http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfo ... 358759.stm
Reward offered to catch 'beast'
Farmers claim the creature looked like a black panther
A £5,000 reward has been offered for the capture of a "big cat" which has been terrorising a farming community.
The so-called "Beast of Burford" has been spotted prowling near farms and has killed several sheep in west Oxfordshire, according to farmers.
Foxbury farmer Colin Dawes told the BBC he saw the "large black cat" running away after killing three of his sheep.
Cotswold Wildlife Park has now offered to pay £5,000 to anyone who can capture the creature alive.
Mr Dawes told the BBC News website said: "The sheep were killed with the typical big cat hunting technique.
"It grabs them by the throat, strangles them and then rips out their throat before taking away the front shoulder."
He said his neighbour saw the big cat on the Westwell to Burford Road two weeks ago.
Pc Ray Hamilton, wildlife crime officer at Thames Valley Police, admitted there had been several sightings - but said this was not unusual.
"We've had sightings of everything you could imagine - pink flamingos, lions, dingos, wolves and even a giant ant-eater in Pangbourne.
"I keep an open mind, I have to, but I do think people mis-identify things.
"Something is killing sheep. I don't know what that is, but there is a possibility there's something out there, an animal that shouldn't be there, but I don't have any proof."
Antelope killed
Reggie Heyworth, director of Cotswold Wildlife Park, said the big cat definitely did not escape from the park.
He believes it is more likely the cat was released into the wild by someone who was keeping it illegally.
"In January an antelope at the park was killed and partially eaten," he said.
"The keepers, who have lots of experience with such animals, were convinced it had been killed by a large wild cat."
Mr Heyworth wants to put the creature in his wildlife park and has offered a reward for its capture.
(c) bbc 05
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4356437.stm
Cyclist's meeting with 'big cat'
A cyclist has claimed he saw a "big cat" in an area of west Wales which has become notorious for sightings of unidentified large felines.
Dixie Tilley, from Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, was cycling along roads near the town when he saw what looked like a black panther.
He said he got within 40 yards of the animal and got a good look at it before it disappeared under a fence.
In the past, the Welsh assembly government has investigated sightings.
Mr Tilley told BBC Radio Wales he was cycling along a bike track when he saw the animal coming towards him.
"I though, oh that's a big dog. I was cycling quite quietly, then it saw me and went under the fence. It sort of loped across the field and I thought, that's not a dog," he said.
"I could see by the shape of its tail. We've got a cat at home and it's just like it, only this is 20, 30 times bigger. But it seemed to cover lots of ground, then it sort of disappeared."
'Shiny'
He saw some people a few minutes later and mentioned it to them. They told him there had been one spotted about a year earlier in the area.
"It was jet black and it was really, really shiny. It was bigger than an Alsatian but longer.
"If you see a cat, their back is flat and their head is low. A dog is more upright and a tail is swishing.
"I don't know much about them really. I've seen these stories in the paper and I've always taken it with a pinch of salt really, but having seen it, it's wonderful.
"It was out of the blue - a minute, minute and a half and it was gone. It would be nice to see it again."
In September, a family captured a black cat-like creature on film creeping through undergrowth near Welshpool.
A Welsh Assembly Government investigation concluded that the animal was just a domestic pet, but big cat experts were keeping an open mind.
Fears of wild big cats such as pumas and panthers roaming mid and west Wales have circulated since the 1970s, including sightings of the so-called "Beast of Bont" in north Ceredigion.
A expert was called in to investigate a suspected big cat attack on a Welsh lamb at Talsarn, near Lampeter.
Officials also spent time investigating an alleged attack at a farm in Llangadog, Carmarthenshire, in January 2003, after a dog was killed.
However, in that case, tests showed the attacker was another dog, although the breed could not be established.
(c) bbc 05
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