Valley Panthers to be the subject of a new investigation
1 Jul 11
The notorious ‘panthers’ of Kangaroo Valley are to be the subject of a new on-going field investigation, aimed at gathering further evidence of their existence in the Valley’s wilderness areas.
Leading the search will be noted Cryptozoologist and ‘Australian Panther’ authority, Rex Gilroy, a naturalist/historian with 45 years field experience in the search for these, and other mystery Australian creatures such as the ‘extinct’ Thylacine and the Yowie or “Hairy People” of Aboriginal tradition which Rex argues to be remnant groups of surviving Homo erectus, a tool-making ancestor of ourselves.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the so-called ‘Panther’ is a species of large marsupial cat related to the extinct Marsupial Lion, Thylacoleo carnifex which roamed Australia in Ice-Age times.
People have reported seeing females with young in reversed body pouches like the Thylacine, and casts made from ‘Panther’ paw impressions show these to possess marsupial rather than felid structural features”, Rex Gilroy points out.
Together with his wife Heather, Rex operates the “Australian Unknown Animals Investigation Centre”, [PO Box 202, Katoomba, 2780, NSW; Ph 02 4782 3441], where all manner of information and evidence is gathered for scientific assessment.
“We would like to hear from anyone who has either seen one of these animals, found their paw prints, or has any other information helpful to our forthcoming search”, says Rex.
The Gilroys would like to hear from any property owners who have suffered stock or poultry losses to these marsupial carnivores in Kangaroo Valley over the years.
They point out that stories of ‘panther’ encounters in Kangaroo Valley date back well into the 19th century.
Rex and Heather Gilroy are no strangers to the Valley, having carried out investigations on properties and in the scrub hereabouts as early as the 1970s.
Their new investigation however will be on-going and could last years until they obtain the physical proof they need to prove the undoubted marsupial carnivore identity of these ‘Big Cats’ to sceptical scientists.