'Most detailed compendium of...crypto conundrum"

A great review from Sydney non-fiction author David Levell:

"Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers (Strange Nation Publishing) must be the most detailed compendium of the Australia’s best documented cryptozoological conundrum. Authors Michael Williams and Rebecca Lang shine more light on the mystery than has ever been shone before.

"There’s no doubt big cats are out there in the outback. The mystery is what kind of cat, and whether other animals account for some of the sightings. These range from feral dogs and foxes to rather more unlikely candidates such as the long-extinct marsupial lion."

Read more here...

Our book gets the thumbs-up from Dr Naish

Dr Darren Naish gave Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers a very respectable thumbs-up recently on his very popular Scientific American blog.

He writes in part, in Williams and Lang’s Australian Big Cats: do pumas, giant feral cats and mystery marsupials stalk the Australian outback?:

"A long term interest and involvement in Australian and world mysteries led Michael Williams and Rebecca Lang to research and produce what is now the definitive volume on Australian mystery big cats; it’s titled Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers (Williams & Lang 2010).

"At 434 pages, it’s substantial. It’s also highly readable, nicely formatted and very well illustrated. The authors have collated a vast amount of information gleaned not only from published sources but also from interviews with both eyewitnesses and people who have examined evidence firsthand.

"Williams and Lang clearly travelled widely across the country, photographing locations, people, documents, taxiderm specimens and so on at what must have been great personal expense. They obtained freedom of information acts and other previously undisclosed documents. A lengthy appendix (c. 120 pages) includes copies of numerous letters and documents produced by government officials, veterinarians, ecologists, geneticists and others. The volume is fully referenced (though with the citations given at the bottom of the respective pages, rather than at the end of the text) and with an index.

"So, to anyone seriously interested in mystery animals, mystery big cats or Australian mammals in general, this book is a must-have..."

Reda more at http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2012/02/13/williams-and-langs-australian-big-cats/?print=true

ABC book extract in this month's Nexus

Nexus Magazine is featuring an extract of Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers in this month's issue.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE
We feature an extract from a book by Rebecca Lang and Michael Williams which investigates reports of big-cat sightings in Australia and suggests several theories as to how these out-of-place felids arrived in a foreign land.

Check it out!

Or better yet, buy the book - and enjoy 150 years of big cat legend, lore and sightings. We have it on good authority it's a book you'll read again and again. Just beware those friends who ask to borrow it - it's also one of those books no one ever returns!

Authors on A Current Affair

Click on the image to go to the A Current Affair website and video...

Book gets a plug in wacky news wrap

JULY 28

The grainy photo on the front page was thought to be that of the Territory Tiger. It was taken from footage filmed in the 1990s by Territorian Jan Donovan. Author Rebecca Lang said the large, sandy cat appeared to be of "considerable size", and could be the descendant of escaped circus cats. Ms Lang and co-author Mike Williams spent five years compiling their book Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers.

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2011/01/06/205245_ntnews.html

Panther stalks Blue Mountains

Panther-like big cats here in the Blue Mountains? Surely not! Yet a string of people over the years insist they've seen or heard one.

Digging into their stories proved intriguing for writer/photographer Michael Williams and journalist Rebecca Lang, who recently published their book Australian Big Cats – An Unnatural History of Panthers.

They report that big cat sightings are a problem in many rural areas around Australia with substantial stock losses in some; they describe their book as "a meaty compendium of sightings, killing sprees, narrow escapes, myths and mysteries that have come to form an intriguing chapter of Australian folklore."

http://www.bloogle.com.au/whistler/panther.php