Beast Of Buderim On The Prowl.
By Toni McRae
The Beast of Buderim keeps rearing its head. The Sunday Mail has received dozens of letters, faxes and phone calls reporting sightings of the elusive creature which mostly resembles the ostensibly extinct Tasmanian Tiger. "A thing with a big cat face and huge green eyes reared up on its hind legs in our headlights," said Karen Robinson, 30, who encountered the beast while driving with her girlfriend from Nanango to Murgon in April. "We hit it at about 70km/h at 6.30 at night. It was golden like a lioness and had a long, long tail and strong back legs. I'll never forget it as it reared and glared at us. It did $1500 worth of damage to my car, pushing the guard into the wheel. I used my mobile to call for a tow. But when we looked there was no blood and just one little bit of fur. That was no dingo or kangaroo we saw." And three years ago, Bill Watson, 37, was out shooting around Goondiwindi with two mates when they saw a large striped beast with a dog-like head and long tail. "We tried to shoot it but it ran like the wind. The closest thing I can think to describe it is the Tasmanian Tiger." Most of those reporting sightings to the Sunday Mail said they had not spoken before for fear of ridicule or if they had told people about it they'd have been laughed at. Sue Pitcher, of Woombye, writes of the time she and a group of friends saw a "unique animal" on the slopes of Buderim. "This was no ordinary dog. He had not much hair on his upper body and seemed to have a skin problem like mange. His tail was large like a wallaby's tail." Other reports describe the cagey carnivore as "something like a greyhound but with distinctive stripes across its back", "a dusty stripey dog-like creature travelling very fast" and "an animal with very wide bands across its six foot long body". One of the clearest sightings was by "TC" Good, a naturalist and micro ecologist from Brisbane. "It was June 25 last year and my wife and I saw it in the lights of the car as we drove up the New England Highway to Brisbane. "It was incredible. It was iron rock red, more than two feet high with wavy medium vertical chestnut banding starting aft of the ribs and ending on the flank.
Sunday Mail: 9/7/95.
