Quote:
Originally Posted by The Black Rabbit  Whilst I'm on the computer -
Scats are not evidence that there are big cats living wild in the UK.
My Uncle is pretty high up in Dragonfly circles (he's an Emperor.... ok.... sorry  ), seriously, he is well known in the Dragonfly "world", and he used to (still does for all I know) utilise Lion dung from wildlife parks and zoos around his Dragonfly reserves, to keep away the deer, so young saplings etc... would not be nibbled.
It works, and its a regular as clockwork event - picking up the lion poo, and depositing it in quite remote areas.
Likewise, if I was a big cat keeper in such a wildlife park or zoo, I'd possibly take great delight in smuggling out a lump of poo, and dropping it accidentally on exmoor for example. Well maybe I wouldn't, but I'm not denying that that sort of thing couldn't or wouldn't or DOESN'T go on with some people with what many would call a puerile sense of humour.
Scat is not evidence.
Evidence is real video / photography (at a recogniseable location for others to agree on afterwards) of the actual beast(s), alive (not dead).
TBR |
Absolutely. A few things to ponder over....
How come, with a bit of research,excellent quality footage was obtained of one of the (very)rare Scottish
Wildcats on Springwatch this year? same with larachmor`s shot of possibly the same animal which he posted a while back, yet, after years and years of big cat reports, often several in small areas over a short period of time, has no decent film/photographic evidence been obtained which proves their existence once and for all??
A fella I know has been visiting Nepal for the last few years in search of Snow Leopards, which are classed as being as rare as the Tiger.After a few short trips over the course of a couple of years he managed good sightings of one(not sure about pics but i`d imagine he got some, i`ve not spoken to him personally since his sightings),and that`s one of the rarest big cats in the whole world.Remote country,extremely rare animal, limited time in the area due to distance/cost, yet as well as his experiences,theyve even been filmed for tv!!
So how come, in such a densely populated island as ours,no one has managed decent film/images which cant be disputed, especially if theyre wandering the countryside in the numbers some suggest?
How come, despite the number of us wandering around photographing wildlife with decent camera gear these days,often in pretty remote areas,are the big cat pics that DO see the light of day always of such poor quality,and always taken on a mobile phone or something??
Not just wildlife photographers either - the majority of anglers these days have decent cameras for recording their catches. Theyre in the ideal position to get evidence,spending long hours in remote areas - even the remote Highland Lochs of Scotland are being explored more and more by travelling anglers so nowhere is out of reach.
What about the shooting/hunting fraternity? Plenty of people out at night either hunting legitimately or poaching, with equipment perfectly capable of dropping a Big Cat if one was encountered.Theyre obviously going to be out in areas where prey densities are quite high too
You only need to look on the hunting forums when the subject is mentioned, to see that many would happily shoot a big cat to prove once and for all they exist. Yet it hasnt happened up to now...
All of our native mammal species end up as road casualties at some point due to increasing numbers of traffic on our roads, so why arent there more Big Cat road kills?Those that have been reported are always dubious...
How come there arent more (or indeed, any) verified attacks on people, with the supposed big cats being in such close proximity to humans (given that the majority of sightings are near to heavily populated areas - even in sparsely populated countries the odd local gets knacked by a big cat occasionally
)?? As has been said,the attack on that young lad who was clawed was discounted as being by a big cat.I remember the original news report - he saw a black tail in the long grass and pulled it (!!) thinking it was either a neighbourhood moggie or his own cat (cant recall exactly),and the cat clawed him!!...slightly different to the account he recalls on that video link Deer Boy posted
It`s been mentioned on here before that there have been decent pics taken of big cats, but the photographer has chosen to keep these to him/herself for fear of the animal being hunted down and destroyed. Fair enough, but there are too many people out there who want their "15 minutes of fame" for this to be the case every time.So at least some would surely see the light of day??
As Doug says, there`s no guarantee that scats found in the field can be classed as genuine in a lot of cases. Same with tracks - I could make realistic plaster casts of big cat prints and go walkies along a muddy path, leaving a lovely trail for someone to find. Unlikely? maybe, but there have been people willing to go to a lot of trouble to set up big cat hoaxes for whatever reason before now.
I`m afraid there`s more evidence AGAINST their existence, than supporting it, I would love for the reverse to be true though, as i`m sure most on here would...
Mark H