Phantom cat
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Cleanup rewrite Phantom cats, also known as alien big cats (ABCs), are large felids which allegedly appear in regions outside their indigenous range. Sightings, tracks, and predation have been reported in a number of countries including Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, India, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. When confirmed, they are typically explained as exotic pets or escapees from private zoos.
Australia
Sightings of exotic big cats in Australia began during the 19th century. It is generally thought that sightings may be attributed to escaped exotic circus animals such as Matthew St Leon's touring circus in the 1870s and large cats brought back as pets by soldiers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In one such example, in 1924, a puma and a jaguar both escaped from the Perry Brothers circus while traveling from St Arnaud, Victoria by train when their carriage's wall collapsed. The jaguar was captured after stunning itself, and the Puma later shot.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The New South Wales State Government reported in 2003 that "more likely than not" there were a number of exotic big cats living deep in the bushlands near Sydney.<ref name="smh">Template:Cite news</ref>
Phantom cats reported in Australia include
- The Blue Mountains panther (also called the Penrith panther or Lithgow panther), reported in the mountains west of Sydney since the early 20th century.
- The Grampians Puma, which a 1970s study by Deakin University could not be definitively demonstrated based on available evidence, however, that the probability of big cats in the area is “beyond reasonable doubt".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- The Sunshine Coast big cat, reported in the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, since early in the 19th century.<ref name="ABC_News_20090114_MenClaim_PhantomCat">
Template:Cite web </ref><ref name="ABC_News_20090114_ColdWaterPouredonBigCatClaims"> Template:Cite web </ref> These claims have been met with skepticism.<ref name="ABC_News_20090114_ColdWaterPouredonBigCatClaims" />
- The Gipplands phamton cat.<ref name="SMH map">Template:Cite web</ref>
- The Tantanoola Tiger, believed to have been shot on 25 August 1895, by Tom Donovian and identified as an Assyrian wolf; although no such species appears to exist. It was stuffed and remains on display in the Tantanoola Hotel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- The Tasmanian Panther, reported in Tasmania since the 19th century. The novel Dusk by Robbie Arnott is based on this folklore.
- The Ourimbah panther, reported in the Ourimbah State Forest of New South Wales.
- The Nannup tiger, in Nannup, Western Australia, subject of a song by Matt Taylor - sometimes instead said to be a Thylacine.
- The Emmaville Panther, in the New England region of New South Wales.
Bulgaria
In June of 2025, sightings of a large black cat or panther were reported in the eastern city of Shumen.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Later, sightings of what was assumed to be the same animal were reported in the towns of Giurgiu and Năsturelu in Romania.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Although no hard evidence has been documented, one hypothesis is that it escaped from captivity, perhaps from an illegal, private zoo owned by criminals,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> or migrated from Hungary or Serbia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Experts have suggested that evidence of tracks could be attributed to large dogs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
China
The blue, or Maltese, tiger, the former name taken from the common color terminology for domestic cats, is a purported color morph of the South China tiger, with sightings in Myanmar, China, and the Korean Peninsula. It is speculated that while the color morph may have theoretically existed, the severe historical bottlenecking of tiger populations makes it unlikely for the genotype to remain in extant populations.
Denmark
In 1995, a big cat usually described as a lion (but sometimes as a lynx) was dubbed the "beast of Funen" by numerous eyewitnesses.<ref name=funen>Template:Cite web</ref> There was an earlier big cat sighting from 1982 in southern Jutland.<ref name=funen />
Finland
A supposed lion moved around Ruokolahti near the Finnish-Russian border in June–August 1992. There were multiple sightings. Tracks were identified by a government biologist as a big feline not native to Finland. The biologist was given police powers to capture or shoot the lion by the Ministry of the Interior. Border guards participated in the hunt. The last reported sightings were in Russia and there were reports that the lion was seen by Finnish border guards<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and that lion tracks were found in the raked sand field used by Russian border guards to detect crossings. The lion was never captured and the incidents have never been explained. One possible explanation could have been a railway accident of a circus train in Russia, from which some animals escaped.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
India
The pogeyan is a large grey feline known to local people living in the Western Ghats, India. Its name is derived from the local dialect, and means 'cat that comes and goes like the mist'.<ref name="Naish2009">Template:Cite web</ref>
Luxembourg
In 2009, a black panther was allegedly spotted in the industrial area of Bommelscheuer near Bascharage.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> When police came, the panther was gone. In the following couple of days, the panther was spotted all over the country. For a while it was alleged that a panther had escaped a nearby zoo (Amnéville), but the zoo later denied that any panther was missing. A couple of days after the Bascharage incident, it also was mentioned that although the police did not find a panther, they did find an unusually large house cat.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Netherlands
In 2005, a black cougar was allegedly spotted on several occasions in a wildlife preserve,<ref>Template:In lang Massale belangstelling voor poemajacht("Massive interest in cougar hunting")</ref> but the animal, nicknamed Winnie, was later identified as an unusually large crossbreed between a domestic cat and a wildcat.<ref>Template:In lang 'Poema' Winnie ontmaskerd Template:Webarchive ("'Puma' Winnie unmasked") </ref>
New Zealand
Template:See also Since the late 1990s, big cat sightings have been reported in widely separated parts of New Zealand, in both the North<ref name=nzherald>Template:Cite web</ref> and South Islands.Template:Citation needed There have been several unverified panther sightings in Mid-Canterbury near Ashburton and in the nearby foothills of the Southern Alps,<ref> Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but searches conducted there in 2003 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry found no corroborating physical evidence.<ref name=nzherald/>
United Kingdom
Since the 1960s, there have been many alleged sightings of big cats across Great Britain.<ref name="bbc">Template:Cite news</ref> A 15-month survey conducted in 2003–2004 by the British Big Cats Society gave the following regional breakdown, based on 2,052 sightings: South West 21%, South East 16%, East Anglia 12%, Scotland 11%, and West Midlands 9%.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Since 1903, a number of exotic cats, all of which are thought to have escaped from captivity, have been killed or captured.<ref name="MorelleBBC">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="AVIEMOREPUMA2">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="AVIEMOREPUMA1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
United States
Phantom cat sightings in the United States should not be confused with sightings of jaguars in their native range in the states of Arizona and New Mexico (while early records of North American jaguars show much wider distribution as far as Monterey), or of cougars recolonizing the extirpated eastern cougar's former range.
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Distribution of jaguars; pink indicates former range. -
Distribution of cougars; yellow indicates former range. The lower 48 US states fall into the native range.
Connecticut
In 1939, a panther-like creature called the "glawackus" was sighted in Glastonbury, Connecticut. It became a national sensation, and sporadic sightings of it across Connecticut continued into the 1960s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Delaware
There have been reported sightings of a mountain lion in the northern Delaware forests since the late 1990s. The Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife believes there may be more than one mountain lion in Delaware and that they originate from animals released from captivity.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Hawaii
In December 2002, sightings of a big cat increased in numbers in the Kula (upcountry) area, and the Division of Forestry and Wildlife requested the help of big cat wildlife biologists William van Pelt and Stan Cunningham of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Van Pelt and Cunningham believed that the cat was probably a large feline, such as a leopard, jaguar, or cougar.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> No big cat was detected by traps, infrared cameras, or professional trackers. A fur sample was obtained in 2003, but DNA analysis was inconclusive. The state's hunt for the cat was suspended in late November 2003, after three weeks without sightings.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Utah State University professor and wildlife biologist Robert Schmidt expressed strong doubts about the cat's existence,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> likening it to the Loch Ness monster.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Massachusetts
MassWildlife has confirmed two cases of a mountain lion's presence in Massachusetts.<ref name="MassWildlife 2017-09-13">Template:Cite web</ref> There have been numerous other reports of sightings, as well as alleged photographs, but these remain unconfirmed by state wildlife officials.<ref name="Berkshire Eagle 2018-12-15">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="MassLive 2017-08-08">Template:Cite news</ref>
North Carolina
Black panthers and other large non-indigenous cats have been sighted for many years in the vicinity of Oriental, North Carolina. Accounts from locals and visitors alike have been documented in the local papers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Explanations for Europe's Phantom Cats
In Europe, escaped exotic wildcats have been caught both dead and alive by people of Great Britain. DNA testing also helped in the process of finding out what the animals could be, proving them to actually be exotic wildcats. In the 1970s, circus owner Mary Chipperfield allegedly released her pet mountain lions into the Moorlands of Great Britain after her circus shut down. A while later, people released their exotic animals into the woods after a ban on large exotic predators took place. People have taken pictures, killed and have even captured the animals alive. Exotic wildcat species that have been caught in Great Britain include:
Another confirmed explanation is that the phantom cats are actually large stray or hybrid cats since some stray cats hybridize with the native Scottish Wildcat and the hybrids are larger than a purebred cat. The Scottish Kellas Cat is the result of hybridization of both domestic and wildcats, and a now mounted specimen matches the description of the British Black Cats: a large, robust body with black fur and small ears.