Look History in the Eye Episode 8

The Kamarooka panther, episode 8 of the podcast series Look History in the Eye is about the 1907 sighting of a creature known as the 'Kamarooka Panther'.

 The big cat was first spotted by sisters Alheith and Trine Christensen and made headlines from Bendigo to Melbourne, and right across the State.

In this episode, Bendigo Regional Archives Centre's Desiree Pettit-Keating delves into Public Record Office Victoria and Bendigo Regional Archives records to tell the story of the Christensen family, their life just outside of Bendigo, and their strange encounter with this mysterious creature. 

The daughters of Scandinavian farmers, a look in the PROV archives shows that both Alheith and Trine (along with a third sister and a brother) were school teachers. 

Alheith started as a teacher in 1892, becoming certified in 1898; the inspector’s reports (found in the Teacher Records as above) describe her as “most careful and painstaking”, a “very good teacher”, “rigorous” and “thoughtful and intelligent”, while Trine, starting later in 1898, is noted by inspectors as careful and hard working.

They were aged 23 and 29 when they encountered the Kamarooka panther in January of 1907. A sighting taken most seriously since it came from such well-respected and well-educated women. 

Episode 8: The Kamarooka Panther 

Duration: 17min

By Tara Oldfield and Public Record Office Victoria