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Originally Posted by fairplay  OK, I accept a lot will have escaped from illegal private collections, so therefore will be used to humans, but having been kept in captivity by humans, surely it's natural instinct will be to keep as far away as possible ..
Neil. |
We don't have any indigenous 'Big Cats' in the UK, Neil, so all would be feral and have derived originally from private collections. Why 'illegal'? Many of these were kept legally but turfed out illegally with the introduction of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, which brought with it burdensome licensing with costs of up to £700 for a Local Authority Licence. However, sightings stem back to the 1,800s, also probably as a result of escaped pets. As for your suggestion that 'natural instinct' would keep escaped pets away from humans, on the contrary, usually escaped exotics, whether they be birds or animals, are even more inclined to linger round human activity than wild animals/birds. With birds, often one of the casual litmus tests of it's 'wild' credentials, is the fact it was seen feeding, eg, with the local ducks on the bread being chucked into the pond, or in a garden on a bird feeder.
Many of the 'big cat' sightings are in urban areas, we've had many reputed sightings in Sussex over the years, although none substantiated (as none have been substantiated in rural areas either)
New big cat sighting in Sussex (From The Argus)