Alien Big Cats ('ABCs')

[Paul_Exeter]

A decent big cat report from Bream on the edge of the Forest of Dean and reported to a local wildlife enthusiast:

"She said: “I watched and it was playing in the grass and pouncing. It must have found a mouse or something to play with.

“It looked at me, and I thought then it was a panther. It has piercing eyes and they were very much a feature of the face.”

A man was near walking his dog along the path. She decided to ask him to have a look at the animal she had seen.

She said: “I spoke to the man and asked him to come and have a look at the animal and to see if it was a big cat or if I was going mad. He was like okay yes let us go have a look.

“When we had then got to the gate, and he swore and then said ‘its a big cat’. Before he was a little dismissive, then we both watched it walk away into another field."

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/local-news/big-cat-huge-swishing-tail-9172106

 

[Druk]

 

[gordonrutter]

What were the results? Sorry, I haven't read this month's edition yet and it might take me a while to get round to it.

I know that humans are notoriously bad at estimating size.

That experiment is not in the article and checking with Charles the results have never been published but basically people are crap at size estimations.

 

[brownmane]

A decent big cat report from Bream on the edge of the Forest of Dean and reported to a local wildlife enthusiast:

"She said: “I watched and it was playing in the grass and pouncing. It must have found a mouse or something to play with.

“It looked at me, and I thought then it was a panther. It has piercing eyes and they were very much a feature of the face.”

A man was near walking his dog along the path. She decided to ask him to have a look at the animal she had seen.

She said: “I spoke to the man and asked him to come and have a look at the animal and to see if it was a big cat or if I was going mad. He was like okay yes let us go have a look.

“When we had then got to the gate, and he swore and then said ‘its a big cat’. Before he was a little dismissive, then we both watched it walk away into another field."

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/local-news/big-cat-huge-swishing-tail-9172106

Agghh. This is so annoying. No picture, she wishes to remain anonymous and doesn't have the other person's name.

 

[brownmane]

View attachment 75249View attachment 75250

Anyone near to this rescue agency? I would love if one of us could verify it. For some reason, the picture looks odd. It might be the juxtaposition of small food bowls (it is a swan enclosure) with the large cat.

It is also April 1st. A charity fundraising joke?

It would be interesting if they have a follow up story when it is transferred to its new habitat.

 

[Druk]

Anyone near to this rescue agency? I would love if one of us could verify it. For some reason, the picture looks odd. It might be the juxtaposition of small food bowls (it is a swan enclosure) with the large cat.

It is also April 1st. A charity fundraising joke?

It would be interesting if they have a follow up story when it is transferred to its new habitat.

It’s an April fools joke

 

[brownmane]

It’s an April fools joke

I did wonder. I actually googled the sanctuary to see if it exists. It does. The story wasn't updated as far as I could see to say April Fools! So there was an inkling of doubt.

 

[Druk]

I did wonder. I actually googled the sanctuary to see if it exists. It does. The story wasn't updated as far as I could see to say April Fools! So there was an inkling of doubt.

There’s a lot of Brit big cat believers we’re probably high-fiveing each other shouting “We KNEW they existed”

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Agghh. This is so annoying. No picture, she wishes to remain anonymous and doesn't have the other person's name.

True, but it was reported to a named individual:

"Big cat enthusiast and wildlife expert, Frank Tunbridge, 76, from Podsmead said: "I had a call from a lady who was on holiday in The Forest of Dean. She told me how in the summer at around 1.30pm - 2pm, as she was walking along a road adjacent to a church and churchyard."

... and he has a contact address:

https://find-and-update.company-inf...cers/LlbDIY-SyFOY3BcrdQoi5TLlrQ8/appointments

So a bit more credible than an anonymous Reddit post

 

[Eyespy]

I did wonder. I actually googled the sanctuary to see if it exists. It does. The story wasn't updated as far as I could see to say April Fools! So there was an inkling of doubt.

Initially I was really excited, knew it was the ultimate proof, then I looked again and it’s a bit iffy, possibly a stuffed toy.

 

[brownmane]

Initially I was really excited, knew it was the ultimate proof, then I looked again and it’s a bit iffy, possibly a stuffed toy.

The cat looks real to me (the eyes). It might have been photo-shopped.

 

[Stillill]

The cat looks real to me (the eyes). It might have been photo-shopped.

Definitely a real animal photo-shopped. You can see the spots showing through,I doubt you’d get that level of detail on a stuffed toy.

 

[Druk]

If that cat was found as an RTA in the UK every bic cat "expert" in the land would have been discussing it somewhere in the media, the report is a fake

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Blob crosses field and is declared a big cat by expert:

https://www.coasttocoastam.com/article/watch-panther-filmed-crossing-field-in-england/

Also here:

In those paw prints you can see the claws which to the best of my knowledge means it was a dog as big cats don't leave claw imprints

 

[Lord Lucan]

ABC Filmed near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
We do get massive feral cats here, so it's most likely one, however there are plenty of areas (including where I live) that have many sightings & stories of ABC's going back decades, that may lend some credibility.

Incredible footage shows 'black panther' bounding through Aussie farm​

A video showing a massive black cat running through the long grass has been watched over 1.2 million times. We spoke to the man behind the camera.​

An Aussie prospector made a surprise discovery near the historic mining town of Ballarat. But it wasn’t a nugget of gold that Angus James stumbled upon last Sunday, but rather what some believe was a "black panther" bounding through the long grass.

“I was metal detecting when I saw the blackness in the paddock. Whatever it was, was quite a big cat of some sort, maybe it had just been eating lots of farmyard mice. But it was moving in a straight line and it had a very heavy run,” the 40-year-old father told Yahoo News.

Since James uploaded the footage to his Gold Coins and Relics Australia social media account the footage has been viewed over 1.2 million times. The slow-motion one minute clip shows what appears to be a large black cat running in front of grain silos and tall trees.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/incredible-footage-shows-black-panther-bounding-through-aussie-farm-061912581.html

 

[brownmane]

ABC Filmed near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
We do get massive feral cats here, so it's most likely one, however there are plenty of areas (including where I live) that have many sightings & stories of ABC's going back decades, that may lend some credibility.

Incredible footage shows 'black panther' bounding through Aussie farm​

https://au.news.yahoo.com/incredible-footage-shows-black-panther-bounding-through-aussie-farm-061912581.html

Wow that is large. I'm going by the height of the grasses at the fence. And the distance and speed it is moving.

 

[Druk]

https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/big-cat-british-countryside

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Breaking News:

"The DNA of a big cat in the Panthera genus – probably a leopard – has been identified from a swab taken from a dead sheep in the Lake District.
This is the first time that big cat DNA has been found on a carcass in the UK. The analysis was carried out at a laboratory at the University of Warwick run by Prof Robin Allaby.

Allaby told BBC Wildlife that it was very hard to lift DNA from swabs taken from carcasses but there was no doubt in this case. “It makes me a convert [to the existence of non-native big cats in the UK],” Allaby said. “Until now, I have remained open-minded, I think that’s my job as a scientist.”"

https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/big-cat-british-countryside

 

[Druk]

Breaking News:

"The DNA of a big cat in the Panthera genus – probably a leopard – has been identified from a swab taken from a dead sheep in the Lake District.
This is the first time that big cat DNA has been found on a carcass in the UK. The analysis was carried out at a laboratory at the University of Warwick run by Prof Robin Allaby.

Allaby told BBC Wildlife that it was very hard to lift DNA from swabs taken from carcasses but there was no doubt in this case. “It makes me a convert [to the existence of non-native big cats in the UK],” Allaby said. “Until now, I have remained open-minded, I think that’s my job as a scientist.”"

https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/big-cat-british-countryside

The lady who collected the DNA saw the big cat leave the sheep carcass,she has ran a big cat Facebook group for 8 or more years,a number of big cat sightings under her belt,and hunts for big cats with a drone and thermal sight,not exactly impartial,I would be checking to see if she had visited any zoos lately.

 

[Yithian]

https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/big-cat-british-countryside

Your contributions are very welcome here, but please don't post 'bare links'.

Ideally, copy some preview text, but failing that, a sentence or two saying what's on offer at the site, please.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

To be clear, this is NOT evidence for a breeding population of big cats in the UK, it could very well have been dumped by owners who couldn't cope:

"In Britain, the numbers are substantially lower, but it is still technically legal to keep a pet tiger at home. There are currently around 200 wild cats and 50 big cats licensed to be kept privately, including four tigers in Lincolnshire, three cheetahs in Cumbria and six clouded leopards in Cornwall. The same 2017 survey from the Born Free Foundation revealed a jaw-dropping 4825 dangerous wild animal licences across 136 UK local authorities in total.

Under the UK’s Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 & 1984, every creature classed as a dangerous wild animal has to be licensed with the relevant local authority.

“The situation in the UK is bizarre,” says Dr Chris Draper, head of animal welfare and captivity at the Born Free Foundation. “I don’t think a lot of people know that you can have these animals in theory. The only limiting factor is availability, because if you’re very keen on getting a puma and you’re able to find one, there’s very little that local licensing authorities can do to stop you.”"

https://theface.com/society/tiger-king-uk-big-cat-exotic-animals-conservation

Or smuggled in and dumped, for example:

"A new investigation from LAV has revealed that Italy is a leader in Europe in the trade and breeding of tigers, with an estimate of 85% of the existing big cats on the continent."

https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/news/investigation-hidden-trade-tigers-italy

If you can get people across the channel illegally you can also get a big cat cub across and no doubt make a hefty profit.

 

[Druk]

To be clear, this is NOT evidence for a breeding population of big cats in the UK, it could very well have been dumped by owners who couldn't cope:

"In Britain, the numbers are substantially lower, but it is still technically legal to keep a pet tiger at home. There are currently around 200 wild cats and 50 big cats licensed to be kept privately, including four tigers in Lincolnshire, three cheetahs in Cumbria and six clouded leopards in Cornwall. The same 2017 survey from the Born Free Foundation revealed a jaw-dropping 4825 dangerous wild animal licences across 136 UK local authorities in total.

Under the UK’s Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 & 1984, every creature classed as a dangerous wild animal has to be licensed with the relevant local authority.

“The situation in the UK is bizarre,” says Dr Chris Draper, head of animal welfare and captivity at the Born Free Foundation. “I don’t think a lot of people know that you can have these animals in theory. The only limiting factor is availability, because if you’re very keen on getting a puma and you’re able to find one, there’s very little that local licensing authorities can do to stop you.”"

https://theface.com/society/tiger-king-uk-big-cat-exotic-animals-conservation

Or smuggled in and dumped, for example:

"A new investigation from LAV has revealed that Italy is a leader in Europe in the trade and breeding of tigers, with an estimate of 85% of the existing big cats on the continent."

https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/news/investigation-hidden-trade-tigers-italy

If you can get people across the channel illegally you can also get a big cat cub across and no doubt make a hefty profit.

You can certainly get people across the channel but a tiger would be a whole lot more difficult than a RIB full of illegals.

 

[Robin]

I've just remembered that I said a while ago that I'd give some more details about the 2 big cat sightings that I believe I've had. The first one was in the early '90s when we were renting a lovely house near Ilsington (Just south of Haytor, on the edge of Dartmoor). Our local was the Rock Inn and to get to it we used to walk through a couple of small fields and then make our way up a wooded valley, not very far really, past a farm called Smallacombe if I remember rightly. We had 2 cats then (a brother and sister) and they used to follow us across the 2 fields and then make their own way back. On summer evenings when the grass was very long you could only tell where they were by the tops of the grass waving where they were walking.

Anyway, one weekend morning I got up early and went for a walk along there and when I reached the trees that went up towards the Inn I was half way along the path when I decided to turn left down another track to see where that went. Almost as soon as I had turned off along there I saw, just a few feet ahead of me, a creature that my mind told me was a fox but I could see instantly that it wasn't, no doubt about it. It was tawny coloured with a long tail that curved down then up again. I only saw it for maybe 10 to 15 seconds, but it wasn't that far away and was walking way from me, completely unconcerned by my presence. The track went around to the right at that point and it sauntered around to the right and was obscured by a bush.

Realizing what I'd just seen I jogged the few feet along the track and around the bush just a few seconds behind it only to find that it had gone. The trees ended there and there was a bit of a field but there were plenty of places where it could have veered off and disappeared.

I couldn't believe it and when I got back I woke my partner up to tell her what I'd seen. Later, I was looking at some photos of big cats and I saw one of a mountain lion (puma) which looked very similar to what I saw.

I'll post details of the second sighting next time, which was in Somerset.

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Was Hannah Twynnoy Killed by a Tiger in England in 1703? A Historical Sociological Approach
Abastrct:

This paper approaches globalization through the lens of folk lore, myth, and John Law's hopeful monsters, focusing on Hannah Twynnoy, a woman allegedly killed by a tiger in Malmesbury (England) in 1703. Hannah's death was taken up three hundred years later as a metaphor for globalization when local factory jobs were relocated to a ‘tiger economy’ (Malaysia). Taken to manifest Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury's ‘state of nature’, Hannah's story also illustrates the reverse. Globalization can fragment and deregulate, but globalization assembles and regulates to. Hannah's gravestone and burial records blend real and virtual, local, and global; the genealogy of ‘tigers’ challenges Michel Foucault; and questions regarding blame echo across centuries, in ongoing conflict over agency and causation (as per Edmund Evans). Is globalisation a ‘jungle out there’? No. Local factory jobs did go. Nevertheless, sustaining global intellectual property regulation means the company employs more people in Malmesbury today than before manufacturing relocated. After it was announced that local jobs would be ‘eaten up’ by a ‘tiger economy’, a spate of alien big cat (ABC) sightings near Malmesbury did express what Susan Lepselter calls the inchoate injuries of class and power. Indeed, experiencing such fabulous things did resonate with something real.
Source: David, M. (2024). Was Hannah Twynnoy Killed by a Tiger in England in 1703? A Historical Sociological Approach. Sociology Lens​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Alien Big Cat Sightings in Britain: A Possible Rumour Legend?
Overview:

Britain´s largest native carnivore averages 853mm in length and a little over 10 kg in weight. 1 It is Meles meles, the well-known and inoffensive badger; our islands have had contact with no more formidable indigenous predator since the extinction of the wolf, Canis lupus, some three hundred years ago. But these zoological truisms seem to be contradicted by a wealth of newspaper reports which affirm that our country hosts surprisingly high numbers of pumas, 'panthers', lynxes and other fittingly-named 'alien big cats': a media phenomenon which has displayed fluctuating yet durable vitality over the past two decades without receiving much by way of critical examination. From whence are these exotic animals supposed to have come?​

Source:Goss, Michael. “Alien Big Cat Sightings in Britain: A Possible Rumour Legend?” Folklore, vol. 103, no. 2, 1992, pp. 184–202.

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Here be Dragons? No, big cats! Predator symbolism in rural West Wales
Overview:
This article is based on information derived from two fieldwork projects investigating human interactions with non-human predators. Most of the material was collected during an extended period of research in rural Ceredigion, West Wales, between 2001 and 2008. However, comparative material was obtained during a brief stint of fieldwork in Southern Africa during 2008. This recent research was concerned primarily with investigating the conservation programmes implemented by wildlife sanctuaries and reserves, but discussions with rangers on the problematic nature of leopards (Panthera pardus pardus) threw up information which added another dimension to findings from the Welsh context, where the primary focus of research has been mounted fox hunting.

Source:Hurn, Samantha (2009). Here be Dragons? No, big cats! Predator symbolism in rural West Wales. Anthropology Today, 25(1), 6–11.​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Appearances of Beasts and Mystery-Cats in France
Overview:
The research presented here corresponds to a study of media and fieldwork conducted in 1989-1990. It extends my research concerning Viper-Release Stories started at the end of 1987.' Its aim is the description, analysis and interpretation o appearances of unknown beasts and mystery cats in France, taking their factual and symbolic dimensions into account. These appearances are linked to social resistance towards the new French policies of nature conservation insofar s these policie lead to measures affecting sensitive wildlife animal species.

Source: Campion-Vincent, Véronique. “Appearances of Beasts and Mystery-Cats in France.” Folklore, vol. 103, no. 2, 1992, pp. 160–83​

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Alien Big Cat Sightings in Britain: A Possible Rumour Legend?
Overview:

Britain´s largest native carnivore averages 853mm in length and a little over 10 kg in weight. 1 It is Meles meles, the well-known and inoffensive badger; our islands have had contact with no more formidable indigenous predator since the extinction of the wolf, Canis lupus, some three hundred years ago. But these zoological truisms seem to be contradicted by a wealth of newspaper reports which affirm that our country hosts surprisingly high numbers of pumas, 'panthers', lynxes and other fittingly-named 'alien big cats': a media phenomenon which has displayed fluctuating yet durable vitality over the past two decades without receiving much by way of critical examination. From whence are these exotic animals supposed to have come?​

Source:Goss, Michael. “Alien Big Cat Sightings in Britain: A Possible Rumour Legend?” Folklore, vol. 103, no. 2, 1992, pp. 184–202.

Interesting as it explores the folkloric role this big cats have assumed following all the media hype and sightings etc and yet doesn't preclude escapees

 

[Paul_Exeter]

I've just remembered that I said a while ago that I'd give some more details about the 2 big cat sightings that I believe I've had. The first one was in the early '90s when we were renting a lovely house near Ilsington (Just south of Haytor, on the edge of Dartmoor). Our local was the Rock Inn and to get to it we used to walk through a couple of small fields and then make our way up a wooded valley, not very far really, past a farm called Smallacombe if I remember rightly. We had 2 cats then (a brother and sister) and they used to follow us across the 2 fields and then make their own way back. On summer evenings when the grass was very long you could only tell where they were by the tops of the grass waving where they were walking.

Anyway, one weekend morning I got up early and went for a walk along there and when I reached the trees that went up towards the Inn I was half way along the path when I decided to turn left down another track to see where that went. Almost as soon as I had turned off along there I saw, just a few feet ahead of me, a creature that my mind told me was a fox but I could see instantly that it wasn't, no doubt about it. It was tawny coloured with a long tail that curved down then up again. I only saw it for maybe 10 to 15 seconds, but it wasn't that far away and was walking way from me, completely unconcerned by my presence. The track went around to the right at that point and it sauntered around to the right and was obscured by a bush.

Realizing what I'd just seen I jogged the few feet along the track and around the bush just a few seconds behind it only to find that it had gone. The trees ended there and there was a bit of a field but there were plenty of places where it could have veered off and disappeared.

I couldn't believe it and when I got back I woke my partner up to tell her what I'd seen. Later, I was looking at some photos of big cats and I saw one of a mountain lion (puma) which looked very similar to what I saw.

I'll post details of the second sighting next time, which was in Somerset.

Great account and from a great location.

I didn't know about how cats will walk long distances with you until I rented a cottage on a farm near Doccombe on Dartmoor and two farm cats would walk through the fields with me, mewing loudly if they lost sight of me due to high grass. They were pretty fearless and watched them staling a fox once until it snarled at them.

There was the Dartmoor lion panic of the late-90s that saw the police involved:

ARMED police with tracker dogs are hunting a lion on the edge of Dartmoor. Last night (Nov 19), police warned locals to stay indoors and not walk dogs. One expert said: "If it is cold and hungry it is going to look for food." The alarm was sounded by 42-year-old Paul Gourley who said he spotted the big cat, which had a bloody mane, after dropping his children off at school yesterday. It fled when his van came within 20 yards and jumped through a hedge, vanishing into fields. As the hunt began a six-inch diameter paw print was found in a muddy field a few yards from houses at Wrangaton near Ivybridge. Asked if he could have been mistaken, Mr Gourley said: "I know a lion when I see one. It was tawny in colour and very big."

http://scotcats.online.fr/abc/attacks/dartmoorlions.html

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Interesting as it explores the folkloric role this big cats have assumed following all the media hype and sightings etc and yet doesn't preclude escapees

I agree with you that it is a very interesting approach to the topic. The idea of exploring local folklore is always an important support to know the event in a more global way.