Thursday 20 February 2014

Jane Marney-englishbig​catresearch-interviewed by mark antony raines for mysterycats.blogspot

Q1 WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO GET INTO BIG CATS?

For as long as I can remember Id always been interested in the stories about big cats being out there, it wasn't until getting the internet a few years ago that I was able to look at the subject in more detail and found it all completely fascinating. I tried to join several big cat groups but never got any response back from them, I found Merrily Harpur on Facebook who I knew had written a couple of books on the subject and asked if she could recommend any groups which had more up-to date information and who answered emails. I joined Big Cats In Britain and became an active member until it closed down in 2013, where upon I set up a new group- British big cat research with Ian Foster and Paulo Nicolaides.
Q2-WHAT IS TH AIMS OF YOUR RESEARCH?
The aim of BBCR is to continue to be a community where researchers and enthusiasts from all over the country can come together to discuss and collate all aspects of the British big cat situation, including latest sightings and new ways of collecting evidence. We follow up all sightings of suspected big cats wherever possible and are always happy to speak to anyone wanting to learn more or that has had an experience with these cats themselves.

Q3-BIG CATS IN GREAT BRITAIN HAVE YOU AN OPINION OR EVIDENCE?
I most certainly believe we have large cats out there. Whether there are enough numbers out there to sustain a viable breeding population is another question though.
Over the past few decades plenty of evidence has been gathered and verified, bodies of lynx have turned up- a live one was even captured in a garden in London! a puma was captured in Scotland- various stories of where the puma actually came from abound, but, nonetheless it was still wild in the Scottish countryside for a time. Smaller exotic cats too have turned up as unfortunate fatalities - jungle cats ran over and leopard cats shot. Escaped large cats from zoo's in the past have managed to evade capture for many months, and even in their native countries bodies of melanistic leopards remain extremely scarce on the ground, with only two -possibly three incidents being documented.

All this information is out there in the public domain and available for anyone to view. A great book for anyone wanting to learn more is, Rick Minter's-  Big Cats: Facing Britain's Wild Predators
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Q4-HAVE YOU ANY FUTURE PLANS OR PROJECTS WITH BIG CATS?
Yes, due to the positive reaction to last years Dorset Big Cat Weekend another will be held this year in September- it is hoped it will become a yearly event on the calendar of all serious and active researchers. If anyone would like more details please feel free to contact me on englishbigcatresearch@gmail.com

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