Big Cats Living As Wild In The Uk

[Leopard Shaz]

Hi All!! XXX

I have been involed in big cat conservation and many controversial issues since a child!! Grew up with big cats as my gran kept 2 tigers gfrom cubs and currently I belong to the rare leopard conservation charity called The Cat Survival Trust based in Codicote Welwyn, Herts.

Big cats do exist living as wild in the UK and we had 2 a mother and daughter who lived as wild and were seen all round Beds mainly in the quarries.The daughter was born in the quarry and would be around 3 years now.

The cats were seen by many residents who live near the quarry and are very elusive.
There are also 2 panthers seen regularly near the Trusts site in Welwyn with evidence of scratching on the tree and visual evidence by many including our Director!

So!! in addition to the Beast of Bodmin...ther is a coupleof beasts of Bedfordshire and a couple in Hertfordshire as well!!!

I lovepanthers in particular and hope one day to have my own sanctuary and keep purely panthers.

If there is anyone by the way who wants to help out at The Cat Survival Trust please come along everyoneis a volunteer no paid staff at all so the more we have the merrier as we currently have a major building project going on and several new additions last year.The cats at the Trsut are several gorgeous snowleopards,Athena the Jagg also known as JAGGS,several Caracal including kittens,Bob cats,Lynx,and Scottish Wildcats and a brother and sister puma called Kitcat and Crunchie.

No experience is necessary just alove for the outdoors some free hours a week or month and a willingness to muck in asit certanly isnt glamourous!!

The Trust website is
www.catsurvivaltrust.org

If you are interested in volunteering please speak directly to our Director Dr Terry Moore on 01438 716873 OR Email him on
cattrust@aol.com

It is a magnificent experience to be able to work alongside thse magnificent big cats and I am sure many of you will agree that the snowleopard is the most magnificent of all rare leopards seldom seen so it is a rare treat to be able to play with the cubs Sharma andChen!

All the best
LEOPARD SHAZ XXX

[nightshade]

Big Cats Big Country

[Leopard Shaz]

Thanks for your point however who would have thought leopards escapees or those that have been set free by irresponsible owners live sucessfully as wild in our midst!!!

[Surrey Snow]

What about the Surrey Puma?

What do you know about that?

SS

[Leopard Shaz]

Hiya,
Thanks for your email,I am sorry I dont live in Surrey so do not know about the Surrey puma the cat survival trust is absed in Herts,I live in Beds and we are looking for volunteers for the Trust
www.catsurvivaltrust.org
phone 01438 716873
email cattrust@aol.com

There are a large number of leopards which live as wild in the uk most of tehm are escapees and many sightings throuhgout the uk confirm puma and black leopards.....mercifully no sightings of lions or tigers.

Should you be interested in ever coming up our sanctuary please visit the website and contact our Director DR TERRY MOORE office hours for further details or if you should want to volunteer and have any free time love leoaprds we hjave the largest collection of rare leoaprds under one premises ie puma snowleoaprds,jaguar,lynx,caracals,serval,ocelots,s cottish wild cats..
All the best,
SHARON M MOORE
leopardshaz@yahoo.co.uk

[RobF]

Biologists recently found a new species of cat in the impenetrable jungles of Borneo. The pictures taken of it were crystal clear. How come there hasn't been a clear picture taken of a british big cat?

I would like to believe there are big cats out there, but until I've seen the pics....

The program "Alien Big Cats" on National Geographic was excellent.

Rob

[Stuart]

What quarries are there in Beds and where please Shaz? And what exactly the species of cat are you talking of?

[nightshade]

I missed the programme apparently called "alien cats" that went into the subject at length my source says it may have been a national geographic film

[RobF]

Originally Posted by nightshade

I missed the programme apparently called "alien cats" that went into the subject at length my source says it may have been a national geographic film

It was a National Geographic program, called "Alien Big Cats". Its re-run occasionally and essential viewing!

Basically, they got a fur-trapper from the States to check out the evidence of moggies. It was great, he identified big cat expert Danny Bamping's (of British Big Cat Soc) photo evidence of sheep kills and scratched children as all being done by dogs. He was taken to an estate where the gamekeeper showed him pug marks from the cats, all were dog prints.

I seem to recall a shorter programme on terrestrial TV about a guy who set trail-cams and had NV gear etc. I've never seen the pics to date.

There was also a programme on Tyne Tees about big cats in Durham, the only photo that looked OK was of a large feral cat carrying a small Rabbit.

Rob

[Kayleigh]

Hi

I live in south Northants. My husband and I have both seen on different occasions large black cats. He was fishing very early one morning when he saw a large black cat walk into the undergrowth at Iron stone quarry now a fishing lake off the A43.
Then I was going to work about 9am and saw a large black cat across a field at Stoke Bruerne the junction towards Blissworth.

Where abouts in Bedfordshire have you seen the big cats.

[Pat]

Last week I had just finished my last dog walk, it was near enough dark when something large and black ran accross the front of my car, I thought it was a dog but seemed a bit too large, I was about to drive off but then thought someone might have lost their dog and I would have felt a bit guilty if I didn't try to catch it so I got out of my car and went into the field where it had gone ( I've got a very powerful torch, 3500 candles ) I shone the torch up and down the field but no sign of any animal so I went off home. 2 nights later I had just finished my last walk and it was dark, I suddenly saw something appear in the gap in the hedge and thought it was one of my foxes turning up early for their food then I thought thats too large for a Fox ( my lights were still off because I'd only just got into the car ) I was only about 4ft away from it, I put my headlights on full and saw that it was a large black cat,about the size of a large German Shepherd only shorter legs, I was that close that I noticed it had a grey muzzle and big grey whiskers, it looked quite old, it was only there for afew seconds then it ran back into the field, needless to say I didn't go after it this time Since then my foxes have been acting a bit funny, they've been coming over looking very nervous and instead of eating the food where I put it the've been grabbing a bit and running off so the big cat is obviously hanging around.

[RobF]

The Beast of Balbirnie in Fife has turned out to be a St Bernard. A big cat "expert" had ID'd the "pug marks" as being from a big cat, but they have since been found to be identical to Bernard the St Bernards who was on holiday from Berkshire!

I've been looking at the Big Cat websites, especially the picture sections. Lots of photo's of people looking for big cats in snazzy camo coats and expensive bins, no convincing pics of any cats

If you see a big cat, remember where it was and check out the pug marks the following day, if there are claws visible in the tip of the toe marks - its a dog.

Rob

[mike08]

my dad was driving me to college in wyning garden city in herdforshire. it was near the xerox building i think it was on a golf coarse. and we were driving a about ten metres away there was a black loapard. i am 100% sure of this. i told my dad stright away and he said that he sore it to. so we stopped to look at it more and it ran into the woods. i got a clear look at it and im 100% sure it was a leopard. i was so happy. after college i went back to were it ran and there were lots of big cat foot prints not dog prints. i have already reported it to a big cat website but i throught il tell u lot as well.

[Pat]

I saw one a couple of years ago but no one would believe me so I just thought forget about it, I know I saw it so that's all that matters

[dottie30]

apparently there has been another large cat spotted at Stocksfield in Northumberland.

[shei111]

Also sightings of large cat at middleton nr saxmundham reported in the local paper East Anglian Daily times seen end of february this year,

[Lyndsay]

Hi all,

I was very interested to hear about the recent big cat sighting in Stocksfield, Northumberland, as I saw the cat myself in February at almost exactly the same spot. I live in Prudhoe, a nearby town, and I caught it in my headlights while driving at night down the Whittonstall road towards Stocksfield.

I saw it quite clearly, side on, and its main distinguishing features in the headlights were its large size, its large, round, bright (unmistakably cats) eyes, and its long, thin tail.

I immediately turned the car around and went back to find it but couldn't. My walks in nearby Broomley Woods haven't quite been the same since!!! I'd love to see it again.

[fairplay]

I'm sure we all love big cats, but as you have irresponsible people who keep and breed them, you also have nutters that release them and equally nutters that want to dress up in all this fancy camo gear and shoot them, so my advice is if you see one is to just shut up.

Neil.

[Richtea]

hi, alian big cats are usually shortened to ABC's and if you do report one its refered to as a cat flap! i think thats cute!

there have been abc's reported in Baisingstoke - near where i grew up. it used to lie in trees watching dog walkers. also there is ment to be at least one on Cannock Chase - where i live now. its reported as anything from a black cat to a wolf? anyway whatever it is has a very long life or there is a breeding community. its been reported for about 30 years on and off. if you do see something and with the modern phones photo's could be taken you should contact the Alien big cat group. google will bring up the sites. the police could also be informed if you think it was in a very public area or near children although they'll just non and smile mostly. however the most reports of these sightings actually come from police officers!

hummmm......

[coasty]

We have many big cats living wild in the north york moors, They are often spotted drinking at the same clear springs that the mountain pixies use to wash their little green hats in.
I have often come across their tracks when I have been out fishing. You can definately tell they are black leopards and not ordinary ones because their tracks look like large dog prints.
Apparantly the reason no one has published a photo of them is because they are given magic dust by the pixies. This dust makes the camera break down if you try and photograph them....

Really never read such tosh in all my life.....

[deer boy]

Originally Posted by coasty

pixies

Pixies i must come up & photograph them

[wizzard]

Originally Posted by deer boy

Pixies i must come up & photograph them

I've got loads of photos of the fairies in my garden!

I seriously doubt that there are big cats in britain. Maybe ones that have been released but no wild population. The lack of evidence is amazing, there are people all over the country with cameras every day and yet not one conclusive photo has ever been taken. I would love to find I'm wrong, but until I see the pics...

[highlander2004]

It is a known fact that many large "pet" large cats were released into the wild after leglislation was brought in to control them. I have met a number of people who claim to have seen them and I have no doubt that they saw a large non native cat purely beacuase they were seasoned animal watchers and would know a large cat when they saw one. However this occured many years ago and unless the cats were able to breed successfully i.e find a mate of their own kind they would eventually die out. That is not to say that some are not still around and just because they are not seen very often is no reason to doubt their existence. I have met country folk within walking distance of Badger setts and have never seen one in their whole life and many locals where I live in Scotland have never seen an eagle or Otter, but they exist!

Regards,
Nick

[Geoff F]

90% of big cat sightings are just domestic felines seen in unusual light. But that does leave 10% of questionable sightings. Here, S. Devon, I know a few sensible people who have seen unusual large cats which cannot be easily explained. Definitely not lions, tigers, etc, but possibly one of the smaller 'large' cats.

Even if they do manage to breed, they will always remain very scarce. If they do exist, I would prefer them to be left in peace instead of someone shooting them just to prove the point that they did live here.

[coasty]

Some years ago Otters were introduced into my area... Over the years following there were big cat sightings . I would suggest that a large dog Otter running and especially one seen in half light is a very feline looking creature...

Like anything there will be those who choose to beleive in big cats living wild in this country however I think that any that were released will have died quickly and certainly no breeding populations exist.