Book Review sent to us by JB..my only minor quibble would be that the lioness shot dead outside broken hill in the 1980`s beside the road eating sheep was overlooked. :)
With their book, Australian Big Cats – An Unnatural History of Panthers, authors Mike Williams and Rebecca Lang have rightly earned themselves an esteemed place in respected cryptozoology research and circles. It is evident this book has been an eight year labor of love into a mystery the authors recognized early on to be beckoning for a serious academic approach. If nothing else, their book proves undeniably that of all the cryptozoology creatures that may be researched, big cat research in Australia at least, is the most acceptable, involving an extensive catalogue of cases, serious government department studies and reports, reputable big cat experts, reliable and credible multiple witnesses, and with discussions in local councils and even State Parliament.
Making the task easier than cryptozoology cousins, big cats do actually exist in the wild in other countries. By being not indigenous or formally introduced to Australia is the heart of this endearing mystery. The authors have left no stone unturned in their attempt to present an accurate and unbiased presentation of the Australian wild Big Cat situation at hand and they have succeeded through full referencing, transparency, field work, attempts to have analyzed physical evidence, and analysis of their very own research findings.
Unlike other cryptozoology creatures, the big cat issue encompasses a wide array of considerations with a strong argument in favor of a Puma, Leopard, Jaguar, Asian Golden Cat, Super-Sized Feral Cat, or Marsupial Lion big cat presence in the Australian wilderness and six main hurdles to the solving of the mystery. These hurdles include no Australian Big Cats being found dead or captured, “expert” DNA results proving to be unreliable, photos and video footage proving to be ambiguous, no confirmation of any outstanding escaped exotic big cats, no confirmed evidence any human has ever been injured or killed by a wild big cat in Australia which would prompt a swift government reaction, and the unknown link of Australia's recognized and growing feral cat population where they are twice the stature of normal domestic cats, which no government department is remotely interested in. Despite the strong favorable evidence, the drawbacks mean this mystery is likely to endure for some time yet, and this book sets a high standard as the forerunner of future academic-styled Australian Big Cat books.
