Lion on the loose in Essex

With the quality of even the cheapest of digital cameras and camera phones these days it never ceases to amaze how people always manage to capture such blurry photographs of "big cats on the loose" and there is never anything near by to compare them with for a sense of scale! Coincidence?

If it is an escapee it will be starting to get hungry, being a "tame" animal its first attempt at getting food will be to approach a human, not to kill it and eat it, but in the expectation of being handed a steak or a chicken. So I would think if it was genuine it will be showing up very shortly at somebodies back door :)
 
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Vulpes said:
I thought Santago was disbanded after the demise of Pete James, the owner?
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Yes, that right. Peter was the Stud Book holder and as such most of the Leopards at Santago were Stud Book registered in order that good genetic breeding was assured for them.
 
Brum said:
It makes sense if they are retired or over-represented, I can see how they entered private hands. But snow leopards and clouded leopards don't seem any where near as populous in UK collections but are relatively abundant privately
I know this is old data but as far as I can work out the numbers of the two species in private hands is comparable to the amount on public display in the UK. Is this an accurate summary? Also would this data class places like WHF, Heythrop and the RSCC as private holders? After all, they aren't zoo's but do have open days! :confused:

Sorry for all the questions but I'm intrigued!
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Only Heythrop would be classed as a private collection on that list,As I'm not sure how old the list is WHF could be included,on the list but it would be back when it was owned by Born Free!!!!
 
In defence of all Essex people, the couple that actually spotted the 'lion' were on holiday from Lincolnshire and not from Essex, lol.
 
zoogiraffe said:
Only Heythrop would be classed as a private collection on that list,As I'm not sure how old the list is WHF could be included,on the list but it would be back when it was owned by Born Free!!!!
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I'd completely forgot that the RSCC was open to the public back then.
WHF was owned by Born Free? I'd heard that but didn't actually think it was true, especially given the starkness of the enclosures! (And that's being polite!) What about their ethos of not keeping animals in captivity let alone in basic cages with a couple of logs????
 
That story has no more credibility than any of the others. I'd still say theres a possibility of the animal being a lynx, however it is of course very possible it was a domestic cat, only its pointless for the press to then name the individual in question.

I'm particularly irritated by most of the other press reports stating the animal was more likely to be a large domestic cat or a wildcat', as if wildcats exist in Southern England, and look that pale in colour.
 
This story is still running in the Media four days after the initial 'sighting'. Maybe there isn't much other news about but its unusual for it to run so long given there seems to be no foundation.
 
johnstoni. said:
That story has no more credibility than any of the others. I'd still say theres a possibility of the animal being a lynx, however it is of course very possible it was a domestic cat, only its pointless for the press to then name the individual in question.

I'm particularly irritated by most of the other press reports stating the animal was more likely to be a large domestic cat or a wildcat', as if wildcats exist in Southern England, and look that pale in colour.
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A wild cat I would expect is a media take on a large feral cat, or a moggie that has gone "wild"

It is just as likly to an actual wild cat as a lynx!

I think if it was a big cat it would have been seen again by now or approached someone to be fed.
 
Brum said:
I'd completely forgot that the RSCC was open to the public back then.
WHF was owned by Born Free? I'd heard that but didn't actually think it was true, especially given the starkness of the enclosures! (And that's being polite!) What about their ethos of not keeping animals in captivity let alone in basic cages with a couple of logs????
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Having been shown pictures of the place before WHF,took the place over,if I had given money to save the Born free Cats held there I would have been asking what i was saving them from,as if any zoo had been holding them in such poor conditions,Born free would have been campaigning for them to be rescued.Just for the record the pictures I saw were taken on the first day of WHF,ownership of the site and were taken by somebody who was very much involved with setting up WHF.Just as an aside Born Free were actually tenants of WHF for atleast 3 months before they moved the cats to some where in Southern Africa.
 
I agree- the 'Panda' is the best one- almost good enough to be the genuine thing!:rolleyes:

The original blurry shot of the 'Lion' is clearly the same shape/head shape/colour as the pale long-haired cat shown with its lady owner later. See my original observation on Page 2 of this thread, made before these other photos appeared.:)
 
zoogiraffe said:
Having been shown pictures of the place before WHF,took the place over,if I had given money to save the Born free Cats held there I would have been asking what i was saving them from,as if any zoo had been holding them in such poor conditions,Born free would have been campaigning for them to be rescued.Just for the record the pictures I saw were taken on the first day of WHF,ownership of the site and were taken by somebody who was very much involved with setting up WHF.Just as an aside Born Free were actually tenants of WHF for atleast 3 months before they moved the cats to some where in Southern Africa.
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Now, interestingly ... the entire relocation of Born Free wild cats from undetermined sources in captivity to S.Africa has met with the most vehement - and in my mind correctly - criticism that it is not in the interest of any real species conservation programmes nor does it serve the animal welfare prospects of the captives BF manages ... :eek: :D
 
TARZAN said:
Regarding Colchester Zoo's involvment in this case, ALL publicity is GOOD publicity:)
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It is for the Zoo, but I'm rather surprised anyone who has any experience of Big cats there should have identified it (or suggested it might be) anything other than a Domestic cat. Admittedly there is nothing in the original photo to give scale or a clue to size but IMO the outline is very easy to place. Better to be safe than sorry of course but a lot of Police time could have been saved if someone had told them definitively- 'that is a Domestic Cat'.
 
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