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Melody Anderson
Joined: 05 Nov 2003
Posts: 814
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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| Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 3:50 pm Post Subject: Big Cat Sighting in Mid Canterbury |
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Last Night TV One's Close Up at Seven programme covered the story of Mark Brosnahann of mid Canterbury who saw a big black cat in the region last week. He also took very good photographs of the animal. We have a transcript of the programme here:
http://www.mysteriousnewzealand.co.nz/mysteries_strangeness/animals/bigcats/canterburybigcat.html
This is the most recent of a number of sightings by locals in Canterbury. MAF suggests that if you see one of these animals, report directly to them and they can get their investigative team out ASAP.
The number to call is: 0800 809 966 |
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Colin
Joined: 22 Feb 2004
Posts: 140
Location: Auckland, NZ
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| Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 9:25 pm Post Subject: Big Black Cat... |
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| There has to be something there... they all seem to be describing the same thing. Especially the big, bushy tail. |
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Melody Anderson
Joined: 05 Nov 2003
Posts: 814
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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| Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 9:32 pm Post Subject: |
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Yep. They are very good photos...
Forgot to mention the link - if you want to see the photos, you can view the video clip here. Don't know how long the clip will stay on the TVNZ archive though:
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/video_popup_windows_skin/533743 |
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Melody Anderson
Joined: 05 Nov 2003
Posts: 814
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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| Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 9:37 pm Post Subject: |
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Ha :-) Just noticed your signature:
| Quote: | | Why do they put Braille dots on the keypad of the drive-up ATM? |
Very good :P heh heh |
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Melody Anderson
Joined: 05 Nov 2003
Posts: 814
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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| Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 9:52 pm Post Subject: |
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| Quote: | | Why do they put Braille dots on the keypad of the drive-up ATM? |
:idea: The keys are probably a standard part...
Mind you, every now and then a story will come up somewhere of some blind person driving a car pulled over by a traffic cop. I heard one of those stories years ago and apparently, the driver's guide dog was giving him instructions on which way to turn etc by barking. No kidding - a true story <clap> |
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Colin
Joined: 22 Feb 2004
Posts: 140
Location: Auckland, NZ
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| Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 11:12 pm Post Subject: |
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There is the scene in Scent of a Woman where Al Pacino takes the Ferrari for a break-neck spin....
But the best blind driver I've seen was the advert on tv years ago, for Renault I think....
Set out on a dry salt lake, they show this black guy in a sporty little convertable with a couple of dolly-birds, zooming around and pulling donuts and generally having a great time.
As the car comes to a stop, the camera zooms in and you see it is Ray Charles, grinning that crazy grin and having the time of his life! |
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info4
Joined: 22 Feb 2004
Posts: 165
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| Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 9:24 pm Post Subject: |
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I saw the article on TV as well. In fact I have a TV capture card in my computer and I recorded it to hard drive
The thing that struck me about the TVNZ item was the animal was not afraid of the man. It didn't run or attack.
The picture they showed on the TV made the animal look like a normal cat so it was good to actually have an account from a person who could determine how large the beast was based on the distance he was from it.
It was most certainly not a domestic cat
I wonder what it is about |
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Melody Anderson
Joined: 05 Nov 2003
Posts: 814
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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| Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 9:50 pm Post Subject: |
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| Quote: | | The thing that struck me about the TVNZ item was the animal was not afraid of the man. It didn't run or attack. |
Yes although, when it heard Mark Brosnahan unbuckle his backpack, it crouched down and they did say that it did not take its eyes off Mark the whole time. So it was, nevertheless, wary.... |
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joan
Joined: 23 Feb 2004
Posts: 39
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| Posted: Fri May 06, 2005 12:24 am Post Subject: |
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There was an article in today's Herald together with the photo seen on tv with a 2 column report about this large mystery cat. Peter May from Ashburton saw a similar animal 18 months ago but did not report it because he thought no one would believe him. He said it was rumoured the animal had escaped from a private zoo. "It is definiely from the feline family and definitely enormous." A DOC officer said it was possible - but not probable - that a big cat could be living in the foothills. He said predator control was carried out regularly in the lakes area to protect special bird populations but only domestic cats turned wild had been caught.
Joan |
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Dirty Harry
Joined: 05 May 2005
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Fri May 06, 2005 10:34 am Post Subject: |
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There used to be a zoo in Chch when I was very young which had a black panther. It closed down a long time ago (i'm 22 now) but I have very early memories of this cat. My older sister remembers it more clearly. So there has been a large black cat in captivity very close to the sightings.
Maybe someone needs to do some investigations into this zoo and see what happened to this Panther...... maybe they just let it free in the surrounding country side when the zoo went under. |
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Melody Anderson
Joined: 05 Nov 2003
Posts: 814
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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| Posted: Fri May 06, 2005 11:12 am Post Subject: |
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Firstly, I think it highly unlikely that any zoo closing down would just let the animals go... There would almost certainly be legalities against this kind of action (the Animal Welfare Act for example). Normally, the animals would be sent to other zoos who committed to taking them, or perhaps (don't know for sure), destroyed, if no homes could be found. If someone has specfic knowledge about what happens to the animals when a zoo closes down, they may care to clarify this.
Secondly:
| Quote: | | The life expectancy for Black Leopards in the wild is 12 years and in captivity, 20 years. |
So the panther in the old Christchurch zoo would at least have to be 22 years old now, if your older sister remembers it, but is likely to be older... Having been in captivity and then forced to fend for itself in the wild, all the while avoiding capture, I would think it highly unlikely, in your suggested possible scenario, that the animal could have survived this long. |
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