NEWSLINK: Ranthambhore's 'fearless' big cat claims a third human victim

Ranthambhore's 'fearless' big cat claims a third human victim
Daily Mail
A tiger from Ranthambore National Park killed a forester on Thursday, claiming its second human victim since March and its third since 2010. The big cat, known as T-24, had previously killed a young villager on March 8, and a woman in 2010. The ...

USA Sighting: Big black cat in Kentucky

Big cats - Topix
For years I have heard of a big black cat, my brother in law said he saw it. Over the weekend my son saw something he thought was a coyote at first and then he ...

NEWSLINK: Tigress found dead in Chandrapur

Tigress found dead in Chandrapur
Business Standard
A tigress was found dead in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve of Chandrapur in Maharashtra today, forest officials said. "The full-grown big cat was found dead near a drain in Jamni jungle in Tadoba this morning. Prima facie it appears that it died of ...

NEWSLINK: Tiger kill in India

Villagers chopped tiger in panic
Times of India
Despite being aware that the tiger and other wild animals frequent the area for water, the forest guard didn't turn up at the spot for three days before the big cat was killed. Moreover, role of joint village management committee (JVMC) members was ...

NEWSLINK: Tiger Conservation

Ghettoisation of tigers possible says WII
Hindustan Times
The study conducted as part of new estimation of big cat population in the tiger reserves across India is a huge fillip to wildlife researchers as it shows that India can provide home to around 70% of world's tiger population (around 3,200) by 2020 ...

USA SIGHTING: Texas

Road crews find dead cougar outside Bandera
KENS 5 TV
Bandera locals said they know the big cats are around, and that they're very secretive and nocturnal. “I know they were in the area," said John Payne, of Bandera. "I've heard them screaming at night. What do they sound like? Sound like a woman ...

NEWSLINK: More on Idaho Mountain Lion

Traps to be set for mountain lion after search fails
KTVB
At least eight volunteers divided into groups between the Glenwood Bridge and Eagle Road to search for the big cat on both sides of Boise River. Fish and Game officers responded with dogs and ATVs. Their aim is to find the big cat -- or cats -- before ...

NEWSLINK: Tiger attack

Ranthambore National Park: Tiger's daring attack shocks everyone
Times of India
JAIPUR: The death of a forester, Gheesu Singh, in an attack by a male tiger in Ranthambore National Park on Thursday morning has shocked everyone, more because of the behaviour of the big cat. Gheesu Singh was walking between two groups of ...

USA SIGHTINGS: Michigan

Marney Rich Keenan Dad's panther tale gets new life after sightings
The Detroit News
Among the many big cat sightings all over Michigan in the past few decades (including a declawed cougar in 1990 who trotted into the backyard of a Troy family) was a 1982 story on a "big black cat believed to be a leopard or panther." Headlined ...

USA SIGHTINGS: Idaho

More cougar sightings reported in Valley
KBOI-TV
Over the past few days, several people reported seeing some kind of big cat in Boise and Garden City and authorities are doing their best to check out every potential sighting. "This cat is apparently doing what we feared it would do," said Evin Oneale ...

NEWSLINK: Cheetah conservation

Cheetahs
National Geographic
In fact, cheetahs are the most vulnerable of the world's big cats, surprisingly rare and growing steadily rarer. A few centuries ago cheetahs roamed from the Indian subcontinent to the shores of the Red Sea and throughout much of Africa. As fleet of ...

UK SIGHTING: Gloucestershire

Big cat with small head and massive tail spotted in Brockworth
This is Gloucestershire
A FRESH big cat sighting could mean the elusive creature has returned to an old hunting ground. A brown cat with a long thin, tail and a small head was spotted by a woman near Tesco Extra in Brockworth on October 17. . SIGHTING: Tesco Extra. Big cat ...

UK SIGHTING: Tunbridge Wells puma

BOIB SKINNER WRITES: Saw this online in Penny Odell's "Big Cat Sightings anywhere" FB page:

 http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3172528/.html#ixzz2AOlE6bPB

SIGHTINGS USA: Bobcat in Arkansas

Possible Bobcat Spotted in Little Rock Neighborhood
KARK
A big cat has been spotted in Little Rock's Heights neighborhood. Several people who live in the area tell KARK they've seen it at various times of the day. Executive Director of the Arkansas Municipal League Don Zimmerman snapped a few pictures of the ...

SIGHTINGS USA: St Elmo's Lion

Catching a glimpse of St. Elmo's Lion
Hattiesburg American
But as we rose up the hill we both saw that our creeper was a very large mountain lion, flattened against the rails and continuing to stalk an unseen creature. Suddenly, the big cat turned and looked right at us, its eyes glowing like molten gold in ...

NEWSLINK: Conservation of snow leopards

Snow leopards: Love of wild cats takes Great Falls man to China
Great Falls Tribune
“My dream had always been working on big cats,” he said. That dream recently became a reality when Weckworth was hired in May to do snow leopard research in China and elsewhere in Asia with a nongovernmental organization called Panthera. Panthera ...

SIGHTINGS: Lancashire

Return of the Beast of Bolton
The Bolton News
The large black cat — which is rumoured to stalk the fields around Darcy Lever — was spotted by a mother and daughter near Farnworth cemetery. Alanah Belk, aged 56, and Sherri-Lee Belk, aged 35, were walking their dogs in the fields at about 2.30pm ...

NEWSLINK: More on USA Jaguar conservation

Cat Fight: Environmentalists and ranchers at odds over jaguar land
KVOA Tucson News
TUCSON- The jaguar is an animal surrounded by mystery, but now the endangered species is also surrounded by controversy. The Center for Biological Diversity is pressing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to set aside millions of acres of land in ...

LINK: Mistaken Mountain Lion Sightings Common, Expert Says

Wildlife ecologist Steve Bobzien, a mountain lion expert with the East Bay Regional Park District, says the recent mountain lion encounter reported by a Kensington mother seems credible, but that the great majority of supposed sightings are mistaken. 

http://elcerrito.patch.com/articles/mistaken-mountain-lion-sightings-common-expert-says

USA SIGHTINGS: California mountain lion

Kensington Mountain Lion Encounter Reported by Mom with Child in Stroller
Patch.com
She was taking her daily walk, accompanied by her three-year-old son and their dog, a male boxer, on a fire trail that runs behind houses on Lake Drive when she saw the big cat sitting "completely still" on a landing beside the home, she said. At first ...

NEWSLINK: Amur leopard conservation

Spotted! Fun day to help big cat
This is Leicestershire
Twycross Zoo's operations manager Neil Satchwell said: "We had lots taking place during the day, including Amur leopard conservation talks." With a population of only 30 to 35 in the wild, the Amur leopard is one of the most endangered big cats on ...

NEWSLINK: Florida panther roadkill

Panther road deaths on state record pace
The News-Press
A string of Florida panther deaths on Collier County roads has the state on pace to match a record number of roadway big cat kills. So far 11 panthers have met their demise hit by vehicles in 2012 compared to 17 road kills in 2009, a record year for ...

NEWSLINK: Mystery Cats in Australia

Unlikely animals in the Aussie outback
WA today
There has been evidence suggesting hippopotami, big cats and even more Tasmanian Devils, believed to have become extinct from mainland Australia hundreds, possibly thousands of years ago have been living it up here. Back in 2009 a pig hunter in the ...

NEWSLINK: More on the Novato goat attack

Dwarf Goat Disappears From Novato Yard: Big Cat Suspected - Topix
Dwarf Goat Disappears From Novato Yard: Big Cat Suspected. Full story: Patch. com. A Novato family is grieving over the loss of a pygmy goat that appears to ...

NEWSLINK: Leopard attacks

Leopard on the prowl, kills three cows at Big Bend
The Swazi Observer
Community members who have seen the eaten cattle say they have claw marks, which show that they have been eaten by a big cat. Some are claiming to have seen the paw prints on the ground which belong to a leopard. “There are wild animals in the ...

NEWSLINK: More on the Indian Teenager killed by a big cat

Teenager killed by big cat
Times of India
BAHRAICH: A teenager was killed by a big cat in a village in Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuary, divisional forest officer wildlife RK Singh said here today, unable to confirm whether it was a tiger, leopard or other. Arvind (14) was attacked by the big ...

Matt Salusbury's report on Jonathan McGowan's talk at this year's Weird Weekend

Jonathan McGowan's Big Cat large cat update  

http://mattsalusbury.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/jonathan-mcgowans-big-cat-large-cat.html

A display of evidence of large cat kills gathered by McGowan over the years - bones showing bite-marks and chewing that could only have been made by something like a puma, leopard or lynx. (This photo's from an earlier Weird Weekend but his display was back again this year.)
After 25 years in the field, Jonathan McGowan now prefers to call it "large cat research" - he prefers the term "large cats" to "Big Cats" because they're "not technically Big Cats, some of them… One third, maybe, of all these animals do not fit" the Big Cat description. (See a write-up of McGowan's Weird Week 2007 talk on British Big Cats.)

McGowan - speaking at the CFZ's 11th Weird Weekend in August 2012 - thinks some of the large cats sighted may be a hybrid between pumas and large feral domestic cats. Some of the black cats spotted do not have the "behaviour of leopards." Some are "big black cats with small heads" while others are heard "yowling" – very un-leopard-like. But McGowan has also heard the leopard's distinctive "coughing" alarm call to its cubs in the British countryside.

Now he's "bogged down" with the data that continues to come into him, people contact him with "up to a dozen reports a week, some are accounts of encounters dating back to the 1920s."

Says McGowan, "Deer are the key to big cats… Throughout Britain, wherever there are deer in large numbers, there a large cats. "sika deer are great breeders" and, like the large cats and "a third of our wildlife" aren't indigenous." Leopard, puma, lynx are - he believes - "a recent additive to our fauna – there are no reports before the (19)50s, 60s' 70s."

"Large cats are Houdinis... If you were to release two cats on the edge of London, they'd be in Cornwall in two weeks' time, says McGowan. They would "let themselves be known" to each other by scent-markings and scat"(poo).

McGowan talked us through slides of "cat scrapes" – visual signs when they do a wee or a poo. Sometimes these are in the form of star-shaped zigzags to mark territory. I know from taking my own domestic cats into the forest for a walk in Suffolk (see here for evidence that I'm not making this up) that doing a poo in the woods and the way they cover it up is a very serious business indeed for cats.

Apologies for my rubbish illustrations at the time (below), but McGowan also demonstrated the clear differences between dog and cat tracks. The toes on either side of the dog tracks will be level with each other, while the toes of cat tracks are not level with each other, the arrangement of toe prints is asymmetrical, in the way that the fingers on our human hands are of different lengths.

Large cats "hide behind gorse bushes to pounce" ... Heather in particular is "Big Cat country." Reedbeds are "ideal habitats for our sika deer" and therefore for large cats. And you can even find evidence of "pumas and leopards in the same territory" in some parts of the UK.

"US servicemen have admitted to releasing puma mascots" in or at the end of World War Two," claims McGowan. I'd heard that there's good evidence for this in Australia, but I'd not heard this claim made for the UK and I'd be interested to see the evidence. As a history graduate I'd be happy to follow up. The USAAF and US Army units based in the UK all have regimental archives that would point to the existence or otherwise of mascots – official or unofficial. Regiments have associations of veterans, many of whom are still alive and contactable.

He also alleges of the recent furore over a deer carcass on National Trust land in Gloucester, of which a DNA analysis came back as "fox", that the National Trust "hid data from the deer carcass" indicating it had been nibbled by some kind of cat.

If the big black cats in the UK countryside are black leopards, and breeding, then surely we should be seeing some spotted leopards as well, commented Ronan Coughlan from the audience. McGowan has heard "more and more reports of normal spotted leopard" from Kent. And there is also at least one "chocolate brown leopard in the UK." (Grey or brown "clouded leopards" are known from Borneo, where they are rare but numbers are known to be in four figures, and there's a grey clouded leopard cryptid, the pogeyan, said to be in the north of Kerala state, south India.

McGowan's as ever excellent talk was rounded off by CFZ director Jonathan Downes announcing that a new CFZ database of 5,600 UK Big Cat sightings would soon be ready, and inviting members to come up with requests to run past it. I will be putting it through its paces before long, as my next book after the forthcoming Pygmy Elephants will be Mystery Animals of Suffolk, which will look at Big Cats such as "Paws" in the 1990s as well as more recent sightings of something black in Brandon, on the Norfolk border.

McGowan told me he'd seen a puma by the side of a big road near Ipswich about two years ago. My antennae also started twitching at McGowan's mention of reedbeds, heather and gorse as Big Cat country, there are abundant habitats of all three in the Suffolk coast, and the establishment of a wildlife corridor in the north of the country means these habitats are about to get bigger. Deer are so abundant in Suffolk they're becoming vermin, and while there's no established sika deer population in the county yet, they're known to be moving in and out of the county from Norfolk, and it's only a matter of time before they make Suffolk their permanent home.

(See also my review of Big Cats Facing Britain for Fortean Times.)

My on-the-spot illustrations from Jonathan McGowan's talk, based on slides he projected. They show the difference between the more symmetrical prints of a dog – the toes level with each other – and the asymmetrical prints of a cat – with each toe at a different height. 

RESOURCES: The Australian mystery cat report

This came courtesy of the ever lovely Rebecca Lang, and we should have posted it weeks ago. We are so overworked at the moment, we are always looking for new volunteers. Please feel free to download it.

http://www.cfz.org.uk/bigcatreport.pdf

NEWSLINK: Backlash against exotic animal ownership

Canby preserve allows vitistors to get a close-up look at exotic animals
Statesman Journal
Jeff Kremer, spokesman with Big Cat Rescue — an accredited Florida sanctuary dedicated entirely to abused and abandoned big cats — thinks exotic animal ownership stems from ego, greed or a combination of both. Cubs, he said, such as Jakari, are ...

NEWSLINK: Indian teen killed by big cat

Around town
Indian Express
Bahraich:A teenager was killed by a big cat in a village in Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuary, a senior official said on Saturday. Arvind (14) was attacked by the big cat in Triloki Ghauri village in Nishanghara range while he was working in the field ...

NEWSLINK: More news on the goat supposed to have been taken by a big cat in California

UPDATED: Dwarf Goat Disappears From Marin Yard: Big Cat ...
A Novato resident believes a mountain lion or bobcat ran off with Bonnie the goat on Thursday morning. Do you know the difference between a mountain lion and bobcat?

SIGHTINGS: Black big cat in Staffordshire

Impossible Cannock Chase Animals
PetsLady.com
Accounts of these large cats give them supernatural abilities and appearances, making it much more than a case of a misplaces species of big cat in the woods. Regardless of your feelings on the matter, even if you are the biggest supernatural skeptic, ...

NEWSLINK: Animal groups want swimming with tiger cubs to stop

Animal groups want swimming with tiger cubs to stop ABC Action News Wild Things Owner Kathy Stearns says the pool interaction is a great teaching tool that allows the public to better understand big cats, while they are still small enough to handle. "A lot of our business comes from other people, word of mouth, they ...

NEWSLINK: Teenager killed by big cat in India

Teenager killed by big cat in UP
Business Standard
Arvind (14) was attacked by the big cat in Triloki Ghauri village in Nishanghara range while he was working in the field last evening, divisional forest officer R K Singh said. Forest department officials have not been able to confirm whether the ...

NEWSLINK: Leopard trapped in India

Leopard trapped near Nashik village
The Statesman
The big cat was trapped in a cage put up in sugarcane field near village Kothure in Niphad taluka of this North Maharashtra district yesterday, forest officer Mr P V Jadhav said today. The forest department swung into action after receiving several ...

OFF TOPIC: Urban coyotes in Canada eat domestic cats

Ajax coyotes' cat dinner adds to residents' unease Toronto Star “Except for them eating a cat, they were like big dogs.” While tales of coyotes lunching on small mammals — domestic or otherwise — are now commonplace in the GTA as coyotes co-mingle with urban wildlife, their presence has become a concern for ...

NEWSLINK: More on repeal of tiger tourism ban

India tiger tourism ban lifted
Wexas
Although tiger numbers have dwindled over recent decades, around 1,700 tigers still live in India, more than half the world's total population of this rare big cat. The ban was originally imposed in July of this year in response to a complaint by ...

NEWSLINK: Indianapolis hoax

Mountain lion sighting hoax leaves DNR officials growling
Indianapolis Star
Indiana conservation officers say they encountered the latter when a Shelby County man told them he had photographic evidence of one of the big cats, which biologists say haven't been confirmed in Indiana. But it turns out the picture was a fake — and ...

USA SIGHTING: California - big cat eats goat?

Dwarf Goat Disappears From Novato Yard: Big Cat Suspected
Patch.com
A Novato family is grieving over the loss of a pygmy goat that appears to have been the prey of a large wild cat. "We are devastated by the loss of our baby goat, as is her twin," said Mary Stompe, who lives in the Atherton/Green Point area of the city ...

NEWSLINK: More on US Ocelot conservation

Dodgers MVP sues Eagle Ford Shale over ocelots
San Antonio Express
There are believed to be only 50 ocelots left living in the United States. The notice of intent to sue stated that “multiple big cat tracks” were located and photographed as recently as June, and Beckett observed ocelots on his property as recently as ...

NEWSLINK: The Zanesville animal massacre revisited

The madman's bestiary: The Zanesville animal massacre, one year later
New York Daily News (blog)
Thompson seems to have forgotten this: “Terry was often seen wrestling with his cats and bears and getting big kisses on the mouth from them.” It is not clear exactly what his intention was with the animals, or if he had one in the first place ...

NEWSLINK: More on lifting of tiger tourism ban

Indian Supreme Court Lifts Ban on Tiger Tourism
Voice of America
Conservationists have welcomed the move, saying that tourists posed no threat to the big cat. Economic impact. Until a few days ago, Amit Sankhla, was wondering if he would have to shut down the tourist lodges he operates in two sprawling tiger ...

IGCAT

Tigers on the tourist trail again in India | The Times A threatened suspension of tourism in Indian tiger reserves risks leaving the big cats more vulnerable to poachers,. ... The big cat escaped from its enclosure at Cologne Zoo and fatally mauled the keeper before being shot dead by the.

SIGHTING: ANOTHER SIGHTING OF 'BLACK PANTHER' NEAR CARLISLE

Jeni Banks had driven along Eastern Way in Carlisle on her way back home to Wetheral hundreds of times and she had no reason to think this journey would be anything other than normal.

Then, in the gloom, she saw something moving, a creature of some kind, ambling across the road ahead of her.

To the left of the road were houses and beyond the pavement to the right was an area of woodland.

“It wasn’t quite dark, but it was gloomy enough for me to need my sidelights on,” explained Jeni, a 26-year-old businesswoman.

“I remember thinking to myself that it looked like a big black Labrador because of its size but as my car drew level with it I looked again.”

For more Information

NEWSLINK: Indian zoo wants a puma

CoP 11 summit: Only a few delegates go visiting Hyderabad's zoo
Times of India
Also, the zoo is keen on getting a puma-the big cat found in North America- as it is the only one missing from its collection of big cats. "There are six big cats in the world of which Nehru Zoo Park has five. We had a puma till about three decades ago ...

UK SIGHTINGS: Leicestershire

Big cat spotted roaming on road between Melton and Scalford
This is Leicestershire
It is the latest in a series of big cat sightings in the county. Steve Wainwright, one of the passengers in the car, said they saw a large, black, cat-like animal appear in the headlights as they approached the outskirts of the village. He said: "It ...

SIGHTINGS USA: Mohave valley

Wildlife officials looking for big cat - Mohave Valley Daily News
Wildlife officials looking for big cat ... A wildlife manager, he said, saw a lot of dog and cat tracks, but did not definitively find any lion tracks. Although neighbors ...

SIGHTINGS USA: Bobcats in Oklahoma

Bobcat sightings up in OKC | KFOR.com – Oklahoma City News ...
By Courtney Francisco
Reports of the big cats have been traced to apartment complexes on Memorial Rd. ... Bobcats are usually twice the size of a large house cat but Holmes said they don't pose a danger and usually avoid people and their pets. From the zoo to ...

NEWSLINK: Cat polydactyly

Why some cats have extra toes
Inside NoVA
Polydactyl cats are known by many names, from “Hemingway cat” and “mitten cat” to “big-foot cat” and “six-toed cat” — or even “cats with thumbs.” Interesting Facts. The first scientific record of polydactyls is in 1868. They were mostly found in the ...

NEWSLINK: Australian cheetah has multiple birth

Cheetah has rare multiple birth in Australia
abc7news.com
The cheetah quintuplets come as the number of speedy cats in Africa has plunged from about 24,000 to 12,000 over the past 35 years. "They are Africa's most endangered big cat. There's really not too many left to be honest with you, so any birth is ...

NEWSLINK: Leopards killed in India

Four leopards killed every week between 2001-10: Study
Times of India
The study, 'Illuminating the Blind Spot: A Study on Illegal Trade in Leopard Parts in India', used state forest department and newspaper records of seizures of illegally traded leopard parts to assess that the big cat was facing a battle of attrition ...

NEWSLINK: Ban lifted on tiger tourism

SC lifts ban on Tiger tourism
Daily Bhaskar
Stepping in to conserve the big cat, the Supreme Court had on July 24 ordered banning all tourism activities in any of the core zones of tiger reserves across the country. The Apex Court also asked the Centre to notify within a week fresh guidelines ...

India Lifts Tiger Tourism Ban But Paws Remain Out International Business Times Is a ban on so-called “tiger tourism” good for the big cat's dwindling population? That was the question at hand as India's Supreme Court made its highly anticipated ruling on the matter on Tuesday. India Lifts Tiger Tourism Ban But Paws Remain Out ... ndian Court Lifts Tourist Ban in Deep Tiger Reserve Areas Bloomberg India, home to the world's largest number of wild tigers, is trying to protect the big cats from habitat destruction and poachers engaged in illegal trade of skin and body parts. Travel Operators for Tigers, a lobby group, says a ban would dent India's ...

NEWSLINK: Bret Michaels's New Neighbor Is a Wild Bobcat!

Bret Michaels's New Neighbor Is a Wild Bobcat!
People Magazine
"There's this bobcat that lives near my property," explained Michaels, who Tweeted a picture of the big cat outside his Arizona home. "He just walks by and I'm like, 'Hey, how you doing.'" Michaels knows animals, and, as the designer of the PetSmart ...

NEWSLINK: New software to help monitor big cat conservation

New software to help monitor big cat conservation » OnlySoftwareBlog
By Amrinder
The Monitoring system for Tigers Intensive Patrolling and Ecological Status (MSTrIPes), the software will be used to keep a track on patrols in protected areas and also help identify vulnerable points inside such areas. Big cat scientist at the WII ...

SIGHTINGS: Lion sightings reported in Bedfordshire. No media circus this time around

Seriously, more lion reports in the U.K.
‘Lion’ on the loose in Bedford: big cat sightings reported

Two witnesses claim they saw a lion “on the prowl” in a residential area of Bedford, six weeks after similar sightings sparked panic in Essex.
Two dog walkers claim to have spotted a lion stalking a housing estate in Bedford.
The women reported seeing the “orange and brown” beast prowling around the residential area.
However, while Essex police mounted a full-scale lion hunt this summer following claims of a wild animal on the loose, the Bedfordshire force is taking a more sceptical approach.
The first eyewitness said she came face-to-face with the lion in Thor Drive this week as she walked her Yorkshire Terriers.
“I was stood about four feet away from it and I’ve seen enough National Geographic programmes to know it was on the prowl,” said the woman, who declined to be named “for fear of being mocked”.
The animal was last seen heading off in the direction of a neighbouring pig farm. Locals speculated that it could have been a pig.
A Bedfordshire Police spokesman said: “There is no ongoing incident involving a lion.”

For more information

SIGHTINGS: Mountain lion sightings fuel lore in eastern Mass.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Christine Poke knows what she saw.

The mountain lion, extinct in the eastern United States as far as biologists are concerned, nonchalantly cut through her Lenox neighborhood, making a surprise appearance during her otherwise uneventful morning stroll.

‘‘I was walking down the road here on Galway Court and it crossed right in front of me,’’ Poke said. ‘‘It just crossed the road; it was just very happy and just padded along.’’

For more Information 

SIGHTING: 'Lion' on the loose in Bedford: big cat sightings reported

Two witnesses claim they saw a lion "on the prowl" in a residential area of Bedford, six weeks after similar sightings sparked panic in Essex.

USA SIGHTING: Ohio, puma

Reports of big cat in area were taken seriously - Saturday, October ...
Thousands of digital and infrared cameras are scattered around the countryside as hunters follow deer movements in hopes of getting a glimpse of their dream ...

NEWSLINK: Russian circus cheetah attacks boy

Russian circus cheetah attacks boy, 7
The Sun Daily
The injured boy is the son of the animal's trainers, and the big cat attacked him as it was being put back into its cage after a performance, the Vechernyaya Moskva daily reported, citing local police. Russia has a number of poorly regulated travelling ...

NEWSLINK: Indian Tiger Protection Force

Madhya Pradesh yet to form tiger protection force
Times of India
BHOPAL: A Special Tiger Protection Force (SPTF), aimed at protecting the big cats from poachers, is yet to be constituted and deployed in Madhya Pradesh- the state that has lost it's tag of "Tiger State". A directive from the Prime Minister's Office ...

NEWSLINK: More on that Arizona mystery cat

Arizona Game and Fish Analyzing New Photo of Mystery Cat : The ... TUCSON, Ariz. - The Arizona Game and Fish Department is currently analyzing a recent trail camera photo of either a jaguar or an ocelot sighted southeast of ... Tail seen in photo was Ariz. jaguar's, 9 of 10 experts say Arizona Daily Star The mystery of the spotted cat is no more - it was, indeed, a jaguar that was seen in Southern Arizona last month, state game officials said Friday. After consulting with 10 outside experts and conducting its own analysis, the Game and Fish Department ...

NEWSLINK: Mysterious Indian leopard death

Leopard found dead in Terai West forest division
Daily Pioneer
A male leopard was found dead in the Terai West forest division on Thursday with activists expressing doubts about the feline being poisoned to death as there were signs of blood coming out of the big cat's mouth. According to the divisional forest ...

NEWSLINK: India big cat census

Forest staff shun tiger sanctuary
Times of India
The forest officials don't have the exact statistics of big cat population. "The last tiger census was carried out in 2004, when the big cat population was 32 and there were 36 leopards. For the last eight years, there was no census. In 2006, attempts ...

SIGHTINGS (Canada): New big cat reports

New Big Cat Reports / U.S. Congress Seeks Legislation | Paranormal
Telegraph. —–. 'Big Cat' causes concern in Tillsonburg, Ontario subdivision ... “I didn't really pay much attention and then I thought I heard a big cat screeching.” ...

NEWSLINK: Conservation of Amur leopard

Amur Leopard found in the border region of China, North Korea and ...
By robert neff
The Amur Leopard is one of the most endangered big cats in the world. According to Xinhua (copied at ALTA -photo credit Xinhua) the above leopard was discovered in Changbai Mountain in Wangqing county in April this year and is only the ...

NEWSLINK: Mountain lions moving west

Mountain lions moving west, says study
Tahoe Daily Tribune
While California's human population has been moving elsewhere in recent years, the state's big cat population appears to be adding residents from Nevada. Mountain lions have been moving west from the Great Basin into the Sierra Nevada in contrast to ...

Study: Mountain lions are packing up and moving west The Bell Jar Nevada officials say that populations of mountain lions are healthy statewide because the big cats usually live in very remote areas which are often inaccessible to humans. The AP reports that Nevada is home to approximately 3,000 cougars while ...

SIGHTING (UK): Dog Walkers Unnerved By "Big Cat" Sightings In Bedford

Two dog walkers claim to have seen a “lion stalking” in a housing estate in Bedford.

Last Thursday a woman claimed to have seen the large “orange and brown” beast prowling only four feet away from her. The witness said that she knew it to be lion stalking as she had seen enough National Geographic programmes. She said that her dogs were shaking and that the animal, which was about four foot high looked her in the eye then ran off towards a pig farm. The woman refused to be named for fear of being mocked.
For more Information

TERATOLOGY/CRYPTOZOOLOGY: Maned lionesses explained

Weird & Wild: Rare Maned Lionesses Explained
National Geographic
... individual pictured below), where the lion population may carry a genetic disposition toward the phenomenon, according to Luke Hunter, president of the big-cat conservation group Panthera, which collaborates with National Geographic's Big Cats ...

This is a case which makes one think of the marozi or spotted lion case so beloved of some cryptozoologists

NEWSLINK: Conservation proposal for Pakistani snow leopards

Snow Leopards in Pakistan No Longer Wild, Expert Says
National Geographic
The snow leopard in Pakistan is an endangered species. The population of the rarely seen big cat has likely fallen to fewer than 450 in the country, mainly due to hunting. Now an expert has come up with an unconventional—and controversial—proposal to ...

SIGHTINGS (USA): Arizona mystery cat

Wildlife officials looking for big cat
Mohave Valley News
Wildlife officials looking for big cat. Neighbors convinced mountain lion is prowling in Fort Mohave. By RODD CAYTON/The Daily News. Published: Wednesday, October 10, 2012 2:27 AM MDT. FORT MOHAVE — A reported mountain lion sighting has state ...

NEWSLINK: Lioness adopts baby antelope

Lioness adopts baby antelope after killing its mother Metro The big cat took pity on the young fawn when it emerged shaking from its hideout in the long grass of Uganda's Queen Elizabeth National Park. Minutes early the intimidating meat eater had chased down the youngster's mother, but showed her softer side ...

NEWSLINK: Mountain lion migration

Mountain Lions Migrating from Nevada Into California; Study Reveals French Tribune Researchers thought that since a big cat habitat is made available to lions in Nevada when they were killed by hunters, more of their population would migrate from west to east in Nevada to benefit the same. In general, in California, the lions are not ...

SIGHTING: Boise, Idaho

Mountain Lion Sighted Near 31st and Pleasanton
Boise Weekly
New reports of a big cat came from a Boise Police officer on a bicycle near Quinn's Pond Friday. He said he saw the cat in a gravel area near 31st and Pleasanton streets around 9:30 a.m., but the cat quickly ran off. Officials urge residents to call ...

Numerous cougar sightings in surrounding Boise areas
Boise State University The Arbiter Online
Idaho Fish and Game isn't surprised the big cat has moved into the valley due to the dry conditions in the mountains forcing the cats prey into into the valley area. If a cougar sighting is made do not run from the animal. Instead back away slowly ...

NEWSLINK: Article on Frank Tunbridge

My Life in Gloucestershire: Big cat tracker Frank Tunbridge
This is Gloucestershire
My Life in Gloucestershire: Big cat tracker Frank Tunbridge. Trusted article source icon. Monday, October 08, 2012. Profile image for The Citizen · The Citizen. Follow. What's your favourite Gloucestershire day out? The classic car show at Berkeley ...

NEWSLINK: More on proposed US Legislation

US Congress Seeks Legislation for Big Cats
The Epoch Times
Big cats, including native mountain lions and cougars, as well as nonnative African lions and tigers, are a serious problem and a growing political issue in the United States. The problem for native cats is their ever-expanding migratory patterns ...

SIGHTING: Tillsonburg, Ontario

'Big cat' causes concern in Tillsonburg subdivision
Tillsonburg News
“I didn't really pay much attention and then I thought I heard a big cat screeching.” While still in her backyard working, Van Deelen heard a second screech and this time paid closer attention to the loud and unusual noise coming from just over her fence.

SIGHTING: Bedfordshire 'lion'

'Lion' on the loose in Bedford: big cat sightings reported
Telegraph.co.uk
It was too big to be a domestic cat and it was definitely a wild animal. I know what I saw and he looked at me.” Her account to the local paper prompted another woman, Sharon Underwood, to come forward yesterday and say she spotted the animal several ...

NEWSLINK: Mystery cat of Inverclyde

The Feral Beast: Portrait of the artist as an apprentice
The Independent
Any sightings of a headless big cat in the Inverclyde area should be reported to Cappielow Park post-haste! Boden well. Residents of the Shetland Islands are used to storms, but did the council have to create one of its own? Some people are asking why ...

SIGHTINGS: Puma in Idaho

Mountain lion still on the loose
KIVI-TV
The lion has been seen three other times this week near the greenbelt on the north side of the Boise River. This time the big cat was wondering near the stables at Les Bois Park. Unfortunately, police were not able to track down the cat. If you see the ...

SIGHTINGS: Big cats in Dorset

Big cats are in the spotlight at Chideock meeting
Dorset Echo
THE prospect of big cats on the prowl in west Dorset will come under the spotlight in Bridport. Expert Merrily Harpur, below, is giving a talk to the west Dorset group of the Dorset Wildlife Trust titled Big Cats - Wild in Dorset. She will be giving ...

THANKS KITHRA

New CFZ Mystery Cat Blog

I know that I really don’t write a blog post nearly as often as I should do, but that’s because I rarely have anything of significance to say! And I see that it’s almost 3 weeks since I last wrote. Of course, during that time I’ve been busy with other things – including trying to understand CSS and Style Sheets. To date I haven’t been too successful with that, but I keep trying. I’ve also been trying to stop smoking, again without much success, although I have managed to cut down a lot, LOL.

But, the main reason for writing now is to let you know, if you don’t already, that the CFZ Blog Network has set up a new blog. This one is devoted to the Mystery Cats Study Group, and can be accessed here.

It really is worth taking a look as it covers a plethora of stories from right around the world. These include both real animals and sightings of possible ABCs. If you haven’t already done so then I suggest you check it out.

http://kithraskrystalkave.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/new-cfz-mystery-cat-blog.html

SIGHTING: Cougar in Washington

Cougar spotted in Bonney Lake yard
TheNewsTribune.com (blog)
A man spotted a cougar in the backyard of his Bonney Lake home this morning, and state wildlife agents have been called into to investigate, Bonney Lake police said. The man, who lives in the vicinity in the 8200 block of 191st Avenue East saw the big ...

SIGHTING: Snow leopard in Northern India

Predators in the snow
Business Standard
A snow leopard (Panthera uncia), the elusive large cat which lives in the snow-bound ranges of the upper Himalayas, has finally been sighted in Uttarakhand. A specimen of this endangered species was caught on a camera trap for the first time on April 10 ...

SIGHTING: Mountain Lion shot in Iowa

6-Foot Mountain Lion Shot Outside Iowa Elementary School
Paw Nation
Jim Eagen, 65, was the first to spot the big cat, discovering the mountain lion pawing through his yard. Eagen called the police, who were initially skeptical about the resident's claims. Sgt. Jeff Phillips responded to the call and was stunned to see ...

NEWSLINK: Ohio mystery cat debunked

It's no mountain lion, just a big, fat cat
northwestohio.com
The Findlay Courier says rumors started flying when the cat was caught on camera by a motion activated trail camera strapped to a tree. But state wildlife official Bob Flickinger told the Courier that furthuer student of the photos show the animal is ...

Reported mountain lion near Findlay is just a house cat
Canton Repository
But state wildlife official Bob Flickinger told the newspaper that further study of the photos showed the animal is just a big domestic cat. Mountain lions don't live in Ohio, but residents thought a wild cat kept as a pet by someone might have escaped.

Reported Mountain Lion In Ohio Is Just House Cat
10TV
They say it's a cat, all right — but just a large house cat. The Findlay Courier (http://bit.ly/O9UFm2 ) reports that the rumors started recently when the cat was photographed by a motion-activated trail camera strapped to a tree in Mount Blanchard ...

NEWSLINK: More on the Arizona mystery spotted cat

Mystery Cat Spotted in Arizona | GoHUNTn
What is this cat? That is what the Arizona Game and Fish Department is wondering after just its tail and a bit of hind leg was captured on a trail camer.

NEWSLINK: Florida panther attacks

Neighbors: Possible Florida panther killing animals
WKMG Orlando
Despite their pleas, wildlife officials said they have no plans to trap the big cat, because it's an endangered and protected species. "Which doesn't give me a whole lot of comfort, because if I see it again, that means it's going to be attacking ...

NEWSLINK: Leopard safari in India

Bannerghatta to have leopard safari
Deccan Herald
The leopard safari will come up on a fourth of the Park area, with a protection wall around it, living space for the big cats and access roads. Zoos in Mysore and other places already house leopards. The State's forests too have them in large numbers.

NEWSLINLK: Big cat attacks in Bhutan

Dying for survival
Kuensel, Buhutan's National Newspaper
Losing livestock to the big cats, or crops to menacing monkeys and wild boars, is something people in the villages put up with every day. Under the mantle of conservation efforts the country has been lauded for, such incidents are bound to surface ...

NEWSLINK: Ohio mystery cat

No Mountain Lion In Hancock County
1330 WFIN
Rumors about a big cat on the prowl in southern Hancock County ended up being nothing more than that - rumors. According to the Courier a large cat photographed in some woods near Mt. Blanchard led to some fears a mountain lion or some other wild cat ...

SIGHTING: Idaho

New cougar sighting near Eagle Thursday afternoon; sheriff's office advises ...
The Idaho Statesman
New cougar sighting near Eagle Thursday afternoon; sheriff's office advises public on how to react if they see big cat up close. Published: October 4, 2012 Updated 10 hours ago. 2012-10-05T00:44:16Z. Idaho_Statesman. Tweet · 0 Comments E-mail Print ...

Police officer spots mountain lion near whitewater park
Northwest Cable News
BOISE -- The mysterious mountain lion sighted near the Boise Greenbelt this week has been spotted again. This time it was a Boise bike cop that saw the big cat. Boise Police say a bicycle officer "caught a glimpse" of the cougar in a remote gravel area ...

SIGHTING: Iowa mountain lion shot

MOUNTAIN LION: Big Cat Shot By Des Moines Police FOX2now.com MOUNTAIN LION: Big Cat Shot By Des Moines Police. Posted on: 2:01 pm, October 4, 2012, by Staff Writer, updated on: 06:01pm, October 4, 2012. mt_lion2. DES MOINES, IA (WHO) – A mountain lion spotted in a Des Moines backyard Thursday morning has ... MOUNTAIN LION: Big Cat Shot By Des Moines Police - KPLR 11 By Staff Writer DES MOINES, IA (WHO) - A mountain lion spotted in a Des Moines backyard Thursday morning has been killed by police.Des Moines police say a call came in around 9:30 a.m. about a possible mountain lion sighting in the 3900 block of ... MOUNTAIN LION: Big Cat Shot By Des Moines Police | WHOTV.com ... Authorities say a mountain lion was shot and killed in Des Moines.It happened around 9:30 Thursday morning at 3910 Columbia Street, just North of Euclid. Searching for clues in mountain lion mystery KCCI Des Moines A homeowner found the big cat in the 3900 block of Columbia Street about 9:30 a.m. An officer shot the mountain lion after it made a break to get away, just two blocks from an elementary school. Investigators told KCCI on Friday that the mountain lion

NEWSLINK: Death of NZ big cat handler

Dead big cat handler's real name revealed NZ City The identity of a big cat handler who died when he was attacked by a tiger at a Northland wildlife park has been confirmed - three years after his death. The coroner looking into the death of the man known as Dalu Mncube at Zion Wildlife Gardens in ...

NEWSLINK: Mystery cat in Dorset

Hunt on for big cat tales in Bridport
Bridport and Lyme Regis News
She also has two books to her credit on the subject, called Mystery Bug Cats and Roaring Dorset! Encounters with Big Cats. It comes as new figures obtained by the Dorset Echo and the News show that a total of 53 people have made emergency calls to ...

SIGHTING: Trailcam jaguar in Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. - The Arizona Game and Fish Department is currently analyzing a recent trail camera photo of either a jaguar or an ocelot sighted southeast of Tucson.

The photo includes only the tail and a small portion of a hind quarter of the animal, making positive identification more difficult. Game and Fish is now consulting with outside experts about the photo, taken Sept. 23 and submitted by a sportsman, to better identify the species.

"We have definitively determined that it is either a jaguar or an ocelot, but we need to do further analysis of the animal's spot patterns and size to try to positively identify which species it is," said Game and Fish Nongame Branch Chief Eric Gardner.

Four of the last five confirmed jaguar sightings in Arizona have been reported by hunters, who all took responsible action to document the animal and report it to Game and Fish. Sportsmen also provided Game and Fish with two sets of trail camera photos of an ocelot in the Huachuca Mountains in 2012. These hunters have provided biologists with critical information that may not otherwise be known, information that will help increase the understanding of these species' existence in the borderland area.

Read on...

NEWSLINK: More on the Australian mystery cat news

Ask Agnes: Pink elephants
Weekly Times Now
SEEING as they couldn't find any big black cats, I suggest the Government would be better advised to go looking for pink elephants. Up here in the Strathbogie hills, every time someone sees a pink elephant, they (I mean my big brother and sister and ...

SIGHTING: Illinois, cougar

Another Cougar Sighting Near Winnetka-Northfield Border
Patch.com
This was clearly a big cat.” Hinkamp said the animal came out of the forest preserve on the south side of the road and headed north, across the street, into the preserve on the other side, near the river that runs alongside the North Branch Trail. On Sept.

NEWSLINK: Rare tiger

Rare tiger dies after Indonesia flight switch
Phys.Org
The eight-year-old big cat was being sent with other animals on a commercial flight Tuesday from Banda Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra island to a conservation centre on Java island. But during a scheduled stopover in Medan, Sumatra, the national ...

SIGHTING: West Lancashire

Big cat spotted prowling railway line in Burscough
Ormskirk & Skelmersdale Advertiser
COULD this beast be the latest sighting of a big cat prowling the railway lines of West Lancashire? Dave Stanhope, from Burscough, certainly thinks so – after taking these pictures of what he claims was a “large black cat, up to 3ft long” stalking the ...

OK, WE KNOW THAT THIS IS NOT A CAT KILL...

...but what has been eating the carcass? (PS Matthew took the photographs yesterday)