Hunt on for hills cats

By CASEY NEILL
THE mystery surrounding the Dandenongs’ big cat sightings could soon be solved, with the State Government last week revealing an investigation was under way.
Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh confirmed the study had started last month, honouring a pre-election commitment, and would take several months to complete.
“Wild dog control remains the priority but there are now sufficient departmental resources available to commence the big cat study,” he said.
“The study will review existing literature, reports, correspondence and other evidence for the presence of big cats in Victoria, and it includes liaison with relevant community groups and individuals who have reports or records of possible sightings.”
In April the Mail reported two big black cat sightings in the hills. Mater Christi College student Jasmine Palamara, 13, said she spotted a “very large black cat” at the corner of Belgrave-Gembrook and Stoney roads on 3 April when walking to her Selby home from Belgrave.
“The only thing I heard was the bushes moving so I turned around and I saw one front leg, both back legs, its waist and its long tail,” she said.
“It appeared to be the height of my hips or waist.
“I believe that it is not possible for it to be a domestic cat because of its height.”
Jasmine’s report followed a call from Belgrave South garbage collector Peter just a few weeks earlier.
He said he was driving his truck through Sassafras when he rounded a bend towards Olinda near Lennox Street and spotted a cat-like creature “as big as a Rottweiler”.
“It looked like a big dog but its tail was way too long and twisty to be a dog,” he said.
“It actually jumped up the ridge, it was probably a good 10-foot sort of jump.
“It was definitely a cat, not and dog and it wasn’t a wallaby.”
Opposition Rural and Regional Development spokesman John Lenders last week slammed the “big cat hunt” as a “slap in the face to regional and rural communities”.
“Surely the Baillieu Government’s priorities to rural and regional Victorians are more important than solving Deputy Premier and Leader of the National Party, Peter Ryan’s obsession with finding his big cat,” Mr Lenders said.
“How can there be ‘sufficient’ departmental resources available to conduct a big cat study when there have been significant jobs losses across regional communities as part of the Baillieu Government’s move to sack 4200 public servants across the state?
“There are other far more pressing issues in rural and regional Victoria such as mining exploration impact environmental studies, baiting of wild dogs and further road blocks for fruitfly than chasing this regional myth.”