Australia's Feral Cats Are Growing to Sizes That Shouldn't Be Possible. I Tracked Them.

Comments · 137

• MA

  @marksherry6589 · 4 days ago

  Reckon your about 50 years to late.Shot a feral tabby well behind Melbourne in high mountains.Hit with 308 round for deer,it was severed above its shoulders,or pink misted.Took photos while weighing and even with body mass loss it clearly shows 8.4.kilogram’s weight.Same animal up there today you can just imagine the weight gain and body size increase.Everyone says they see pumas and panthers,nope,they just don’t understand how large these already are.This was in 1978.

  6

• LU

  @lucindasavona2278 · 2 days ago (edited)

  I live in a retirement village on mid-North coast NSW.<br>It&apos;s true. Australian feral cats are growing huge. <br>We, in my retirement village, are being pestered by a black feral cat that is as big as a dog. <br>You would swear it was a puma if you didn&apos;t know better.<br>It&apos;s been coming here for at least 8 years.

  6

• GR

  @graemewarren7119 · 4 days ago

  As early as 1985 I drove a road train out of Katherine weekly to Wave Hill and down the Tanami Track 105km to the community of Lajamanu taking supplies to the community there. Returning along &nbsp;that track at night, I occasionally would see a cat cross the road ahead of me in the bright bull lights which, at first, was confusing because it looked far too big to be a feral cat. However, as time went by, there was no question, these were definitely cats, twice the size of your cat at home. The few people I told thought I was mistaking them for a dingo or something else but these were definitely large cats. Your study has confirmed my sightings as correct.

  10

• 10

  @10_rds_Fire_For_Effect · 1 day ago (edited)

  There a numerous sightings of large cats in New Zealand. &nbsp; In 1977 a woman reported seeing a cat the &quot;size of a tiger&quot; right outside her home. &nbsp;A police search found nothing, &nbsp;but shortly afterwards huge paw prints and scat was found at a nearby location prompting another search.<br>There have been reports of people seeing &quot;panthers&quot; and cats the size of large dogs. etc. &nbsp;Some of these huge cats are black and often are described as black panthers.<br>Authorities are putting it down to oversized feral cats.

  5

• DE

  @debbiesimmons3081 · 4 days ago

  I have one on my lap. He weighs almost 8kg. He&apos;s not fat. He&apos;s an indoor/shed cat. He showed up as a 4-6 week old ginger kitten. No idea about his father but his mother was a stray from the Riverland SA. He just kept growing. He&apos;s desexed btw.

  13

• TH

  @therealanonymousraccoon · 5 hours ago

  While travelling oz, stayed in caravan park near Armidale. &nbsp;Swear we saw first large lynx size cat wandering the empty section near bush ftom behind toilet block, ok, large grey black cat, ok. Then, no shit, a bloody panther sized cat of similiar colour also broke cover from behind toilet block and steadily paced after her &apos;kitten&apos; as they disappeared into the brush across the empty section. No reaction from either of them to our presence, they just went about thier day. Swear to god.

• MA

  @MathieuMeulen · 1 day ago

  From belgium. &nbsp;Excellent work. Keep it up for the benefit of the endemic species

  1

• TH

  @ThomasPrior-d3g · 3 hours ago

  I live in central Sydney. I refer to our Ferral cats as Barn Cats. For some bizarre reason we have zero mice or rat problems where the cats range. This is city though, not country.

• NI

  @nicolechalmer61 · 1 day ago

  All the research I&apos;ve read confirms that bush cats eat 80% introduced mammals - rabbits, rats, mice. They are necessary to control these pests!

  1

• LI

  @linmonash1244 · 4 hours ago

  Interesting. Yes, I saw a huge feral cat down here in Tasmania, near Geeveston, back in the early &apos;80&apos;s. &nbsp;It was massive, sandy coloured. At first I thought I was looking at a medium sized dog, but no. And I thought about what a cat that size could take... Lambs, goat kids, and we had poultry...

• RA

  @RandyGnome · 1 day ago

  A farmer in Kellerberrin WA back in the 80s shot a feral cat and skinned it. The skin (without the tail) covered the back seat of their falcon sedan. The cat was about 4 feet long (without the tail) and stood about 2 feet at the shoulders. It had been taking sheep and dogs in the area. It was a big grey stripey bastard.

  4

• MA

  @markgillam8495 · 2 days ago

  Dupergirl! GO for it Helen! Tell em&apos; like it is!