A friend of mine mentioned there were mountain lions in Western Australia. Are they hunt-able?
What's the story on them? I'm curious.

Let's just call it "BS"

Show me a pic!

Mountain lions

Never heard of them being here. They would certainly not be natural and would be all over the domestic press if they were around

The only huntable predator here - feral cats!

WA can have a lot of hunting but not wild Mountain Lions

No mountain lions. Go toad huntin every night; got a two pounder last night!

I remember reading the Ballarat newspaper "The Courier" a few years ago and it had a story on mountain lions and it seems American soldiers based in Ballarat, Victoria during WW2 had a mountain lion/s as a unit mascot and when the unit had to move out of Ballarat some soldiers looked to release the lion into the the bush. There was photo of a soldier holding a couple of cubs and a story from a women who remembered two American army trucks arriving at her family farm when she was a child and asking directions to a part of the Grampians mountain range in Western Victoria on board were two adult mountain lions and some cubs . Today in the Grampians there are reports of mountain lions from time to time i.e sheep killed by a big cat, sightings etc. The newspaper put the history up after a glider pilot gliding low and quiet over the Grampians national park sighted 2 mountain lions sunning themselves on a rock ledge. I do not know if mountain lions are there but with abundant native game plus introduced Red Deer and sheep farms everywhere who knows?

Steve

Thanks RLI,

I heard it from a "pigeon buddy" ( I raise Roller Pigeons) in Western Australia. I lost his number - so I can't get confirmation.

It was near the Western Australian town of Harvey. It seems a local escape of lions from a game farm prospered in the local region.

I was curious, thinking that a hunting forum might know more. If you ever hear anything - please post it, I'm interested in this sort of thing.

Thanks,
Brian

I have a friend that was certain he shot a panther when out spot lighting one night, absolutely convinced he had seen and shot a panther. This is a guy that has been a hunter for years.
He was to cautous to look for it that night, when he went back in the morning all he had bagged was a big black feral cat.

RLI,
Great story! Mate of mine many years ago related visiting a mining site in Western Victoria and smelling a strong "cat urine" smell. Owner said it was "Panther". Same person years later mentioned that DCNR had specimens of "the panther" but info would never be publicly released. Reason having mostly to do with "risk management" and liability. My partner's father has also seen a "panther like" animal on the outskirts of the Kinglake National Park. True or false, it makes for some great stories. Now anyone know if barashinga (hope I spelt that right) are still residing in Victoria?
Cheers...
Con

???????????Is this the marsupial lion?

RLI
No what Con is refering to is the swamp deer, he does have the spelling right, do a google search with his spelling.
Con
I tried to ring Arthur Bentley to ask him but didn't get an answer, will try to remember to ring him. I have not heard of these before in Aust where did you hear about them?

416SW,
The Barashinga line was a little tongue in cheek. But liberations were made by Acclimatisation Societies early last century, can't remember what the locations were or where I originally sourced the info from, either Arthur Bentley's book or Col Allison's, may have even been an ADA magazine article. Hazy memory and don't quote me but I think liberations were made in Victoria and Queensland. Point being you just don't know what you may come across in the bush and for all sorts of weird reasons. In my AgVic days I worked with a lady that had worked on a deer farm in Central western Victoria. Farm went bust and the pet Hog deer herd "escaped". Likewise I think for awhile, Melbourne had a squirrel population centred around the Zoo as a result of escapees and nightly excursions of exhibits. Central Victoria (I think??) in the late 60's had an embryonic elk herd that was shot out once it became public, and a wild donkey herd in the far west of the State around the Big Desert/Sunset Country. There's even Murray Cod in the Yarra on Melbourne's outskirts for those willing to put in the time to find them. The possibility of a "panther" or barashinga still being in our bush may be extremely remote, but you just never know either.
Cheers...
Con

The stories of these releases are quite true but there was a terrible mistake in that all the released animals were MALE. There were attempts made to have them mate with Bunyips and Yowies but; alas, the native animals would have nothing to do with the foriegners. Something about the "White Australia" policy.

At least your forefathers had the sense to only import white sheep.....

BCBrian ,
This is one of those mountain lions (feral cats) that got it's head stuck in a dog food can .

Hi all,
About the question of mountain lions in Australia, I am not going to tell you I know someone who said they saw one. I DID SEE ONE. It happen when I was 16 and on our farm in an area called the Capertee Valley, which is located about 200 K's west of Sydney NSW Australia.
I was guiding some shooters on a wild goat hunt and we were on the way home, walking along a narrow, grassy gully with steep sides that opened up onto a small plain of about 5 acres just around a small bend. In the far corner of the flat, drinking from a small pond was an American moutain lion. As we rounded the corner in the gully it looked up and saw us. To this day I have never seen an animal that could get up to full speed as quick as this thing. It covered the entire flat from one side to the other in a matter of what seemed like a few seconds.
When the guy's had recovered enough, we went to where it had been drinking and measured the size of the foot prints it left in the mud. The prints were the size of a full grown mans entire hand. This was no moggy gone wild I can assure you.
I never saw it agian but I do remember that the local farmers lost sheep to something quite savage and would on a fairly regular basis get together and try to spot light it at night.
Pete

Anyone interested in detailed accounts of pumas in Oz should read the chapter 'Alien Big Cats' in Healey & Cropper's book 'Out of the Shadows'. It gives the facts surrounding all sightings up to the date of publication (1994), including the Grampians pumas released by US servicemen in the Hall's Gap area mentioned by RLI in a previous post.

In May 1989 an elderly Hamilton woman, Ms Irene Addinsall, then 78 yrs old, broke a self-imposed 46-year silence to describe the release of an adult female puma and her 4 kittens by either the 35th or 46th Pursuit (Fighter) Group near Hall's Gap in 1943.

FWIW, the authors are a little sceptical because one of the kittens was said to be dark-coloured, and melanistic pumas are extremely rare. Also, there were a number of big cat sightings recorded for the Grampians area back to 1907. The facts of the 1943 release however are difficult to dismiss.