Sightings of exotic big cats in Australia began more than 100 years ago. The New South Wales State Government reported in 2003 that it was "more likely than not" that there was a colony of exotic big cats living in the bush near Sydney.
Gippsland phantom cat
In the Gippsland region of south-eastern Victoria, the origin of the cats is claimed to be American World War II airmen who brought cougars with them as mascots and released them in the Australian Bush. Photographic evidence is often difficult to interpret.
Grampians puma
A study by Deakin University concluded that a big cat population in the Grampians mountain range is "beyond reasonable doubt".Blue Mountains Panther
The Blue Mountains Panther is a phantom cat reported in sightings in the Blue Mountains area, west of Sydney, New South Wales for over a century. Speculation about the Blue Mountains Panther includes the theory that it is descended from either circus or zoo escapees, or is a descendant of a military mascot.Video footage showing a large black cat near Lithgow was examined by a group of seven zoo, museum, parks and agriculture staff, who concluded that it was a large domestic cat (2–3 times normal size) based partly on its morphology and partly on the behaviour of a nearby normal-sized domestic cat.
Tantanoola Tiger
The region around Tantanoola, a town in the south-east of South Australia was supposed to have been the stalking ground of The Tantanoola Tiger during the late nineteenth century. In 1895 an animal believed to be the Tantanoola Tiger was shot and identified as an Assyrian wolf. It was stuffed and remains on display in the Tantanoola Hotel.
A few bits of circumstantial evidence suggest to some that feral cats in Australia are now reaching enormous sizes, equivalent to that of a small leopard
