Since then there have been many reports of slaughtered sheep from Barraba, mailla and Uralla districts.
