Original headline: 'Panther' reported on the loose in Mid Canterbury
Stock truck driver Chad Stewart unloaded his sheep with an eye over his shoulder after seeing what he believes was a black panther prowling nearby.
When he went to drop off sheep at the property of Blair and Sarah Gallagher at Mayfield, 35km northwest of Ashburton, on Friday, Mr Stewart noticed a large black animal sitting beside the stock yards.
At first he thought it was a dog, but then realised its tail was too long.
He watched the animal for about five minutes, before it took off up the hill, stopping halfway before slinking out of sight.
"Initially I thought I was seeing things," he said. "It's not every day that you see a big black cat running up a hill."
Once he got over the shock, Mr Stewart was convinced it was a black panther – "not that I am a big cat expert, but it definitely wasn't a dog".
After it disappeared Mr Stewart unloaded the sheep while looking over his shoulder to see "if the animal was coming back to get me". He warned the Gallaghers.
A helicopter search on Saturday found nothing.
Mr Gallagher said he had noticed some strange behaviour among the stock at the time.
"It seemed very unusual that there was quite a lot of sheep moving up behind the woolshed."
People's safety, and especially that of his son, was weighing heavily on his mind, he said.
"I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable letting him play out there at the moment."
A mysterious black cat was last reported in mid-Canterbury in 2001.
Alford Forest resident David Wightman said a large black cat was spotted in a gorge area of his Winterslow property in the winter of 2001.
Mr Wightman said his worker, Marcus Ewart, and an English friend, David Tattum, were both looking through binoculars when Mr Tattum saw the animal.
The pair watched it slowly walk for about 100m before disappearing into the undergrowth.
Mr Wightman said they did not come forward at the time out of fear people wouldn't believe them. However, when he started to make inquiries other stories surfaced.
A positive sighting of a cat matching the description was reported in the Bushside area just before the sighting at Winterslow.
Mr Wightman said three men saw an unusual animal at twilight in a deer-fenced area
A similar sighting was reported on Banks Peninsula in late 1999 by a pest destruction officer.
