Gympie 'panther sighting' knocked back by research group

Reports of a possible 'panther sighting' north of Gympie this week have been rejected by the Australian Big Cat Research Group.

REPORTS OF a possible 'panther sighting' north of Gympie this week have been rejected by the Australian Big Cat Research Group.

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The group took to facebook and said it looks to be a "healthy looking feral."

"Size can certainly be deceiving, and unless you have something in the frame for scale, it can be difficult to determine just how big an animal is (or isn't)," the post read.

"In this case, the cat looks HUGE, but when you compare it to a red-necked wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) taken in the same location, you can clearly see the difference in size."

Hundreds took to Facebook and voiced their input into what they believe was lurking in the bushes.

A very large black cat caught on camera at a Miva property, an animal which Wendy Elsley said could be mistaken by some to be a black panther. Picture: Contributed

"We saw what we thought was a very big black cat at Gympie years ago, have not seen again and some one told us that a black cat attacked there dogs up the road around the same time we used to tell the kids not to go out after dark as there was a panther up the hill," Helen Taylor commented.

"Amazing, beautiful big black cat/panther," Cara Matthews wrote.

Panther sightings have been reported for the past 60 years with several 'possible sightings' reported in the past few months.

In early June Kybong's Adam Whitehouse was attacked by a big black cat when he stepped onto his veranda for a smoke.

A fortnight later Glenwood resident James Fowler said he came outside when he heard his dog madly barking, only to come face-to-face with a cat he described as 1.25m long.