Possible big cat kill?

It would be interesting if anyone from the US, or elsewhere (Turkey? Argentina?) who has experience of living with small populations of furtive large cats could pass on their outsider's opinion on the likelihood of the UK having wild big cats running loose.
 
The tests will likely show it was a feral dog. As a cat lover, I am obviously intrigued by the continued reports of big cats in England. But the likelihood of them being true is just a notch below the likelihood that Sasquatch roams the U.S. northwest.

(Speaking of bizarre wildlife sightings - this is totally off topic - but about an hour ago as I was biking home from work, I saw a coyote crossing a very busy intersection at the edge of the University of Arizona, which is in the middle of the city!)
 
Thanks for your thoughts, AD.

I think some conservationists in the UK would like it if there were free-living, viable populations of big cats in the wild. This is because it would help enormously with the task of getting public opinion onside with the re-introduction of extinct native predators, especially the wolf, now absent for 300 odd years in Scotland and maybe 700 in England and Wales. If leopards could be proven to be here and not really impacting on the interests of the public, it would be a lot harder to argue that the wolf would cause significant damage.

But in a well-watched, crowded country like England, where rare birds' whereabouts get plastered onto the web within hours, I find it hard to imagine that populations of pumas or leopards are around. Even lynx aren't that small.
 
Arizona Docent said:
The tests will likely show it was a feral dog.
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A dog would be hard put to catch a Roe Deer, as they are nimble and fast and can easily outrun dogs- unless the deer was trapped in a fence or some other situation where it was disadavantaged and couldn't escape. Whereas of course cats hunt by ambush.

Also the different methods of attack and feeding means that the remains of an animal killed or eaten by dogs will be very different in appearance to one from a big cat kill, which I presume they are taking into account.
 
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Frankly, our woods could do with fewer deer. If lynx were here they'd help keep them down. My point is that this is a country crawling with birders - TBF, less so at night, when cats would be more active.

I'd still expect more stories about free-living lynx/whatever if they were here. After all, the Eagle Owls in the North of England have had quite a bit of publicity.
 
IanRRobinson said:
I'd still expect more stories about free-living lynx/whatever if they were here. After all, the Eagle Owls in the North of England have had quite a bit of publicity.
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Yes, my response above wasn't arguing that it was definately a 'big cat', just pointing out that a dog 'kill' is very different in appearance and they are presumably(?) aware of that in this instance. So what was it? Who knows?;) I'm not sure which side of the fence I come down on regarding the 'big cats in the countryside' debate.
 
Pertinax said:
Yes, my response above wasn't arguing that it was definately a 'big cat', just pointing out that a dog 'kill' is very different in appearance and they are presumably(?) aware of that in this instance. So what was it? Who knows?;) I'm not sure which side of the fence I come down on regarding the 'big cats in the countryside' debate.
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They people investigating are aware of the differences between dog and cat kills and make statements in the video and the written report to confirm this. Casts of footprints were also taken in the wood which suggest it is a cat. Would be very interesting to see what approach they take should it be confirmed there is a wild cat in the area.
 
Mr T said:
Casts of footprints were also taken in the wood which suggest it is a cat. Would be very interesting to see what approach they take should it be confirmed there is a wild cat in the area.
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Unfortunately the angle they filmed/showed the casts on the video doesn't allow you to see/judge them properly. But there is certainly no other suggestion in the video that it is dog-related.

I thought the wind-up piece about a possible connection with Roman times was extremely weak! :D
 
There's been many, many sightings of non-native cats in the area of Northumberland where my girlfriend lives. I'm inclined to believe those who have reported such things, considering that I recall there having been a roadkill lynx just south of Hexham a couple of years ago. It was dismissed as a one-off escapee from someone's private collection, but I wouldn't be surprised if this assumption was premature - there is a LOT of very wild countryside just to the north and the south of the area.
 
In 'We Bought a Zoo' Benjamin Mee mentions spotting puma - he panicked and thought one of his had escaped and he says that when theirs are on heat, wild pumas are attracted off the moors.

I think there are definitely big cats out there. I wonder if it is a policy to keep it secret.
 
Do you think if people were to know the truth that some (not all) would pannick and go out and try and kill the animals for trophies, thus making the countryside even more dangerous with idiots (again not all) with guns all over the place
 
I don't think they will 'panic' but I'm sure there will be people out to shoot them. This of course would make the countryside more dangerous but I think it is more likely that the National Trust may try a live capture for the animal(s).
 
Shirokuma said:
In 'We Bought a Zoo' Benjamin Mee mentions spotting puma - he panicked and thought one of his had escaped and he says that when theirs are on heat, wild pumas are attracted off the moors.

I think there are definitely big cats out there. I wonder if it is a policy to keep it secret.
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Are you referring to the book? I read it when it first came out and I do not remember this.
 
Mee definitely mentioned in the book the "puma" he encountered (from memory he was driving to the zoo and it jumped over or onto a roadside wall?), and I believe he may have made the implication that there were others in the area that were attracted to the captive puma.
 
Chlidonias said:
Mee definitely mentioned in the book the "puma" he encountered (from memory he was driving to the zoo and it jumped over or onto a roadside wall?), and I believe he may have made the implication that there were others in the area that were attracted to the captive puma.
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I'm sure i remember that story from the TV programme about his purchase of the zoo.
 
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