British big cats

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A sign requesting information on big cats in West Sussex.

In British folklore, British big cats, also referred to as ABCs (Alien, or Anomalous, Big Cats), phantom cats and mystery cats, feature in reported sightings of large Felidae in the British countryside. These creatures have been described as "panthers", "pumas" or "black cats".

A fringe theory suggests that the animals may be surviving Ice Age fauna[1] where leopards, scimitar-toothed cats, lions, and lynxs had been found in British Isles. However, the existence of a population of true big cats in Britain, especially a breeding population, is believed to be highly implausible by experts owing to lack of convincing evidence. There have been some incidents of recovered individual animals, often medium-sized species such as the Eurasian lynx, but in one 1980 case a puma was captured alive in Scotland.[2] These are generally believed to have been escaped or released pets that had been held illegally, possibly released after the animals became too difficult to manage.[1] Sightings at a distance may possibly be explicable as domestic cats seen near to a viewer being misinterpreted as larger animals seen farther away.[3][4][5] In his 2013 book Feral, George Monbiot argues that humans are programmed to notice things that might be big cats because of the threat they posed in prehistoric times. Some believe that the introduction of Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 might have resulted in releases of captive animals into the wild.[6]

Reported sightings[]

Documentation[]

The research group Big Cats in Britain publishes reported sightings annually by county. The "top ten" counties or regions of Great Britain between April 2004 and July 2005 were:[7]

Region Devon Yorkshire Scotland Wales Gloucestershire Sussex Cornwall Kent Somerset Leicestershire
Number of sightings 132 127 125 123 104 103 99 92 91 89

First sightings[]

William Cobbett recalled in his Rural Rides how, as a boy in the 1760s, he had seen a cat "as big as a middle-sized Spaniel dog" climb into a hollow elm tree in the grounds of the ruined Waverley Abbey near Farnham in Surrey. Later, in New Brunswick, he saw a "lucifee" (North American lynx – Felis lynx canadensis) "and it seemed to me to be just such a cat as I had seen at Waverley."[8] Another report appeared in the Daily Express on 14 January 1927 of a "lynx" being seen.[citation needed]

The New Forest folktale of the Stratford Lyon tells of how John de Stratford pulled a giant, red, antlered lion from the ground at South Baddesley in the New Forest in the year 1400. The story is first recorded in the marginalia of an 18th-century bible. In the late 20th century sightings of the lion were recorded in the vicinity of the Red Lion Pub, Boldre.[9][page needed]

Further back there is a medieval Welsh poem Pa Gwr in the Black Book of Carmarthen which mentions a Cath Palug, meaning "Palug's cat" or "clawing cat", which roamed Anglesey until slain by Cei. In the Welsh Triads, it was the offspring of the monstrous sow Henwen.[10]

Recent sightings[]

The modern wave of big cat reports stems from the late 1950s, with regular news stories of the Surrey puma, detailed below, and the "fen tiger".

1959

Surrey: The first possible sightings were recorded in 1959, when police received a number of reports of big cats in the Farnham area, near the Surrey/Hampshire border.[better source needed]

1962 and 1963

Hampshire, Surrey and Greater London: Two further sightings were recorded, in 1962, by water board personnel in Hampshire,[vague] and a third in the winter of 1962–1963, of a "cat-like beast" seen at Bushylease Farm, Crondall, Hampshire.[11][better source needed] When a police officer sighted the supposed Shooter's Hill cheetah in south-east London in 1963, media interest turned to other big cat sightings.[11]

1964

Surrey: In August 1964, a bullock at Bushylease Farm was found severely lacerated. Following press coverage, numerous reports of contact with the animal, dubbed the "Surrey puma", came to the press, ranging from the fanciful to some taken seriously by the police.[12] A plaster cast of a paw print measuring five inches (13 cm) across was handed into Godalming Police Station in Surrey, who had an active file on "big cats" that were harming livestock. The paw print was publicly displayed. Reports noted that its size implied an extremely large specimen and that there were distinct differences between it and the alleged European prints of other pumas.[13] The investigation file was closed in summer 1967.[11][better source needed] The police station's logbook also lists 362 sightings of alien big cats (ABCs), occurring between September 1964 – August 1966.[14]

1966

Surrey: In August 1966, former police photographer Ian Pert took a grainy photograph of a cat facing the camera in Worplesdon, with a longer-than-average body length.[a][better source needed]

1968 and 1970

Surrey: In 1968, a farmer claimed to have shot a puma, but could not provide any evidence. Sightings gradually tailed off, although paw prints found in the snow in 1970 generated a flurry of further reports.[a]

1970s

From the 1970s reports spread across the country; the Beast of Exmoor was reported from Devon and Somerset,[citation needed] the Stratford Lyon was reported around the Red Lion Pub, Boldre,[15] and the "Sheppey panther" has been rumoured to exist since that decade.[16][17] The Hurtwood spans Farley Green, Pitch Hill, Peaslake, and Holmbury Hill.

1975

Surrey: An eight-year-old boy was playing alone in woodland in Chiddingfold at 51.1117°N 0.62507°W. This backs onto a field, from which he alleged a golden-coloured big cat entered the woodland. The cat walked (what amounted to) west, staying close to the edge of the field and, while passing about 10 metres away, turned its head, staring momentarily at the boy, but was disinterested and carried on walking. When asked if it could have been a dog, the boy replied "No, because it had a long curved tail, a wide head and it picked its feet up like a cat ... but it was the same size as a big dog".[18]

1984

Surrey: In 1984 hair samples taken at Peaslake, a few miles northeast in the heavily wooded part of Greensand Ridge, were identified as puma.[better source needed] In the previous year an unclassified big cat dubbed 'alien' featured in The Archers and the Beast of Exmoor made national headlines. In came the first modern report from Scotland,[citation needed] and the Kellas Cat was shot there in 1984.

1992

Greater interest in phantom cats grew from headline stories of the beast of Bodmin from 1992,[citation needed] and Dumfries and Galloway (the Galloway Puma). In the historic Buchan area of Aberdeenshire the creature is dubbed the Beast of Buchan and sightings are regularly documented.[19] A black panther known as the "Beast of Dartmoor" was reportedly seen by a group of fifteen people, including M. Warburton, in summer 2011 in the Haldon Forest.[20][21] There were many more news stories from different parts of the country.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]

1995

The Surrey Advertiser newspaper reported a sighting recorded by police officer Steve Ashcroft outside hilltop St Teresa's School Effingham.

2003

Surrey: Detective Constable Stephen Ashcroft saw the same or similar 'up at Holmbury (Hill)' in June 2003, an area with sightings logged within the following 12 months by Peter Hayes, warden of the Hurtwood which covers the hill and the ridge to its north and west.

2004

Surrey: The newspaper added residents of Abinger Common (the neighbouring woodland and farmland area) who reported that in the 'last two weeks' they had seen a big cat, relying on the Big Cat Survey by the British Big Cats organisation.

2005

Surrey: A Mr. Fowler, visiting with his partner at Winkworth Arboretum, sent their video camera footage to a local newspaper, which they reproduced in stills. They described this animal as "gingery-brown colour, about the size of an alsatian dog but it definitely wasn't a fox". Surrey Wildlife Trust ranger Mark Havler believed it was an Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) and received 15 calls of sightings in the following two weeks.

Reports that year logged at the Surrey Advertiser headquarters were of more than one non-native wild cat in the Borough of Guildford and neighbouring districts: some of "spots and a bob tail on a sandy-coloured animal, suggesting a lynx", others of "no spots and a long tail, which could mean a puma"; two residents walkers' names were included in their published overview report across the years since the 1960s.[30] The reporter interviewed the Animal Liaison Officer of Marwell Zoo outside of the sightings' area to assess whether the old and new findings were linked, who explained the need for sufficient breeding pairs given these animal's wild lifespan, with say at a 1 in 99 likelihood in ideal conditions of having multi-generational offspring, if the first alleged sightings were true and he expressed doubt on the veracity of most reports

The report states that 'over 40 years ago, [thus around 1964]' it reported the first appearance of a "golden brown animal of around three to five feet in length while he was blackberrying one lunchtime" by George Wisdom, who described himself as a 'Munstead workman'.[30] Munstead is a wooded part of Busbridge noted for the vernacular style Arts and Crafts house and garden at Munstead Wood.

2011

In the early months of 2011, a great number of sightings of a 'panther' in Shotts, North Lanarkshire, stirred locals and began to be reported in the local press, after a couple of months, these reports ceased with the assumption that the 'panther' had moved onto pastures new.[31]

2012

One of the most recent reports was of that of the "Essex lion", a lion purportedly roaming around Essex during summer 2012. Initially sighted from a caravan park, there were also reports of lion roaring heard in the local area. A photograph was taken by one witness. Police advised local residents to stay indoors and a search was made of the local area, but nothing was found. Local zoos and visiting circuses were contacted, but none reported an escaped lion. A Ms. Murphy later claimed the photograph was that of her pet Maine coon cat, Teddy.[32]

2013

In 2013, in a small village on the Shropshire-Wrexham border, two sisters reported seeing a large, black, felid with a three-foot (1 m) stride jumping a fence and disappearing into a neighbouring field. On returning in the day, they discovered a large pair and paw prints too big to belong to a domesticated cat. A one time zoo-keeper at Chester Zoo and Dudley Zoo, Mr. Larkham, agreed that the paw prints do not belong to a domesticated cat but were too small to be those of a panther. He believed it could be the descendant of the "Shropshire jungle" cat from the 1980s, or a gigantic domesticated cat.[33]

2019

In April 2019 it was claimed that a big cat was sighted in the Cornish village of Harrowbarrow, after it attacked a dog. Residents claimed that five local pet cats had disappeared and that a local herd of deer was no longer visiting the fields near the village. A large paw print, identified as that of a panther or puma by the RSPCA was also found. Footage of a black panther-like cat emerged a few days later.[citation needed]

Species that have been noted only occasionally include the leopard cat, which is the size of a domestic cat but has leopard-like spots, the clouded leopard, a specialised species from the tropics which was captured after living wild in Kent in 1975, and there are even extraordinary cases of lions being reported in Devon and Somerset.[34]

A Maine coon, the largest breed of domestic cat. At a recorded maximum length of 120 cm (47 in) including tail, Maine coon cats can reach the length of Eurasian lynxes, although with a much lighter build and lower height, their light bodies somewhat concealed by their heavy fur.[35][36]
A fully grown Maine coon cat.

In August 2012, several sightings of a lion were reported near St. Osyth in Essex. Police searched the area using helicopters and infrared cameras, instructing residents to stay in their homes. Despite speculation that the lion had escaped from Colchester Zoo or a local circus, all such animals were accounted for. The search was called off the next day with no evidence of a lion having been found.[37] A local resident claimed that a photo of the alleged animal showed their pet cat, a large Maine coon.[32][38]

There have been reports of a cat known as the Beast of Bevendean for several years across Sussex, including in Brighton and Hove.[39]

In popular culture and film[]

In 1967 children's novelist Monica Edwards took the story on in her Punch Bowl Farm series, as The Wild One.

A fictional attempt to trap the Beast is the subject of the film Young Hunters: The Beast of Bevendean (2015).[40]

Evidence[]

Captures and remains[]

This puma (Felis concolor) was captured in the wild, in Inverness-shire, Scotland in 1980. It is believed to have been an abandoned pet. It lived the rest of its life in a zoo. After it died it was stuffed and placed in Inverness Museum.

A Canadian lynx shot in Devon in 1903 is now in the collection of the Bristol Museum.[41] Analysis of its teeth suggests that prior to its death it had spent a significant amount of time in captivity.[41]

In 1980 a puma was captured in Inverness-shire, Scotland. The capture followed several years of sightings in the area of a big cat matching the description of the one captured, which had led local farmer Ted Noble to erect a cage trap. The puma was subsequently put into the Highland Wildlife Park zoo and given the name "Felicity". When it died it was stuffed and was placed in Inverness Museum.[42] Zoo director Eddie Orbell concluded that the animal had been tamed and might not have been released for long, noting that it enjoyed being tickled.[43]

In 1989 a jungle cat that had been hit by a car was found on the roadside in Shropshire.[44]

In 1991 a Eurasian lynx was shot near Norwich, Norfolk. It had killed around 15 sheep within two weeks. The story was only reported in 2003, and the stuffed body of the lynx is allegedly now in the possession of a collector. For many years this incident was considered to have been a hoax, particularly by the hunting community, but in March 2006 a police report confirmed that the case was true. It was probably an escapee from a facility in the area that bred animals, including Eurasian lynxes.[45]

In 1994 it was reported that a large cat with leopard-pattern fur had been shot on the Isle of Wight some time earlier after feasting on chickens and ducks. The shooting was not immediately reported as the farm worker involved feared prosecution, but police reportedly concluded that the animal was an ocelot or serval.[citation needed]

There have been reports that in 1993 yet another puma was captured in Scotland, this time in the Aviemore area.[42][46]

In 1996, police in Fintona, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland shot a cat. It was reportedly a caracal, a medium-sized wildcat species found in Africa and Asia, although a police report described it as a lynx.[3][47] (Caracals are sometimes called desert lynxes, but are not true members of the genus Lynx.)[48]

In a well-reported 2001 case ("the Beast of Barnet"), a young female Eurasian lynx was captured alive by police and vets in Cricklewood, north-London, after a chase across school playing fields and into a block of flats. It was placed in London Zoo and given the name "Lara" before ultimately being transferred to a zoo in France to breed.[49][50] The captured lynx was found to be only 18 months old, although considerably larger than an average domestic cat.[3][51]

In November 2017, a trucker claimed to have seen three highways workers struggling to lift the body of a dead 4-foot (1.2 m) black panther into the back of a truck in a lay-by on the A1 near Harworth.[52] However, Highways England responded with a statement to say that it was a dead black dog that they had loaded onto the back of the truck.[52]

This list excludes escapes of short duration and known origin. Examples of this include an incident in Grimsby in 1991 when four lions managed to escape from a circus (or possibly were released) before being captured the same day.[53]

Video and photographic evidence[]

A European wildcat, the Scottish population of which is the only wild cat species known to live in Britain.

Around 1993, a number of reports were made of a large black cat around Bodmin Moor, nicknamed the "Beast of Bodmin", with at least two videos made. Some video evidence was examined by government scientists, who concluded from the position of the camera and animal that the sightings were of black cats no more than 30 cm (12 in) high at the shoulder.[4][5]

Twenty-one years after this a colour video at Winkworth Arboretum (NT), Busbridge next to Godalming was taken of a large cat walking away beneath a branch. A Surrey Wildlife Trust published they doubted any "puma" form as the recorder thought, but rather thought it could be an Iberian lynx, comparing other reports made that year in Surrey's Borough of Guildford. Less well noted similar accounts have been sporadically reported since 1959, but have tended to be vague or anonymous.[16]

In 1994 footage of a large black cat was recorded in Cambridgeshire and was named in the media as the "fen tiger".[54]

In June 2006 a large black cat was recorded in the countryside of Banff, Aberdeenshire. Footage of the cat was broadcast by the BBC on 24 May 2007.[55]

In July 2009, photographs and video footage of a large black cat were taken by an off-duty Ministry of Defence Police officer. The animal was walking along a railway line in Helensburgh, Argyll. Large cats, either black or tan, have been reported in the area before.[56]

In late 2009 video footage of what is claimed to be a large black cat was recorded in Herefordshire.[57] The sighting and video footage of the alleged big cat coincided with a spree of sheep killings in the same area.[58]

In 2010 video footage of what is claimed to be a large black cat was recorded in Stroud, Gloucestershire.[59] 'Experts' have estimated that the creature was at least five feet (1.5 m) in length from nose to tail.[60]

In 2011 a family walking in Fochabers Wood, Moray, photographed a large black cat matching the description of a .[61]

In 2013, photos were taken of what appeared to be a large black cat on the estate of Sir Benjamin Slade, 7th Baronet in Somerset.[62]

In 2017 there were five sightings of big cats in Gloucestershire, some with photographic evidence.[63]

In April 2017 a mother and her teenage daughter took several photos of what appears to have been a large black big cat in the Quantock Hills, Somerset, which was speculated by BeastWatch UK, a non-profit organisation that collates and reports on exotic wildlife, that it could have been a panther or jaguar.[64]

A 2017 documentary included footage taken by an off-duty police officer in the West Midlands of a large black cat that was analysed by a big cat expert from South Africa who concluded that it had the characteristics of a black leopard.[65] He also analysed footage taken of a large black cat in the village of Maiden Newton, Dorset and said that it was the "most conclusive evidence so far that a black leopard is on the loose in the UK".[66]

2020 saw the public locked down by Covid restrictions for large portions of the year. With people confined to their homes and restricted to local walks for recreation, this year saw a large numbers of sightings across the country. In Cambridgeshire a large leopard like cat was photographed drawing comparisons with the legendary "fen tiger".[67] Gloucestershire had numerous sightings.[68] North Wales, a known hotspot for big cats, where "It seems it's common knowledge among many local communities that a small population of big cats such as pumas exist within North Wales." had its share although it was only caught on camera once.[69] In Somerset an animal fitting the description of a melanistic leopard was seen by a number of witnesses in various places. "One person believes she has footage of a big cat and has approached a big cat expert to review her evidence."[70] In Leicestershire an animal was caught on camera.[71] A serval-like cat was photographed in North London.[72]

In 2021 in large dark coloured cat was filmed in Flintshire.[73]

Attacks[]

In 2000 an 11 year-old boy in Monmouthshire was attacked by what he claims was a large black cat. It left him with five long claw marks across his left cheek. The police called in a big cat expert to investigate the incident.[74]

In 2005 a man who lived in Sydenham Park in south-east London was attacked in his back garden, which backed onto a railway line. The man who was 6 ft (1.8 m) and weighed 15 stone (210 lb; 95 kg) described the cat as being a big black figure that pounced on him and was considerably stronger than he was. He was left with scratches all over his body. Police were called and according to the BBC, one police officer saw a cat the size of a Labrador dog.[75] The man who was attacked sustained scratches to his face and the alleged big cat was named locally as the "Beast of Sydenham".[76]

In 2008, it was reported that a 74 year old woman was attacked on two separate occasions by a large cat in Alness, Scottish Highlands, leaving her with injuries, but a Scottish wildcat expert concluded that it was most likely a large feral domestic cat living wild, possibly a hybrid with a Scottish wildcat, but ruled out that a Scottish wildcat itself was responsible for the attacks.[77]

In 2019 a man in Cornwall reported that a 6 ft (1.8 m) black cat attacked him through an open window and that it was trying to get in through the window.[78][79] He described it as being crossed between a domestic cat and a panther.[78][79] He was said to have reported it to the police and claimed "that they were not interested".[79]

DNA evidence[]

There have been conflicting reports of DNA evidence as to the existence of big cats in Britain: In 2011 it was announced by the Centre for Fortean Zoology that DNA testing, carried out by Durham University on hairs found in north-Devon, showed that a leopard was living in the area.[80] In 2012 it was announced that DNA testing on two deer carcasses found in Gloucestershire found only fox DNA, despite many locals reporting sightings and believing that the deer had been killed by a big cat.[81]

The Cotswolds big cat[]

The "Cotswolds big cat" is a purported big cat or number of big cats at large in the Cotswolds region of England.[82][83][84]

A walker in Woodchester Park found the carcass of a roe deer on 12 January 2012, with injuries suggesting the animal may have been mauled by a large felid.[82] A second similar deer carcass was found on 16 January 2012.[83]

An analysis of the deer carcasses by University of Warwick scientists only indicated DNA evidence of foxes and other deer.[85]

Government involvement[]

In 1988, the Ministry of Agriculture took the unusual step of sending in Royal Marines to carry out a massive search for the rumoured Beast of Exmoor after an increase in the number of mysteriously killed livestock, and farmer complaints over subsequent loss of money. Several Marines claimed to have seen the cat fleetingly, but nothing other than a fox was ever found. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has published a list of predatory cats that they know to have escaped in the United Kingdom, although most of these have been recaptured.[86]

Mythological explanation[]

For many hundreds of years the myth of the spectral Black Dog has persisted in Britain – a supposed mythical creature appearing as a large black animal in remote moorland with no firm evidence for its existence, beyond hearsay. It has been suggested that the stories of "Black Cats" are merely a modern continuation of such myths and stories, sharing the same elements but with the idea of a supernatural cause having fallen out of credibility and the modern, more plausible, idea of an escaped or released wildcat supplanting it.[87] In addition, the stories of big cats share many traits suitable for the tabloid press – as such leading to wide exposure of any potential "cat" and further and rapid dissemination of any speculation or supposed evidence for it, helping to build a widespread urban legend.

See also[]

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b The "Surrey puma" photograph of 1966, taken near Worplesdon by former Police photographer Pert, and reports of 1996 from the same village Thebrgs.homestead.com[self-published source?] from web.archive.org[better source needed].

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  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Big cats in the UK: Fact or fiction?". British Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 22 August 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Roberts, Gareth (15 December 2014). "Beast of Bodmin Moor: Mystery solved over 'beast' that slaughtered farm animals for decades". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  6. ^ https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-19397320
  7. ^ BBC Wildlife Magazine, April 2006.
  8. ^ Cobbett, William (2001). Rural Rides. London: Penguin. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-14043-579-5.
  9. ^ History of the Red Lion Boldre, Christopher Tower Reference Library, Lyndhurst, 1989.
  10. ^ "Arthur and the Porter". Celtic Literature Collective. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
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