Alien Big Cats ('ABCs')

[Min Bannister]

There was a piece on ABCs on the Today Programme this morning which surely elevates the subject to a higher level of mainstream acceptability!

 

[Sthenno]

Something just now on radio one as well.
Didn't catch much, but there was something about a footprint.
Damn talkative workmates.

 

[bigsmegger]

I saw a large cat today! Black, about 3' long. It ran across the road and into hedges at the side of the road. How big do domestic cats grow? This looked like a regular cat, but bigger.

If anyone's interested, it was on the A508 between Roade and Milton Keynes.

 

[gordonrutter]

BBC Breakfast news had some ABC stuff including an interview with Danny Bampling

Gordon

 

[Rrose_Selavy]

Talking of mainstream, I didn't see it but I hope none of these "big cats" were featured on "Fat Pets" on Channel Four last night.









I'll get me coat.

-

 

[James_H]

And on radio one "newsbeat" this evening. But I missed it.

 

[Graylien]

This appeared in my local paper yesterday. As usual in these cases, they went to Danny Bampling rather than the CFZ for comment, and as usual he managed to say something utterly ridiculous. And once again he claimed credit for unmasking the fake panther which was actually unmasked by the Fortean Times.

Big cat sightings on the rise in region

LORNA MARSH

16 March 2006 06:45

Nearly 150 sightings of big cats roaming the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire countryside were reported in just 15 months, according to startling figures released yesterday.

And the research, carried out by the British Big Cats Society (BBCS), suggests reported sightings are increasing.

The BBCS report, to be published in the April issue of BBC Wildlife magazine, reveals that 2123 sightings of big cats in Britain were reported between April 2004 and last July.

Out of those, 54 were in Norfolk, 60 in Suffolk and 34 in Cambridgeshire. Details of exact locations were unavailable.

The article follows several high-profile reports of big cats in the region and makes reference to what has become known as the Beccles lynx, which many believe to be a hoax.

As reported by the EDP a photograph of what appears to be a Northern lynx, shot by a farmer in 1991 near the town, surfaced in 2003 on the BBCS website.

In the BBC Wildlife magazine BBCS founder Danny Bamping, maintains the photo is genuine and that the 59lb adult cat had killed 15 sheep in two weeks.

However Mr Bamping says he has uncovered several 'hoaxes', including a photo of a supposed black panther in Wales printed by two national tabloids last April that turned out to be a full-size black cuddly toy panther.

Mr Bamping said: "This is a good example of how easy it is to produce a hoax.

"This year we have been able to study evidence in greater detail and estimate that just under a third of all reported sightings are not big cats - either people have been mistaken or their reports are too vague.

"There are also those people who insist on reporting the likes of The Pink Panther, Garfield, Top Cat and Simba."

Sophie Stafford, Editor of BBC Wildlife magazine, said: "With fresh new evidence and sightings on the increase, the British Big Cats Society is now tantalisingly close to being able to provide conclusive proof of their presence."

The BBCS hopes for national support, in particular the police and the Department for the Enviroment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), saying some regional police forces are taking a keen interest.

In Norfolk, dedicated wildlife officers deal with any reported sightings within their designated areas.

But a Defra spokesman said it did not believe big cats were living in the wild in England.

The South West was the top region for sightings, with Devon the number one county on 132 sightings. Cornwall and Somerset were in the top 10. Scotland came in third with Wales fourth.

source

 

[oll_lewis]

Well it was actully Chris Moisier (who also posts here) who is part of the CFZ writing in ft who unmasked it, danny bamping mearly plagerised the ft article.

 

[Anonymous]

Alien Big Cats

Thanks Oll for mentioning me. I was out of the country when this story broke and only got home last night (Kenya is nice this time of year!)
The situation is as follows with the welsh hoax.
1. When the picture was published in April I immediately contacted the Sun
2. They refused to retract the story because they had had the picture confirmed by an expert (one Mr. Bamping, a toy importer by trade)
3. I complained to the Press Complaints Commission who investigated, but did not uphold the complaint because the Sun had consulted an expert.
Danny Bamping said that they had misquoted him, but would not confirm this tothe Sun, saying that the Sun reporter had apologised to him and that was good enough for him.!!!
4. I then produced a story for Fortean Times, with Paul Crowther, a friend, doing the pictures. When that appeared Danny produced his website story that he had debunked the picture.
5. I then discovered that Danny had given the story to a Welsh newspaper, telling the reported Robin Evans, that I worked for him, and that this was the final report on the matter. He had added some extra details to my original ones, apparently as a result of meeting the photographer.

FOR THE RECORD I have never worked for Mr. Bamping. I was once a member of the BBCS but resigned when I realised what was happening. I have given him a letter before action, as a result of him making up quotes from me when I was a member of the BBCS, and I have subsequently reported him to trading standards, Companies House, Gwent Police and the local rating authorities. If he continues to use my work and pass it off as his own I will also be seeking an injunction against him and exemplary damages. He knows this and continues to act in a manner which might, by some be considered reckless.

 

[Sthenno]

Big cover story in The Western Morning News that a police report has been released detailing the shooting of a lynx in East Anglia.

Nice big shot of Danny Bamping on the cover, him being the only Westcountry-relevant part of the story. He didn't actually have anything to do with uncovering the report. Seems that him commenting on it is enough to make the cover. Wow, they must have been short of stories...

 

[Anonymous]

Alien Big Cat

I have contacted the Western Morning News, pointing out that there is no great story behind the lynx, it is the one that escaped from the Norfolk Wildlife Park, that was shot a few weeks later. The local news at the time apparently carried the story of the escape.

Chris. M.

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

There is an ABC conference looming - any of you guys going? If so fancy filling us in on goingson?

Good article at the Garudian:

Seeing is believing

Sightings of mystery 'big cats' in Britain's countryside have snowballed since the 1980s, dividing opinion about their existence

Merrily Harpur
Wednesday March 22, 2006
The Guardian

Angus, a Warwickshire gamekeeper, went to feed his pheasants in a spinney one afternoon in November 2004 when he surprised an unusual poacher. He recalls: "A black animal emerged with a hen pheasant in its mouth. It recoiled as it saw me and then took off, running down towards the brook. It was hardly more than 6ft away so I had a good look at it. It was definitely a big cat. A black panther - bigger than a Labrador, with a longer body. Its fur was scruffy and muddy. It had a long tail, and pointed ears like a cat - and as it ran the ears went back. I've lived in the country all my life and I've seen everything - foxes, deer, badgers. I know what should be there and what shouldn't."

As it fled it left a footprint, 5in long and 4in wide, in the thick clay which, cast in plaster by the police, became one of many fragments of "hard" evidence for the existence of big cats in the wild in Britain. But while sightings of anomalous big cats (ABCs) have snowballed since the 1980s, investigators are still searching for irrefutable proof: bodies, alive or dead, or unambiguous photos and films.

The absence of "proof" is odd because of the huge scale of the phenomenon. It is estimated that up to 7,000 people a year see panther-like (black) animals, or puma-like (brown) animals at large in the UK, though only about a tenth of these come to light via police, newspapers or websites such as http://www.bigcatsinbritain.org, run by the doyen of ABC research, Mark Fraser. In fact, it seems probable that more Britons have now seen a big cat than have ever seen a pig.

Eyewitnesses come from every walk of life and have one thing in common - their sighting was unexpected. Wiltshire landscape gardener Colin Booth was trimming a hedge when a black, panther-like animal, the size of his own Alsatian, emerged from it. They studied each other from a distance of 20ft before the animal turned and strolled off, leaving Booth stunned.

Lindsay Burnand-Smith was driving near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in January when, she says: "A black big cat ran across the road in front of me. Not a pet cat, dog, horse or anything else - a huge bounding animal, about 4ft in length. There is not a shred of doubt in my mind that I saw a black panther. I was amazed. It took my breath away."

One theory claims such animals are the descendants of pets released into the countryside by their owners in 1976 when the Dangerous Wild Animals Act made it expensive to keep big cats; yet this is unlikely, for three reasons. First, only three people have ever claimed to have deliberately released big cats - it would have to be done on a vast scale for breeding populations to become established all over Britain, including the Isle of Mull. Second, there have been no bodies of big cats found alive or dead, despite intensive hunts over many decades. Third, while about a quarter of animals sighted have plain, sandy brown fur similar to a puma's, the others reported are jet black.

This is the central conundrum, for the only big cat with a rare melanistic (black) variant - popularly termed a "black panther" - is the leopard. A black leopard cost £500 in 1976 - the price of a small car - so there would have been every incentive to sell such an animal rather than release it. Furthermore, while hundreds of these rare black leopards are apparently at large on our island not one of their spotted brothers has ever been reported.

These mysteries divide those researching the nature and provenance of ABCs. The literalists speculate about hybridisation creating black pumas; the possibility of a relict population of native pre-ice age big cats lingering on unnoticed; and some suspect foul play - the captive breeding of big cats for criminal purposes, such as baiting or as "frighteners".

These nuts-and-bolts theorists shake their heads sadly over commentators who tend to place ABCs among the elusive creatures of cryptozoology, or as modern versions of the spectral "black dogs" of English folklore or the cait sith - the fairy cat - of Highland legend. They protest that ABCs are wholly corporeal, citing occasions when they have been seen drinking, eating, crapping, spraying. Mark Hill, for instance, watched one a few feet from his car bonnet as it clawed at and ate from a discarded chip wrapper - something no phantom black dog would be seen dead doing.

Whatever the opinions, a unique event is set to bring all these factions together to discuss, and perhaps throw light on, the big cat mysteries: the British Big Cats Conference. Angus the gamekeeper will be travelling from Warwickshire with the plaster footprint to compare it with others obtained in similar circumstances. Numerous photographs and nearly all the film footage of alleged big cats at large in Britain will be shown - some that have never been made public before.

Whether or not all this evidence will be enough to pin these animals down for sure, the philosophers and psychologists in the gathering will be sure of one thing: the experience of seeing a big cat changes perspectives on ordinary existence. As Burnand-Smith puts it: "Nothing like this has ever happened to me. Before Saturday, I was simply not interested in these sorts of things."

Above all, perhaps, it is the intensity of such experiences that invites deeper investigation. "It was a beautiful creature, and it had a profound effect on me," Booth says. "I will remember it for the rest of my life."


Spotted

Over four decades, the Surrey Puma of the 1960s has been joined by the Exmoor Beast, the Beast of Bodmin, the Fen Tiger, the Beast of Ongar, the Pedmore Panther, the Beast of Gloucester, the Thing from the Ling, the Beast of Borehamwood, the Wrangaton Lion, the Beast of Shap, the Beast of Brentwood, the Lindsey Leopard, the Lincolnshire Lynx, the Wildcat of the Wolds, the Beast of Roslin, the Kilmacolm Big Cat, the Beast of Burford, the Chilterns Lion, the Beast of Castor, the Beast of Sydenham, the Shooters Hill Cheetah, the Beast of Bucks, the Plumstead Panther, the Beast of Bexley, the Beast of Barnet, the Nottingham Lion, the Durham Puma, the Horndon Panther, the Beast of Cricklewood, the Beast of Bont, the Beast of Gobowen ... and many more.

· The British Big Cats Conference takes place on March 24-26, in Market Harborough, Leicestershire. Tickets in advance or at the door. For more information, go to www.harpur.org/conference.htm

http://society.guardian.co.uk/societygu ... 32,00.html

 

[Anonymous]

Alien big cats

Hi,
I shall be talking on the Sunday on travelling menageries, the escapes that occurred and zoos as possible sources of ABCs.
(and signing books if anyone buys them!)
Chris. M.

 

[Niall114]

West Lancs ABC update

The latest from the local press on the West Lancs Big Cat,

Plus plugs for Merrily Harpur's book & conference

Get claws into mystery
Mar 23 2006
Ormskirk Advertiser
THERE actually may be more to West Lancashire's big cat than meets the eye.

Writer Merrily Harpur has made a study of the sighting of mysterious animals all over Britain and comes to some startling conclusions in her new book. Mystery Big Cats details many reports of strange animals - including several from West Lancashire - as she investigates the phenomenon.

Many are just fleeting glances, as in this sighting in Hall Green, Up Holland: "There is a bend near the school and in my headlights I picked up this black cat which looked like a young tiger, except of course it was black ... it was in flight, jumping ..."

Not that the book is merely repetition of similar reports. Ms Harpur explores many avenues as she attempts to explain why so many believe they have seen mysterious cats of one sort or another.

From escapees and creatures dumped over the Dangerous Animals Act, she explores what Britain's countryside could be hiding, from lynx and mountain lion to the familiar black cat, which she believes is not the panther it is generally taken for. There is also tangible evidence of people who have had their clothing - and skin - clawed by large cats.

Could they be ghosts? There are accounts of animals such the foxes which have visited the Viscounts Gormanston whenever one is dying, one account as recent as 1927.

She also poses the question as to whether they are daimons, ancient links between a spirit world and this world.

Whatever your view of West Lancashire's black cat, this book makes fascinating reading and treats the subject in a scientific and serious way. It leaves you convinced there is something out there - but exactly what is left up to the reader.
. Mystery Big Cats by Merrily Harpur is published by Heart of Albion at £16.95.

Key report in BBC magazine
CREDENCE for the big cats cause is given by the BBC, whose April issue of its 'Wildlife' magazine includes a special report.

It says numbers of big cats could be increasing.

The BBCS report reveals 2,123 sightings of big cats were reported between April 2004 and July 2005. The South West again proved a hot-spot for sightings, with Devon, Cornwall and Somerset all featuring in the top 10 big cat locations. Scotland came in third, seeing almost a 50 per cent drop in sightings reported, and was replaced at the top by Devon. Wales was fourth with 123 reported sightings and incidents. Almost 60 per cent of all the sightings reported were of black cats, and 32 per cent were of brown or sandy coloured ones, which the BBCS believes to be pumas. Another six per cent were lynx type cats.

New evidence published includes a skull found by a Devon farmer in July 2005 now identified as that of a puma; three reported attacks on horses; over 35 incidents regarding sheep kills; several confirmed paw prints of which plaster casts were taken; and 17 reports of a big cat with cubs - an increasing trend, which suggests that the animals may be breeding.

The BBCS has also gathered evidence of at least 23 releases of big cats into the wild since the Dangerous Animals Act was passed in 1976, including a panther, pumas, lynxes and a host of exotics including caracals, ocelots and jungle cats.

Police, it says, believe they have conclusive proof a black leopard is roaming wild in Scotland. The big cat has finally been identified by its paw print as an 18-month-old black leopard.

The BBC 'Wildlife' magazine April issue is in newsagents now.

Inaugural conference to be held

THE first national British Big Cats Conference starts tomorrow.

Merrily Harpur's book 'Mystery Big Cats' will be launched there..
And an Advertiser reader can win a copy of it!

The conference is from March 24 to 26, at The Sun Inn Hotel, Marston Trussell, Market Harborough, Leicestershire.

On the 40th anniversary of the first "cat-flap" - the Surrey Puma sightings of 1962-66 - the conference will draw together knowledgeable investigators, interesting eyewitnesses and experts in British big cat research.

There will be distinguished speakers, contributors and participants from all sides of the phenomenon, from eyewitnesses to zoologists, field investigators to philosophers. There will be audiovisual presentations and free showings of British big cat footage, some never made public before

Experts from big cat expeditions will demonstrate equipment including hides, night vision scopes and trip cameras

Tickets for the whole weekend - inclusive of inaugural reception - are £20 in advance, £25 at the door. For further details visit the site [email protected] or telephone 01300 321316.

 

[FelixAntonius]

From todays Biggleswade Chronicle, sorry, I can't find it on their on line edition:-

"Have you seen the 'leopard'?

A very big cat that was described as looking like a small leopard was spotted walking through Shillington at around 5pm last Friday (March 17).

The cat was seen heading in the direction of Meppershall with a small terrier dog.

If the cat belongs to anyone please contact the Chronicle on 01767 224405."

My own thought on the dog was: "Was he lunch?".

 

[Anonymous]

Alien big cats

From the sound of this it is a Bengal cat (a breed of domestic with spots)

 

[oll_lewis]

As Merrily Harper was taken to hospital on Thursday it looked like the conference might have to be cancelled, thankfully though it wasn't as Jon Downes and the CFZ stepped in to save the day and take over Merrily's part of the organising and such like.
As far as I'm aware Merrily is recovering in well in hospital.

As a result I have been the acting director of the CFZ in the Woolfardisworthy centre this weekend, which has been quite fun.

 

[Niall114]

West Lancashire ABC

Another sighting in West Lancashire

West Lancs' Big Cat spotted again

May 18 2006, Ormskirk Advertiser

THE 'Big Cat of West Lancs' has been spotted again.

Colin Horden and his wife Jayne of Booths Lane, Aughton, spotted the beast in fields behind their garden near Holly Lane.

Keen birdwatcher Mr Horden spied the animal through his binoculars.
He originally believed it was a domestic cat but then realised it was too big.

"We couldn't belive it," said Colin. "We were lost for words. I would say the length of it was over three feet long, the tail was probably not far off similar size and it was completely pitch black.
"The ears were pointy and triangular, it was walking along crouching. It was like something you see caged in the zoo.
"I could see its shape so clearly. It was a good few 100 yards away. I was thinking how can I see a house cat that clearly.
"I am not saying it's a panther but if I had to point to something it would be that. It's not lion-sized but it's nowhere near a domestic cat."

Mr Horder contacted the police who sent an officer to take a report.

A police spokesman confirmed: "We were called to attend the sighting of an unusual animal, described as a large cat. The sighting was some distance away and there were no further sightings that day."

This is the fifth sighting of the beast of West Lancs this year. It was last seen in February near Tawd Vale High School but had previously been seen near Ashurst Beacon, Cobbs Clough Lane, Lathom, and St Richards School, Skelmersdale.

* Have you got a photo of the 'Big Cat of West Lancs? ' Send it to [email protected]. or call 01695-587715.

 

[ScoutFinch]

I can't beleive it!! West Lancs! Now I know It was a black cat!!!!!!!! About two weeks ago I came downstairs at exactly 12.30am for a drink and put the light on in the kitchen. I stood there half asleep drinking in silence when I heard an almighty roar. It was a really strange roar though, like a lion when it paces up and down and doesn't do it's roar but makes that funny noise like a cat purring but REALLY lots deeper and in an agressive way with a quiter but still very loud lions roar at the same time. It's hard to explain if I can't do an impression for you! That split second after I heard a screach like something out of a horror movie, it sounded female. I couldn't see anything out of the window because my light was on and I was too scared to turn it off incase it knew I was there.
The place the noise came from is right next to my house and I can clearly hear the footsteps of people walking past. I heard none of the woman/girl who screamed walking to the point of the incident and none away. I honestly thought there would be red tape there in the morning and a murder investigation team.
I told my mum who brought a book called "Alien Animals" over the next day (there was no red tape!) The funny thing was that in it there are accounts of people seeing the animal and hearing it screach like a woman. that made me think maybe there was no frightened woman.
I asked my neighbour if she had heard the scream ( because it was louder than the roar and her bedroom is the opposite side of the house to it) and she said that she did.
I live in North West Lancashire. UpHolland.

 

[Niall114]

Hi Scoutfinch,

Have you contacted the Skem Advertiser? From the stuff they've had so far, activity seems to be centred on the Dalton/Lathom side of the Beacon.

They've reported sightings in

Hall Green, Upholland
Stannanought Road, (Towards Pilkingtons)
Near Tawd Vale High School
Lees Lane, Dalton
Vale Lane, Lathom
Cobbs Clough Lane, Lathom
Harrocks Hill

Of all of them, the Aughton sighting seems least likely to be connected, what with the distance between the main area of the sightings and it.

Please keep us posted.

 

[Niall114]

From today's online Independent

Tiger hunt begins after police are told of two sightings
By Caron Kemp
Published: 24 June 2006
A tiger hunt has begun in North Yorkshire after police received two reports of sightings from members of the public.
The description of the six-foot long tiger is consistent with that of a 12-month-old cub, according to wildlife experts.
Paul Westwood, of Big Cats Monitors, said: "If it is a tiger, when it gets hungry it's going to go for anything that moves. It will be very dangerous."
A farmer and another resident alerted police last Friday to say they had seen the big cat in fields in the Church Fenton area of the county.
Police began a search following the tip-off and phoned local farmers to warn them of the potential danger. The RAF, which already had a plane in the area, were alerted, but there was no sign of the tiger.
Tony Lidgate, a spokesman for North Yorkshire Police, said: "Every year we probably get about a dozen calls from the public about animal sightings, but usually it's panthers or pumas.
"Over the years we've never come across any definite evidence of any big cat. That's not to say they don't exist here, though.
"We would stress that we have no solid evidence that this is a tiger but we advise the public to be vigilant and to report any sightings to us immediately."
Mr Lidgate praised members of the public who alert the police, describing their actions as "responsible". Police but have told local farmers to look out forpaw prints or unusual killings of livestock in the area.
The police have advised the public to not approach any large wild animals they see but to contact officers immediately.

Typical Yorkshiremen, always have to go that bit further than everyone else..

 

[Rrose_Selavy]

Hmm.. no stripes, a creamy fawn colour, "panther -like"

yet it's a "tiger"....

More reports of 'tiger on loose'
More people have come forward to say they have seen a tiger-like creature which is believed could be on the loose in North Yorkshire.
Police alerted local farmers and searched countryside near Tadcaster after a number of sightings.

Tockwith resident Ruth Warren told BBC News she saw a panther-like creature twice while out walking her dog.

She said: "It was absolutely beautiful, very graceful with a long body. I couldn't believe my eyes."

Mrs Warren, who told her husband and work colleagues of the sighting, said she first saw the creature in March and saw it for a second time two weeks ago.

She said: "I didn't report it because I thought nobody was going to believe me."

Train spot

David Ison, of York, said he saw the creature about two weeks ago while on the train to Manchester.

He said: "I was looking out of the window as I do every morning, we were somewhere between York and Garforth - I think it was Church Fenton.

"I was watching what I thought was a large dog, but the way it was jumping - it was more or less pouncing as it ran, lurching from its back legs.

"I was probably about 100 yards away but it looked to be about 4ft or 5ft long. It looked from a distance like it was a creamy, fawn colour; I couldn't determine any stripes, but it was obvious that it was not a dog.

"When I got to my office I told my colleagues what I had seen and there were a few raised eyebrows."



Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/e ... 119216.stm

Published: 2006/06/26 19:55:38 GMT

© BBC MMVI

 

[Graylien]

In the first report I read about this, the animal was described thus:

She described what she saw in bright sunshine from 50 to 100 yards away.

She said it was waist high, about six feet long with an orange coat and thick black stripes.

source

There's also another report in that article of an "orange coloured animal".

In another report the creature is referred to as eithier a lynx or a "Bengal Cat".

 

[Anonymous]

Channel 5 Searching for Scotland's Big Cats.

Channel 5 Searching for Scotland's Big Cats.

Endemol, makers of Big Brother and Ready Steady Cook among many other popular TV shows have set their sights on gaining hard evidence of big cats roaming loose in Scotland.
Scotland has been chosen by Endemol as one of the hotspots in the British Isles, TV naturalist Nick Baker will be hosting the program which will go out over five nights in one hourly shows over a period of one week. Scotland's big cat researcher Mark Fraser of www.scottishbigcats.org has been enlisted to help with finding the most likliest spot in Scotland that will yield photographic evidence of the big cats.
The team will be using state-of-the-art equipment inclusing remote cameras, thermal imaging, camouflaged hides and even a helicopter on stand by if needed.
Errol Etienne, spokesman for Endemols big cat search said: "We will be following leads from members of the public, and we hope people will get involved in the show and keep their eyes peeled.
"The program will be the first of its kind - we will be dedicating weeks to finding these cats."
The TV company are choosing five locations in the British Isles, Devon is one definite location, although Scotland’s venue has yet to be decided upon.
www.scottishbigcats.org based in Ayrshire have recently accessed hundreds of FOI files from police forces and local councils. Shaun Stevens based in Argyll said: “We have uncovered hundreds of previously unreported sightings, it also gave us a surprising insight into just what kind of exotic animals are kept, not only cats!
Sightings in Scotland this year are again on the increase with the majority of reports coming in from Ayrshire, Aberdeenshire, Fife, Borders, Argyllshire, Lothians etc.
The group would like to hear from anyone who has seen a cat no matter how long ago, especially anyone who has photographs or video footage of a large unknown cat, livestock kill, prints etc. Channel 5 are looking for volunteers to man hides and they have published a website exclusively for the show which can be found at http://www.bigcatsearch.co.uk
To report a sighting Mark Fraser can be contacted on 07940 016972 - email [email protected] or log on to the above websites.

 

[Graylien]

Hmm. After the Loch Ness debacle, I'd have thought most cryptozoologists would want to give Channel 5 a wide berth. I expect the programme will climax with an animatronic panther wandering around Glasgow city centre.

 

[Rrose_Selavy]

There's also another report in that article of an "orange coloured animal".

-

 

[stu neville]

Hmm. After the Loch Ness debacle, I'd have thought most cryptozoologists would want to give Channel 5 a wide berth.

Mind you, the Beeb aren't much better. Remember the series in which Chris Packham went in search of cryptids? Bigfoot, Packham announced, can't be there cos there's nothing for it to eat (what exactly all the other big mammals thereabouts live on, he didn't address) and as for the Yeti, he basically concluded that because he hadn't seen them himself, then they couldn't possibly exist. And he was up that mountain all night.

 

[GNC]

I heard on the radio today that a panther had been spotted in Worcestershire, but there's nothing about it online.

 

[rynner2]

FRIENDS 'RAN IN FEAR' AFTER SEEING BIG CAT

11:00 - 11 August 2006
Two friends out walking in the Westcountry said they had to run for their lives after a big cat headed towards them. Mel Roach, 28, from Plymouth was out for an evening stroll on Dartmoor with her friend Ali James, from Okehampton, when they saw the animal on Legis Tor, near Brisworthy. They said they watched from about a quarter of a mile away as it stalked grazing sheep.

As the sheep moved away the cat turned back down the hill towards the walkers. Fearing it might attack them, they rushed back to their car.

Miss Roach and Miss James said they had never seen anything like this before. Miss Roach said she believed it was a large black panther, adding: "I have always believed there was something there but this sighting confirms my belief. We observed the creature for 15 to 20 minutes. It appeared to be stalking some sheep grazing on top of the tor. Although we were some distance away we could ascertain that it was long, more than twice the length of a sheep and several inches to a foot taller. It was completely jet black."

There have been several reports of large cats within two to three miles of this area in recent months.

http://tinyurl.com/k5vsf

 

[Anonymous]

big cats in Devon and Cornwall

We have also had several reports of big cat sightings to the South of Bodmin Moor recently, and in Devon to the South of Okehampton. Many of the locals though are now not reporting them. The reason for this is multiple.
1. The papers do not usually bother in Cornwall "with just another sighting".
2. The police and Defra are not bothered unless there is a suggested domestic livestock kill.
3. Following the Wrangaton Lion incident (1998-9), where there were orders given to police marksmen to kill the animal if they had the chance, many locals would not report it anyway in case they were responsible for the animals death. (For those that do not know policing in these 2 counties is by the same force - "Devon and Cornwall Police")

There are active researchers working in Devon and Cornwall at present who are keeping a moderately low profile and building up some trust with the local farmers. The situation has been slightly complicated though by one (renegade) researcher who is advising people who contact him not to talk to anybody else or let anyone else look at pictures, etc.