The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper column-inches than any other cryptozoological subject. There are so many of them now that we feel that they should be archived by us in some way, so we should have a go at publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. Curated by Carl Marshall and Olivia McCarthy
Sunday, 31 March 2013
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
WOOLSERY MYSTERY CAT SIGHTING?
As regular CFZ-watchers will know, this week we have Danish zoologist Lars Thomas and his two sons as houseguests. This morning, Lars went for a brisk constitutional around the village, and went down to the Community Centre where we hold the Weird Weekend. A car drew up beside him, and the driver asked whether he was one of "those blokes from the Weird Weekend". Lars answered that indeed he was, and the driver told him a fascinating story:Last sunday shortly after midnight he was driving through the village, passing the Community Centre, when a "big black animal with a long taSouth Park. He lost sight of it behind a bush. He described it as being black with a lighter underside.
il, looking like a giant house cat" ran across the road, and ran along the hedge-line past the little estate called - don't laugh -
Lars took a closer look at the hedge line and found a twig with some hairs on, about 12" off the ground. He has taken the samples, and will be taking them back to Denmark for analysis.
Weird huh?
RAC set to probe feral big cat sighting
RAC
set to probe feral big cat sighting
Smallholder
Following the sighting of what appeared to be a feral big cat in Gloucestershire, the Cirencester-based Royal Agricultural College been given 20 motion-trap cameras to further its investigation into the phenomena. The study is being properly conducted ...
See all stories on this topic »
Smallholder
Following the sighting of what appeared to be a feral big cat in Gloucestershire, the Cirencester-based Royal Agricultural College been given 20 motion-trap cameras to further its investigation into the phenomena. The study is being properly conducted ...
See all stories on this topic »
Sunday, 24 March 2013
NEWSLINK: Flying Kites for Some Big Felines
Flying
Kites for Some Big Felines
KNWA
Kites were flying high at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge to raise money for big cats. Folks stopped by the refuge in Eureka Springs on Saturday to learn how to make and fly kites properly. The event was free, but many made donations to help with ...
KNWA
Kites were flying high at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge to raise money for big cats. Folks stopped by the refuge in Eureka Springs on Saturday to learn how to make and fly kites properly. The event was free, but many made donations to help with ...
NEWSLINK: Zoo working to finish specific large cat habitats
Zoo
working to finish specific large cat habitats
Topeka Capital Journal
GARDEN CITY — Jaguars love water, bobcats must hide. So, the staff at the Lee Richardson Zoo is taking pains to meet the needs of each breed as the new Cat Canyon habitat nears completion. The new habitat will replace a “Cats of the Americas” exhibit ...
Topeka Capital Journal
GARDEN CITY — Jaguars love water, bobcats must hide. So, the staff at the Lee Richardson Zoo is taking pains to meet the needs of each breed as the new Cat Canyon habitat nears completion. The new habitat will replace a “Cats of the Americas” exhibit ...
NEWSLINK: A big cat country
A
big cat country
Hindustan Times
But there are several other smaller sanctuaries around the country that are home to the big cat, and where you can spot some stripes and avoid the crowds. Yusuf Poonawala, VP-Bharat Deko, Cox & Kings Ltd, says, “With the increase in awareness of nature ...
Hindustan Times
But there are several other smaller sanctuaries around the country that are home to the big cat, and where you can spot some stripes and avoid the crowds. Yusuf Poonawala, VP-Bharat Deko, Cox & Kings Ltd, says, “With the increase in awareness of nature ...
UK SIGHTINGS: Gloucestershire
Big
cat sighting near Dursley but no other evidence noted | Doubtful
...
A dusk sighting of a supposed big cat on February 28 in Gloucestershire. Big cat sighting near Dursley stuns mum and daughter | This is Gloucestershire. A.
A dusk sighting of a supposed big cat on February 28 in Gloucestershire. Big cat sighting near Dursley stuns mum and daughter | This is Gloucestershire. A.
NEWSLINK: Leopards In Human Habitats: Big Cats Live Near Villages In India ...
Leopards
In Human Habitats: Big Cats Live Near Villages In India
...
No wonder there are so many reports of leopard attacks in India -- the big cats are living a lot closer to humans than you may imagine. Recent research focusing ...
No wonder there are so many reports of leopard attacks in India -- the big cats are living a lot closer to humans than you may imagine. Recent research focusing ...
FEATURELINK: HowStuffWorks "The Ultimate Guide: Big Cats: Big Cat Evolution"
HowStuffWorks
"The Ultimate Guide: Big Cats: Big Cat Evolution"
From the trees to the plains, learn about the evolution of big cats ...
From the trees to the plains, learn about the evolution of big cats ...
NEWSLINK: Andrew Lancaster, Taxidermist, Sells Cat Skin Rug On 'Trade Me' Auction Site ...
Andrew
Lancaster, Taxidermist, Sells Cat Skin Rug On 'Trade Me' Auction Site
...Huffington Post
... Animals In The News, Cat Rug, Cat Skin Rug, Cat Skin Rug Auction Site, Cat Skin Rug Sells, Weird News. Cat Skin Rug. This cat skin rug sold for almost $1,000. Me-ouch. A bidding war for a large cat skin rug ended Tuesday when the feline sold for $955.
NEWSLINK: Lensmen break night ban, enter the big cat's lair
Lensmen
break night ban, enter the big cat's lair
Deccan Chronicle
Bengaluru: Violating the ban on night traffic in the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve (NTR) the owner of a resort ventured inside its core zone with a team of seven photographers in a vehicle on the pretext of escorting water tankers filling a water hole ...
Deccan Chronicle
Bengaluru: Violating the ban on night traffic in the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve (NTR) the owner of a resort ventured inside its core zone with a team of seven photographers in a vehicle on the pretext of escorting water tankers filling a water hole ...
NEWSLINK: State regulation of big cat, primate ownership debated
State
regulation of big cat, primate ownership debated
Fort Worth Star Telegram
The issue of whether to regulate the ownership of "big cats and nonhuman primates" drew fierce debate at a House committee hearing this week, as animal rights advocates said that unregulated large animals pose a threat to public safety, while owners of ...
See all stories on this topic »
Fort Worth Star Telegram
The issue of whether to regulate the ownership of "big cats and nonhuman primates" drew fierce debate at a House committee hearing this week, as animal rights advocates said that unregulated large animals pose a threat to public safety, while owners of ...
See all stories on this topic »
Thursday, 21 March 2013
NEWSLINK: Big leopard numbers in human habitats: Study
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FEATURELINK: Surgery aims to help big cat overcome arthritis
Surgery
aims to help big cat overcome arthritis
WFAA
It has been only mildly successful in dogs, but doctors say it is gaining traction in big cats. The hope is Tacoma starts using his legs again. "You can't have a tiger that can't get up. That would be a death sentence for him," said veterinarian Dr ...
WFAA
It has been only mildly successful in dogs, but doctors say it is gaining traction in big cats. The hope is Tacoma starts using his legs again. "You can't have a tiger that can't get up. That would be a death sentence for him," said veterinarian Dr ...
FEATURELINK: Who's a big scaredy cat? Cheetah flees in terror after the fox it was chasing ...
Who's
a big scaredy cat? Cheetah flees in terror after the fox it was
chasing ...
Daily Mail
The female big cat had been stalking a Thomson's gazelle around in Tanzania's Ngorongoro conservation area when two bat-eared foxes wandered a little too close to her cubs. Deciding that the foxes would maker an easy dinner, the cheetah allowed the ...
Daily Mail
The female big cat had been stalking a Thomson's gazelle around in Tanzania's Ngorongoro conservation area when two bat-eared foxes wandered a little too close to her cubs. Deciding that the foxes would maker an easy dinner, the cheetah allowed the ...
NEWSLINK: Beware! The big cat is close
Beware!
The big cat is close
Deccan Chronicle
They added that whether the animal was a large leopard or tiger was under investigation. The news of a tiger on the prowl in Bannerghatta was first heard in the last month of 2012 but there was no evidence to prove anything. But in the next month, two ...
Deccan Chronicle
They added that whether the animal was a large leopard or tiger was under investigation. The news of a tiger on the prowl in Bannerghatta was first heard in the last month of 2012 but there was no evidence to prove anything. But in the next month, two ...
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
UK SIGHTINGS: "Big cat" sighting near Dursley stuns mum and daughter
"Big
cat" sighting near Dursley stuns mum and daughter
This is Gloucestershire
A MUM and her young daughter were stunned to see a "big cat" freeze in front of them and then dash off along a lane near Dursley. She said the brown cat-like creature appeared to have been taken by surprise by her car and they saw it for long enough to
This is Gloucestershire
A MUM and her young daughter were stunned to see a "big cat" freeze in front of them and then dash off along a lane near Dursley. She said the brown cat-like creature appeared to have been taken by surprise by her car and they saw it for long enough to
Sunday, 17 March 2013
Does one and a half million deer mean more food for Britain's Big Cats?
A recent study by the University of East Anglia into deer population in Thetford Forest on the Norfolk/Suffolk border reveals the UK deer population is much bigger than previous believed - as many as one and a half million. This is reaching population levels not seen since the Ice Age. While it's been covered a lot in the news of late, so far I haven't come across any discussion on the implications of this for Britain's "Alien Big Cat" population. Bits of deer are among the items on Jonathan McGowan's stall showing evidence of British "Big Cat" kills that he's collected over the years
British "Big Cat" expert Jonathan McGowan (he prefers the term "large cat" to describe the predators at large in the UK, which aren't so alien anymore,) in a talk on Britain's "large cats" at last year's CFZ "Weird Weekend" conference, said "Deer are the key to big cats… Throughout Britain, wherever there are deer in large numbers, there a large cats." He mentioned sika deer in particular, which are "great breeders." Sika deer are now established in Norfolk, and are turning up occasionally in Suffolk, and Suffolk's wildlife and conservation people have been concerned for some years now that muntjac deer in particular are destroying the bluebells in the bluebell woods. Back in 2009, Dr Simone Bullion'sThe Mammals of Suffolk was already talking about "the triumph of the deer."
Read on...
UK SIGHTINGS: Tiers Cross big cat mystery
Tiers
Cross big cat mystery
Western Telegraph
Last month it was a mystery beast washed up on a beach; this month the Pembrokeshire big cat is clawing its way back into the limelight with possible sightings in the Tiers Cross and Milford Haven area. Local resident Andy Chandler is hoping that ...
Western Telegraph
Last month it was a mystery beast washed up on a beach; this month the Pembrokeshire big cat is clawing its way back into the limelight with possible sightings in the Tiers Cross and Milford Haven area. Local resident Andy Chandler is hoping that ...
Saturday, 16 March 2013
FEATURELINK: Mission to save jaguar exposes big cats' plight in Brazil
Mission
to save jaguar exposes big cats' plight in Brazil
It was late at night at the Preto Velho ranch when the unsuspecting jaguar approached the trap, took the bait -- and was downed by a tranquilizer dart.
It was late at night at the Preto Velho ranch when the unsuspecting jaguar approached the trap, took the bait -- and was downed by a tranquilizer dart.
UK SIGHTINGS: Tiers Cross big cat mystery
Tiers
Cross big cat mystery
Western Telegraph
Last month it was a mystery beast washed up on a beach; this month the Pembrokeshire big cat is clawing its way back into the limelight with possible sightings in the Tiers Cross and Milford Haven area. Local resident Andy Chandler is hoping that ...
Western Telegraph
Last month it was a mystery beast washed up on a beach; this month the Pembrokeshire big cat is clawing its way back into the limelight with possible sightings in the Tiers Cross and Milford Haven area. Local resident Andy Chandler is hoping that ...
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
NEWSLINK: Mission to save jaguar exposes big cats' plight in Brazil
| Mission
to save jaguar exposes big cats' plight in Brazil New Straits Times The jaguar — like lions, tigers, and leopards — is scientifically classified as a panther, and as with the other large cats, typically requires large areas of unspoiled nature. The species also benefits from a long maturation period, under the care ... |
Friday, 8 March 2013
A SELECTION OF STORIES ON CALIFORNIA LION ATTACK
| Lion
kills worker at California big cat park NBCNews.com (blog) ... shot and killed the lion after it killed a worker Wednesday, March 6, at Project Survival's Cat Haven in Dunlap, Calif. By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News. A lion mauled an employee of a big cat park Wednesday to death in California ...Worker mauled to death at California sanctuary by her favorite lion CNN Hanson had been at the 100-acre wooded Northern California facility since January-- working as an intern, bonding with the big cats it's home to. On a Facebook photo of her petting a tiger cub, a friend commented, "You have met your calling." Lion ...Lion kills a woman at big cat sanctuary in Sierra Foothills Bakersfield Californian Another big cat sanctuary, Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Fla., told the AP last year that at least 21 people, including five children, have been killed and 246 mauled by exotic cats since 1990. Over that period, 254 cats escaped and 143 were killed. Tatiana ...
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NEWSLINK: One Leopard is poached every month is Rajasthan as big cat population ...
| One
Leopard is poached every month is Rajasthan as big cat population
... Daily Mail If speeding vehicles and poachers weren't enough threats to the dwindling leopard population, the big cats have run into a new risk - of becoming a food source for forest tribals. Two tribal poachers who were caught cooking the skin of a leopard cub ... See all stories on this topic » |
 Daily Mail |
NEWSLINK: Mission to save jaguar exposes big cats' plight in Brazil
Mission
to save jaguar exposes big cats' plight in Brazil
Phys.Org
Nex, an NGO aimed at preserving and defending the life of endangered Brazilian wild cats, has a sanctuary in the state of Goias which receives big cats from
Phys.Org
Nex, an NGO aimed at preserving and defending the life of endangered Brazilian wild cats, has a sanctuary in the state of Goias which receives big cats from
SIGHTINGS UK: Sisters are shocked by huge cat-like creature
Sisters
are shocked by huge cat-like creature
shropshirestar.com
He is now a teacher at Coleham School in Shrewsbury, but gained a zoology degree and worked as a student zoo keeper at Chester Zoo with the large cats and then had a job with the big cats at Dudley Zoo. He stressed that the animal would not be a big ...
shropshirestar.com
He is now a teacher at Coleham School in Shrewsbury, but gained a zoology degree and worked as a student zoo keeper at Chester Zoo with the large cats and then had a job with the big cats at Dudley Zoo. He stressed that the animal would not be a big ...
UK SIGHTINGS: Fears of big cat after 'horrific' sheep attack
Fears
of big cat after 'horrific' sheep attack
cambrian-news.co.uk
FEARS have been raised that a big cat may be on the loose in south Ceredigion after sheep at a Talsarn smallholding were mauled in the middle of the night. Two sheep were killed while more have disappeared from the smallholding where the owner - who ...
cambrian-news.co.uk
FEARS have been raised that a big cat may be on the loose in south Ceredigion after sheep at a Talsarn smallholding were mauled in the middle of the night. Two sheep were killed while more have disappeared from the smallholding where the owner - who ...
Saturday, 2 March 2013
DAN HOLDSWORTH: I wonder how many times this has been done
http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/winter-fun-with-old-boots.htmlAdd in a couple more prints on the ends of walking sticks, and you have
a way of creating realistic-looking quadruped tracks...
FEATURELINK: How does a lynx cross a fence? Remarkable photos
Rare images of lynx family in Banff National Park
February 2013. Alex Taylor, a human-wildlife conflict specialist who works for Parks Canada, was sent to intervene to help keep a lynx and her kitten off the highway near Canada's Lake Louise in Banff National Park. While on the scene, Alex snapped an incredibly rare sequence of images of the animals as they crossed highway fencing.
"As the pictures clearly portray, lynx are incredibly agile and flexible animals - this sequence is nothing short of stunning," said Omar McDadi, a Parks Canada Communications Officer. "We believe this is the first time lynx have been captured on film crossing highway fencing in this fashion."
Lynx sightings in Banff National Park are rare, though last March a lynx was snapped using one of the park's wildlife overpasses.
Lynx intrusions on fenced parts of the highway are also rare. Since their installation in 1996, highway fencing and wildlife overpasses and underpasses along the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff National Park have helped reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions by over 80% for large mammals (96% for elk and deer). Wildlife fencing has also helped make the Trans-Canada Highway safer for drivers by preventing collisions and reducing property damage.
US SIGHTINGS: Black cougar sightings have Waco neighborhood on alert
Black
cougar sightings have Waco neighborhood on alert
Waco Tribune-Herald
After her experience, Bickly said she and her husband sat on their back deck for a while with deer rifles just in case the big cats came around the house and spooked their horses. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department website, there are ...
Waco Tribune-Herald
After her experience, Bickly said she and her husband sat on their back deck for a while with deer rifles just in case the big cats came around the house and spooked their horses. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department website, there are ...
UK SIGHTINGS: Police warn of 'panther' after cat sighting in Norwich
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