An Aussie prospector has captured compelling footage of what appears to be a giant black cat bounding across a rural field.
Military veteran and gold hunter Angus James spotted the mystery animal while driving along a rural road in Ballarat, Victoria, on Sunday.
“I’m driving along, I see this black shape in the paddock. So I pulled up and went to zoom in on it with my camera. And then it sort of took off and just sort of panned with it.” Mr James told news.com.au.
“It was obviously a big cat – massive – bigger than your average house cat, that’s for sure.”
He described the animal as the size of a “bigger dog breed” with “some weight to it”.
“I was watching his tail and everything and it was sort of staying straight, like a big panther or leopard would.”
The “cat” can be seen passing grain silos, trees and fence posts in the footage.
Mr James shared the clip on a Facebook page for gold hunting enthusiasts, where it quickly racked up over a million views and sparked passionate debate.
Those critics of the footage said it appeared to be a “huge black wild ex-domestic cat” or simply “bulls**t”.
Others suggested it was evidence of a black panther roaming rural Victoria.
There are numerous sophisticated online databases that track “big cat” sightings across Australia.
Perhaps the most common descriptions include large, black or tan-colored cats resembling panthers or pumas.
And big cat origin theories are almost as plentiful as the sightings themselves.
Some theories suggest that the so-called big cats are escapees from private zoos, circuses, or exotic pet owners.
More skeptical explanations simpy cite hoaxes or misidentification of known animals.
David Waldron, a history lecturer at the Federation University in Ballarat, left the door just slightly teaches the possibility of big cats roaming the nation.
“If you actually think about, it’s not particularly absurd — adding another introduced species to the pile,” he told ABC RN in 2018.
Dr Waldron canvassed government and media archives to uncover evidence of the early exotic animal trade in Australia, instances of escaped circus animals, and military personnel bringing big cats into the country as pets or mascots.
“Troopship after troop was coming back from North Africa and Asia, loaded down with all kinds of crazy animals,” he said.
“There have definitely been individual big cats in the bush out there from time to time, even quite recently. That’s documented.
“Particularly in the 19th century where you didn’t have quarantine regulations, like we have today.”
However, Dr Waldron said that despite the history, there is no evidence of big cats surviving or thriving in the Australian bush.
In a strange twist of fate, Mr James’ own father was one of those mentioned Australian troops who in fact had an exotic cat as a mascot.
“My dad was in the first 1st Armored Regiment and their mascot was a big black leopard,” he revealed.
As for where he stands on the enigmatic creature, Mr James said he’s still on the fence – but only just.
“It’s like the Tasmanian tiger. People reckon they are seeing them still in Tassie. We’re not talking about a fake animal. We’re talking about real things. You just never know what’s going on,” he said.