The coupan returns

MICHELLE NELSON
19/08/2009 9:47:00 AM

STRANGE goings on near Augusta have convinced two young women there is a big cat nearby.
Recorded sightings of big cats, colloquially known as Coupans, in the district go back some 30 years.

The women, who wish to remain anonymous, first saw the cat-like animal on July 30.

Alerted by barking dogs, one of the women was startled to see a large animal slinking away from a pile of kangaroo carcasses in the darkness.

She described it as greyish in colour with a white bib, a round head and a long tail.

The animal starred at her for several seconds before quickly retreating into the bush.

Early the next morning, her neighbour was woken by screaming close to her house, unsettling both her and her dogs.

“It was not a roar, not a bark, and not a meow – more of a scream.

“After a while, I heard the sound again but this time it had moved out of my yard and was in the bush.”

In daylight she found footprints, larger than her dogs, on a muddy track along with animal scat containing hair.

Convinced her mind was playing tricks, she tried to dismiss the strange happenings.

However, the next day she came upon a large kangaroo carcass partially hidden in vegetation alongside a stream.

“The first thing I noticed was that it had been plucked – it had skin, but the hair on the upper surfaces had been removed.

“The upper part of the animal had been completely devoured - from the ribs right up to the head, there was nothing but bones.”

Research confirmed prey-plucking to be a trait of some cats, and discounted the notion a dog or fox may have made the kill.

“Cougars always go for the neck, and kill prey by suffocating or snapping the neck, the kangaroo’s neck was bent so far back that the head was centimetres from touching its back,” she said.

Sound clips on the internet added to her concerns.

“The scream I heard was very similar to the cougar screams I listened to.”

An online search on cougar scats confirmed they look similar to dog scats except that they usually contain hair or bone fragments from their prey.

The bizarre behaviour of her dogs the following morning prompted her to keep them inside.

“After my dogs acting so strangely, I was terrified and rang a shire ranger for help.
“He said that he has never heard of any other sightings or such killings down here before.”

But several neighbours have confirmed seeing big cats and have found large kangaroo carcasses which appeared to have been killed in a similar way.

The women are worried the animal may be a threat to pets, livestock or even a child.

Coupan folk lore

FARMERS in the South West have reported losing large numbers of sheep and lambs since the 1970s.

While wild pigs, foxes, dingoes and feral dogs have always snatched a small number of domestic stock, these animals are messy killers, tearing, shredding and wounding.

The new predator killed cleaner, peeling the skin back, sometimes plucking the prey, and stripping the ribs clean.

The animals known in the black form as the Coupan, and similar fawn-coloured cats as Cordering or Karridale cougars, have since been spotted numerous times.

Various theories have been put forward to explain the origin of the big cats.

Rumour has it that a pair of cougars had escaped from an overturned circus truck in the area in 1960.

Other people have talked of newspaper reports in 1944, telling of two pet cougars, one light and one dark, released from warships and last seen swimming into Windy Harbour and disappearing into the sand dunes.

Another explanation is that they are escaped exotic pets or zoo animals, or animals smuggled into the country and later released to avoid prosecution.

Big cat sightings have occurred throughout Australia and even in Sydney.

New Zealand has its own big cat legand, with many recent sightings in the Canterbury foothills.

http://www.margaretrivermail.com.au/news/local/news/general/the-coupan-returns/1600526.aspx