He heard a caller on talkback radio say they saw a cat-like animal at the quarry. Mora then raised it at a recent community board meeting.
"He [the radio caller] said he was at the top of the ridge at the quarry and he looked down and saw this big, black, cat-like animal and he went down and saw it move away really, really quickly," Mora said.
British tourist Nick Baggott took this photo of a large black cat near Lake Tekapo in 2017. Photo / Nick Baggott
He said the grass it was spotted in was about 1 metre high, which means a regular-sized cat would not have been able to be seen in it.
Mora said he mentioned the sighting in the elected members' exchange section of the meeting because he thinks it is something the public should watch out for.
"If there is something there, it would be just interesting to get feedback from other people. If there is one in the area, no doubt other people would have seen it."
A Christchurch City Council spokesman said quarry staff hadn't received any reports of big cat sightings, but they are "always keeping an eye out".
