So when they saw a large black animal trotting in front of their car during a drive in the Watagans, they instantly identified it as a cat.

But not like any cat they’d seen outside of captivity.

“It was about 15 years ago, and we were driving up towards Hunter and McLeans lookouts, in the northern part of the Watagans,” Mr Strong said.

“We were just driving along when this cat – all black and about the size of a small border collie - started trotting down the road right in front of us.”

The pair estimated the cat was about five car lengths in front of them.

They had a clear view of the animal for five or six seconds. And they were in no doubt it was a cat.

“The shape. The way it walked and slinked off the road… It was a cat,” Mr Strong said.

The pair stopped the car, got out, and had a look around, but the animal had disappeared.

“It might have been a huge domestic cat, because some of those ferals can grow pretty big. But it was jet black,” he said.

As a teenager in the 1980s, Mr Strong said he discovered a large paw print in the Watagans near Mount Nellinda.

He said it was possible panthers were inhabiting the Watagans.

“But until I see one up close, you can’t be sure,” he said.

Glen Sisson, of Cooranbong, agrees.

“It’s very possible,” he said.

“I think they [panthers] know how to stay away from people, and there’s plenty of game out there for them.”

A former deer farm at Mandalang might explain the big cats’ local presence.

“When the old deer farm at Mandalong closed the animals were released and you’ll occasionally see deers grazing in the clearings under the power lines,” Mr Sisson said.

He said he once saw two large bucks rutting on Crawford Road.

“It was something you’d expect to see in Canada,” he said.

“But for a panther, it’s perfect game.”

Another paw print says panther tale has got legs

Is this proof of a Wyee panther?