Leopards are Prowling Britain, Survey Suggests

If it is true that big cats haven't lived wild in the U.K. for 2,000 years, then, judging from the results of a new survey, a lot of large house cats now roam the British countryside. Organized by British Big Cats Society (BBCS), the nationwide survey recorded 2,052 unconfirmed sightings of big cats in just 15 months, between January 2003 and March of this year.

The sighting counts averaged four each day. Two-thirds of the sightings involved large black animals resembling melanistic leopards, also known as panthers. If all these sightings had been confirmed, it would mean the U.K.'s leopard population now rivals that of the Kashmir region of the Indian subcontinent.

The survey was compiled with the help of farmers, police officers, and other observers. The BBCS, based near Plymouth, England, says, "There is little doubt that big cats are roaming Britain."

Besides leopards, the society claims Britain may also be home to wild pumas and other exotic felines such as lynx and caracals that have either escaped from or been deliberately released from zoos and private collections. Officially, the last large cat living in Britain was the northern lynx some 2,000 years ago.

The new data include reports of five attacks on horses, more than 30 sheep-kill incidents, and several discoveries of paw prints. Southwest and southeast England had the highest percentage of reported sightings.

Farmers were among the main contributors to the study. The National Farmers' Union, which represents farmers in England and Wales, had encouraged its members to become the "eyes and ears" of the countryside for the BBCS.

"They have had a lot of unexplained livestock kills and attacks," said British Big Cats Society founder Danny Bamping. "These involved not just sheep but goats, chickens, and horses. Farmers know what sort of damage foxes or dogs can cause, and many of them have seen these cats."

While Bamping concedes that a significant number of these "big cats" were probably nothing more than oversized domestic cats, deer, or foxes, he believes around 70 percent of the sightings were genuine.

He says the society already has good evidence for the existence of large felines in Britain, including records of 19 pumas, lynx, jungle cats, and leopards trapped, shot, or run over since 1980.

Bamping says the new study suggests these animals may even be breeding in the wild.

"We've had sightings of big cats with cubs and places where we've found big paw prints and small paw prints together," he said. "We've also had incidents where sheep have been killed and mauled rather than eaten, which indicates that maybe the mother is trying to teach the young how to kill."

Reported sightings in May included a large black cat with cubs seen by two girls in Oxfordshire, England. "They said the cubs were the same size as their German shepherd dog," Bamping added.

And in southwest England a driver traveling with two passengers near the town of Taunton claimed he had to brake sharply to avoid a big, catlike creature.

Passenger Nick Mansfield told the Taunton Times: "I'm not the sort of person who believes in these sorts of things, but we all saw it, so I can't be going mad. It looked to be about waist height and was very dark in color, so all we could really make out was its large, bright yellow eyes. If it wasn't a cat, then it was the biggest dog I have ever seen."

The alleged sighting comes four months after a local farmer claimed he lost livestock to a huge cat.

Bamping's own big cat encounter occurred 12 years ago while on a train passing through rural Kent in southeast England. He believes he spotted a black leopard in a field as the train accelerated slowly from a station.

"I saw it for about ten seconds," he added. "It's a bit like a video clip in the memory. There's no doubt in my mind that what I saw that day was not a domestic cat."

Bamping, who has a keen interest in cryptozoology (the study of unverified animals) and a coelacanth (a fish presumed extinct until its rediscovery in 1938) tattooed on his arm, says the experience inspired him to set up the British Big Cats Society. The group's stated aim is to scientifically identify, quantify, and catalogue big cats living wild in Britain.

Members include Chris Moiser, a zoologist at Plymouth College of Further Education. While the deliberate release of exotic felines in Britain is a criminal offense, Moiser says it may not be a bad idea, because grazing animals such as deer currently have no natural predators to keep populations in check.

"The reintroduction of the lynx might, if handled correctly, help to balance this situation," he said.

As to the existence of wild big cats in Britain, the U.K. government is yet to be convinced. So far it has resisted BBCS calls for a U.K.-wide scientific study, saying existing evidence is not strong enough to justify this.

In the 1990s U.K. Ministry of Agriculture scientists did investigate the alleged presence of big cats on Bodmin Moor in the county of Cornwall. Numerous reported sightings, sheep kills, and blurred photographs and video images fueled speculation about the existence of a "Beast of Bodmin"—rumored to be one or more black leopards.

After their six-month study, however, the scientists concluded, "No verifiable evidence for the presence of a 'big cat' was found."

Having spent a portion of my life in Kenya (E. Africa to the geographically challenged) I have some inherent acquaintance with the mannerisms and traits of large feral cats! After all in high school I used to be a scrappy chap and would sneak off with some pals on some impromptu forays into the national parks, and since some of my more fanatical chums had the idiotic tendency to go to the park without assistance from a park attendant (and the park attendant’s rifle) I guess I got to know something about the big cats.

Also I know something about the British climate (virtually all of my professors in Kenya were Scottish or British ....and I've personally spent some time there), and the types of cats that can survive in a cold clammy moor type of environment. Also add to this the type of pets that used to be kept before possessing feral cats was banned in Britain.

Hence I believe the type of cat being seen in Britain (if they actually exist and are not some British manifestation of the Sasquatch) is either a Leopard (from Africa or India), or maybe it is a Puma (from N. America)

. However there is also the added chance that it is an amalgamation of the two species (since it has been shown several of the large cat species can mate and produce exotic offspring …eg a lion and a tiger can give a liger/tigon; a leopard and a lion can produce a leopon etc. As an aside the largest cat in the world is a Liger, which is immense, by far bigger than even a Siberian/Amur tiger …..that thing looks like a monster)!

The reason I think it might be a leopard is because leopards are the most adaptable big cats, and can survive in any environment ranging from blistering desert furnaces to arctic frozen wastes! Leopards can also eat nigh anything ….and in Africa they have been known to show a particular taste for dogs, even going as far as breaking into people’s compounds and snatching their poor canines (in one case one leopard streaked from a tree and snatched a poodle from the arms of some distraught Briton, who promptly screamed before collapsing in shock). Hence when it comes to survival a leopard could be the culprit!

However personally I think it is a Puma (or maybe a 'Pumard' hybird of leopard and puma). The reason for that is because leopards may not be as big as lions or tigers, but they are regarded as the most ferocious of the big cats and have a seeming wanton for bloodshed! If it were indeed a leopard then instead of a stray dog being killed one would see whole herds of sheep slaughtered in their pens at night (with only one being eaten and the rest being killed for sport). Also leopards have been known to become maneaters in both Africa and India ….and have managed to rack up a comfortable tally of human lives! If it were a leopard, and it is in a community with people, by now there should have been a human fatality (usually a sneak attack at night).

And that is why I think it is a puma! Cougars are generally timid (there are exceptions ofcourse), and the rare cases of attack (very rare) have mostly resulted in deep scratches and very few fatalities (a leopard attack on the other hand will usually result in death). And pumas can also survive in a vast array of environments, just like leopards, meaning they could survive in the British countryside. Also they were kept as pets due to their docility (leopards, it can be said, do not make great pets, especially if you are not fond of deep long lacerations).

As for the dark colorating ....could be Florida panthers ...which is basically a puma subspecies that has a tendency for being melanistic.

Thus I would say if the cat exists it is most likely a puma.

Here are some pictures of big-cat hybrids. Most of them can reproduce (unlike the normal horse-donkey = mule thing).

LIGER(male lion plus tigress, and due to getting the best of both species certain specimens have reached over 12 feet, and can weigh up to 1000 pounds ....for comparison an average African lion weighs aroung half that)

LEOPON (the amalgamation of a leopard and a lion ....they have the rosette spots of a leopard but with the larger body and mane of a lion)

JAGLION (obviously the mix of a Jaguar and a Lion ....similar to a Leopon....only larger!)

CARAVAL (male caracal plus female Serval)

PUMARD (leopard plus puma ...probably one of the cats found in Britain)

Oh, and here is a still from a video that was shot in Australia (yep ...Australia also has interesting 'house cats' prowling around in the outback). This animal is definitely NOT a dog of any sort ....and I'd say it is not Taz either (it's not spinning and whirling and snarling anyways).

Is it a lion or tiger …..nope. Such a large beast would require larger prey than stray dogs, and an adult lion prowling the fields would definitely come into contact with some unfortunate soul, who would most probably run, and because of that be killed! One of the last things you should attempt when faced by a lion (a real lion not a ‘mountain lion’) is run because even if it is not a man-eater it will give chase out of instinct …it is like dangling strong before a cat. Every year myriads of people are killed (some reports say hundreds) by lions as they try to enter south Africa from mozambique (for the better living standards). They try to sneak through the park, and usually end up faced by marauding lions. The ones who make it through to S. Africa are the ones who do not run, do not scream, and do not try to ‘scare’ the lions away by making noises and flailing their arms. The ones who die are the ones who, upon seeing a lion, immediately start to run (one can tell they ran away from their footprints being further apart) and the lion immediately tears them apart! Some climb trees, not knowing that lions can climb many types of short trees (unless you get to a tree that is too straight for the obviously heavier lion), and anyways a lion can leap faster than you can jump such a tree! Others start crying ….not knowing that to a lion a human cry sounds very much like the noise sick wilderbeests make, and lions like picking on sick or wounded prey!

Hence in Britain I doubt it is a lion or tiger ….and I also doubt it is a leopard (although a leopard could easily survive there). Thus the remaining option is either a puma or a florida panther (which were kept as pets ….'normal' pumas because they were docile, and florida panthers because they could be black in color, and hence their owners could lie to friends that they were ‘black panthers’ for the danger aspect).

Or maybe the whole thing is a hoax and what the farmers saw was a big dog …or maybe they had to much ale and were seeing things when there was none (although, as can be seen by the still of the animal in Australia, something does prowl out there ....at least in Australia, and probably in the UK too).

However in some cases evidence (dead carcases) have been discovered that were killed by something that was not a dog …but seemed to be a large, very large, cat. Dogs, for example, do not have claws that can leave huge gashes on animal flanks ....and they certainly do not make guard dogs go into rabid panic! Something is prowling out there.

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