Glenda Steain was driving home with her son Tim, 12, when they spotted a large cat slinking across the road near their Kenthurst home in late November.

“It was taller than our dog Gemma (a Rhodesian ridgeback-great dane cross),” Mrs Steain said. “I don’t really remember its head that well, just its green cat-like eyes.”

Tim recalled its “cat ears” – “curved” – and its “silky black smooth fur”. The mother and son got within eight metres of the animal before it “just walked away”.

Mrs Steain’s eldest son, James, 26, has also seen the big black cat – he spotted it on his way to TAFE two years ago that sprung across the road in front of his car.

Mrs Steain’s sighting is the fourth to come to light in recent weeks, and is the fourth by a DPI employee that The Gazette has been told of.

According to Grose Vale woman Chris Coffey, who has spent thousands of dollars and many hours of her time collating sightings, there is a breeding population of ‘big cats’ in the Hawkesbury.

“People ring and you know they have seen something because they are so upset,” she said.

“However, the Department of Primary Industries remains unconvinced.

“The DPI has photographs, they have got video footage but they want scientific evidence. Isn’t 10cm pug prints and scratches in trees scientific evidence?” she asked.

A DPI spokesman said he was aware of the number of alleged panther sightings.

“In the past we have done a lot of work setting up cameras,” he said.

“At this stage we haven’t come across any hard evidence that concludes there are panthers. But we take people’s reports seriously.

“We’ve taken paw prints that have been analysed by zoos and the results confirm a large cat, not a panther.”

Ms Coffey disagrees and warned: “If you get up in the morning and find your animals badly injured or dead, don’t just put it down to a dog attack. Report it to the Rural Lands Protection Board and someone will come out and investigate.”