Australian Killer Cats Stalk Hills Near Perth

JARRAHDALE, 44km south of Perth, is the centre of a hunt for a marauding predator that farmers say is killing livestock. Locals yesterday [June 13] told of sighting large cougar-like animals on their farms and hearing wild screeching sounds in the night. The hunt for the creature, dubbed the Jarrahdale Jaguar, are due to continue tomorrow.

Ron Iannello, whose pet lamb was mauled in an unexplained attack last month, is convinced cougars are stalking the area. Authorities are taking the claims seriously after testing the remains of the lamb which Serpentine-Jarrahdale Shire ranger Brian Owston said was mauled like nothing he had seen before. All that was left of the lamb was its back legs and skin. There were large paw prints near where the animal was devoured.

"I have investigated dog attacks before but it does not seem to be in line with a dog attack, it's the way they have been killed is quite different," he said. "There are a lot of suggestions that it could be a pack of cougars but we are keeping an open mind until we trap something."

An animal broke the door off a trap set by the shire the night after the mystery attack. There have also been reports of cattle and kangaroos being taken. Farmer Peter Croft said he was kept awake by animals screeching near him home at about the same time the attack took place. He said his dogs were terrified and refused to venture outside. "The noise was bloody unreal - it was no animal I have heard before," he said. "I am positive there's something out there."

Murdoch University, unable to determine what killed Mr Iannello's lamb, set up camp in a nearby quarry after identifying the area as a likely big cat habitat. "If they (cougars) are there, they will have to be destroyed because these are large and pretty dangerous animals," university veterinary technician Dr Harry Findlay said. Mr Croft said four men in camouflage greens and rifles had gone into the area to hunt the animal. He said the men claimed to be from a government department but the Sunday Times was unable to confirm which one. Mr Iannello said he had been told the trap at his property would be moved to the area of the most recent sighting near the Serpentine Falls. Property owners had been asked not to talk about the operation, he said. He said he had seen two large cats on his property about 10 years ago and was convinced the animals were breeding in the Serpentine National Park and further south. "I have seen big feral cats and they look nothing like what I saw," he said. "There are thousands of square kilometres of bush out there which would provide ideal habitat. These animals do exist."

Mystery Animal Research Centre of Australia spokesman Sharon West said reports of big cats in the WA bush predated WWI. She claimed cougars and panthers had escaped or been released in to the wild and were now breeding. Sightings of big cats have been reported all over the South-West and as far north as Kalbarri. Stories abound of a pack of wild cougars that escaped from travelling circus in the Perth hills. The common thread in the sightings is that none of the animals have been captured. Experts, bushmen and trackers throughout Australia have made many unsuccessful searches for the creatures.

Page created July 5 1998