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Big cats in britain; Your opinions?
Topic Started: Jun 15 2012, 10:07 PM (5,231 Views)
Fishfreak
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Friend of the fish
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I believe there may be leopard or another big cat on the loose in Britain, I do believe that I saw in documentary that they found fur with leopard DNA in Britain.
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Vivyx
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Felines, sharks, birds, arthropods
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Entirely possible. They could have been illegal pets that were released to the wild like DinosaurMichael said. I think they would thrive quite well in British forests.
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da pink
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It's fascinating topic, one that prompted me to buy a book (one with reel wordz in and everythink)

It was by Rick Minter, and after reading it I have no doubt there is some sort of wild, hybrid, large moggy in these soggy Isles. I'll dig out the references if anyone cares enough but Police HAVE confirmed they have found an alien spieces of cat dead at road side, and the New Forest Forestry Commission (that does not sound right) confirmed that they have seen large cat like images whilst doing aerial surveillance for the pony culls.


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da pink
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JaM
Jun 16 2012, 01:02 AM
I really don't believe that people in general can estimate the size and identity of cats seen form afar, and in certain conditions, the cats may look much larger than they really are. So, observations of "panthers" by lay people with no real experience with such animals are somehow doubtful, in my opinion, and there are several examples of people who have photographed regular moggies and claimed that they were "panthers".

In the book I mentioned above they did an experiment where they placed life sized cut outs of various big cats at different distances and asked members of the public to turn round and look for a few seconds at each one before trying to identify/describe what they saw.

The majority were correct. If they didn't know the species they had a good idea at it's size
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Taipan
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'Big cat' Canadian lynx was on the loose in UK in 1903

25 April 2013 Last updated at 01:13 GMT
By Rebecca Morelle
Science reporter, BBC World Service

Posted Image
The cat was given to the museum after it was shot in Newton Abbot in Devon

A "big cat" was on the loose in the English countryside at the turn of the last century, scientists say.

They believe a Canadian lynx was prowling around the fields of the South West in 1903 before being shot after attacking two dogs in Devon.

Tests on the animal revealed it had probably spent some time in captivity before escaping or being set free.

The animal had been donated to Bristol Museum at the time of its death and kept in its stores for decades.

The scientists' findings are published in the journal Historical Biology.

Dr Ross Barnett, a molecular biologist from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Durham, said: "I've seen one of these cats in the wild.

"They are pretty impressive cats - they are a reasonable size, and they have lots of fluffy fur which makes them look even bigger. They have sharp claws, teeth and strong muscles."

Beast of Bodmin

From blurry photos of the Beast of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, to reports of a lion on the loose in Essex in 2012, the UK has a long tradition of spotting big cats.

Most of these claims are dismissed as misidentifications, hoaxes or even hallucinations, but not in this case.

In 1903, the unusual cat was donated to the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. The museum's records state that it had been shot after attacking and killing two dogs close to Newton Abbot in Devon.

Unsure of exactly what it was, the exotic beast was stuffed, its skeleton preserved, and then the remains were tucked away in the museum's stores.

More than a century later, the cat was unearthed by a scientist who thought the find might be significant.

Posted Image
Some of the cat's teeth were missing, which suggested that it had been in captivity at some point

An analysis of the skeleton and mounted skin revealed that the animal was a Canadian lynx, which is about the size of a dog and usually found in Canada and the northern states of the US.

The researchers found that the animal's teeth were badly decayed.

Dr Barnett said: "We think it had probably been in captivity at some point in its life.

"It had lost all of its incisors, which would have been a pretty debilitating injury for a wild cat, but not a problem for one in captivity.

"It also had massive amounts of plaque on its molars, which are indication of it not having a wild diet - something with lots of wet cat food, essentially ready-processed meat like steaks."

The researchers believe that the lynx had been in captivity for some time, but they were unable to find any records of the cat's owner.

"Was it someone's pet? Was it part of a small menagerie that was travelling through the area? There aren't really any zoos nearby where it could have escaped from," Dr Barnett said.

The team is also unsure how long the animal had been at large in Devon before it was killed.

Its decayed teeth would have limited its chances in the wild, but the lynx is an adaptable animal, and may have been able to survive by preying on small mammals.

Felicity the Puma

While many big cat sightings remain unverified, sometimes the rumours do turn out to be true, and the team believes that the Canadian lynx is the earliest recorded example of an exotic cat on the loose in the UK.

Another case relates to a live puma that was captured in Inverness-shire in 1980 and had been living in the wild for a long period of time. It was called Felicity, and placed in a zoo.

But Dr Barnett said that these cases were few and far between.

He said: "It's all very good saying you saw a lion in Essex or a tiger in Shropshire, or wherever. But it is very difficult to estimate size of a species from a distance - especially if you are unfamiliar with them.

"So I would argue for continued scepticism, unless you have a body or specimen you can analyse."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22263874
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da pink
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http://www.thenaturalstuff.co.uk/bigcat2/

This site appears to have a lot of photographic evidence of tracks and scat, also lots of "big cat kills" - only I don't know if what I'm looking at is what the site says it is.....can anyone with a more specialised knowledge of cats give their thoughts.

The fella also claims to have hair from both puma and leopard. He also makes some interesting points (that crop up often) regarding hybridisation. Again, any thoughts?
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k9boy
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I posted this earlier, but i'll post it again incase any of you missed it. This is IMO solid proof that wild cats are out there : http://scotcats.online.fr/abc/photoalbum/westwalessheepkill.html
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da pink
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If it really interests you K9boy...... i recomend this book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Big-Cats-Facing-Britains-Predators/dp/1849950423/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366894052&sr=8-1&keywords=rick+minter+big+cats+in+britain

Prior to reading I wanted to believe, after reading it it was kind of hard to argue against
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da pink
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k9boy
Apr 25 2013, 10:09 PM
I posted this earlier, but i'll post it again incase any of you missed it. This is IMO solid proof that wild cats are out there : http://scotcats.online.fr/abc/photoalbum/westwalessheepkill.html
Yeah, I agree. Exciting isn't it? What species do you lean to?
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da pink
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da pink
Apr 25 2013, 09:32 PM
http://www.thenaturalstuff.co.uk/bigcat2/

This site appears to have a lot of photographic evidence of tracks and scat, also lots of "big cat kills" - only I don't know if what I'm looking at is what the site says it is.....can anyone with a more specialised knowledge of cats give their thoughts.

The fella also claims to have hair from both puma and leopard. He also makes some interesting points (that crop up often) regarding hybridisation. Again, any thoughts?


bump

any cat enthusiasts want to cast their eye over the pics and tell me what they say (it's hard comparing on google images)
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maestro tomberi
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This a perfect situation where I see mirrored the time when it was loudly said there were caught also big cats; concreting black panthers, in Spain. Porcine "pata negra" cattle presented the characteristic clean bites as well, so given the national fauna discard, as wolves are the main big predators (and brown bears live only here in Asturias and even less in the Pyrenees) it was easy to guess it was a big cat, which was man-introduced, and that it's also factible there might be more of them roaming in the forests...
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da pink
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You'll have native Lynx there won't you? Could it have been that?

(And where's my seasoned pork produce?)
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maestro tomberi
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An Iberian Lynx, unlike a black panther, would have a hardcore task to take down a pig, and tif would ever happen (a 12 kgs cat against a ± 100 kgs pig). Also, there are very few of them abd they're a protected species; meaning, they live in protected spaces being forbidden cattle settlements.

Áfor the cured meat, keep waiting lol
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da pink
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I didnt realise the size difference between iberian and eurasian lynx. All the "evidence" for a breeding population appears to be here too.....but there's still a tiny bit of me that can't quite beleive it.

nice - i take this to mean it's already in the post. You're a proper gent, Maestro, this won't be forgotten
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maestro tomberi
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Luckily, the population of Iberian Lynx is slowly growing, but there are still only a little more than two hundred of them. As one of the most threatened felines on earth, the supervision over hem is constant. That's also why it has been known that cub fighting games is the main mortality factor of this subspecies, above roadkills.

Make sure I can't send you a lot. Tolls are very strict with pork ;)
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