Talk:British big cats

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[edit] Physical evidence

Just going by the info on this page alone, it seems strange that every documentry you see on British big cats always say there has yet to be proof of their existance in the wild. Also the government denies that they exist even after the following proven cases:

Captures, road kills, shootings and skeletal remains

  • "Felicity the Puma" was captured by farmer Ted Noble at Cannich, Inverness-shire, Scotland in 1980. Her capture followed a string of sightings from the area, and they continued after her capture. She lived out her days as a tourist attraction at the Highland Wildlife Park, Kinguisse. There remains some controversy over whether she had ever been "wild" for any period of time. After her death she was stuffed and mounted and is now on display in the Inverness Museum, Inverness, Highland.
  • In July 2005 a farmer in North Devon discovered a skull belonging to a large cat, and has since been identified as that of a Puma. It is currently being examined. It follows many reports of cats in the area (Beast of Exmoor), and even a report of a farmer shooting and later burying a Puma.
  • A Eurasian Lynx was shot in summer 1991 near Norwich, Norfolk. It had killed around 15 sheep within two weeks. The story was only reported in 2003, and the Lynx is apparently owned by taxidermy collector in Suffolk. For many years the cat was considered to have been a hoax, particularly by the hunting community. But in March 2006 a police report confired that the case was true. It was a probably escapee from a facility in the area that bred animals including Eurasian Lynxes.
  • A Clouded Leopard, a rare cat species from the tropics, escaped in Kent in 1975. She was shot nine months after and had fed on rabbits and lambs in the meantime.
  • A Jungle Cat (presumably killed by a vehicle collision) was found at the side of the road near Ludlow, Shropshire, in 1989. It was rumored that the cat mated with farm cats in the area and produced offspring. One cat, called "Jasper" had all the characteristics of a hybrid.
  • A Leopard Cat was shot by Stuart Skinner on the Isle of Wight after mistaking it for a fox taking his poultry. However it was not reported immediately due to their fact that he thought he had shot a protected species.
  • A Eurasian Lynx was captured in Golders Green, Greater London in 2001 after a witness reported "a leopard sat on her garden wall". The Lynx was captured and later taken to London Zoo.
  • Another Caracal was shot by a RUC marksman in Fintona, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland in 1996.
  • A Puma was shot in 1987 by police officers near to the Greenwich Observatory, Greater London.
  • Another Jungle Cat was killed as it crossed the road at Hayling Island, Hampshire in 1988.
  • Also in 1988 a Leopard Cat was shot and killed by a farmer at Widecombe-in-the-Moor, Dartmoor, Devon.
  • In May 1980, a dead Lioness was found in a lake near a disused railway quarry in St Helens, Lancashire.
  • In the late 1970s, a Puma was caught near the Civic Centre in Barnstaple, Devon.

I think thats proof enough, although the case in 1980 of the dead Lioness in the lake did turn out to have had something tied to it and it had been drowned.


Re: Yes, many people refuse to beleive the evidence and many go unconfirmed as people immediatley dissmiss them. Thanks for info on the lioness - i did not know that it had drowned. --Greenfinch100 17:13, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Could you cite the sources for all these sightings? 193.118.251.61 14:15, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

I stayed on the farm in widecombe in the moor many times as a child on holiday. After a few years and once we had gained the trust of the farmer he talked about the leopard he shot and showed us a newspaper clipping. The leopard was taken to paighton zoo where it was identified. The leopard was after his animals so he shot it. However, he received death threats and negative attention after this. He told me after this the local farmers keep it quiet if they kill anything, but there are lots of big cats making kills up on the moor, and many local farmers know they exist but dont want the publicity. There is def evidence out there, trouble is it gets lost in the fog of time. But i know the widecombe leapard was real as i saw a photo that was in the paper of the time and talked to the guy who shot it. [jackboy29].

[edit] Neutrality

This article strongly argues the existence of British big cats, as opposed to presenting encyclopaedic information on them. I point to quotes like "Unfortunately also, a few people have attempted to fake evidence, and handed the fake pictures to the press", or "However, more and more evidence suggests that they do exist and are growing in number". It doesn't adhere to WP:NPOV. Seegoon 18:08, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Being the creator of the article i suppose i am to blame - i will try and make it less biased and any help would be appreciated - --Greenfinch100 10:59, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
There seems to be some confusion with the use of the word 'existence' here. There is documented evidence of the sporadic escape or release of exotic felids in Britain, and it is possible that there is an occasional breeding event between, say, an exotic small felid and a domestic cat, but there is absolutely no real evidence for viable breeding populations of exotics, and no reason to make the leap from the former to the latter. So 'existence' in this case is occasional rather than ongoing; there could well be periods (between one escape-and-recapture, or escape-and-death, event and the next) when there is no existence of any free exotic felid in the country. Maias 03:47, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

Many parts of this article, particularly the 'Sightings' section are basically an advert for groups who are interesting in the sightings, such as Big Cats in Britain. Nightside eclipse 18:48, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

I've edited some paragraphs for neutrality and even added a little extra skepticism, and I now judge the article to be reasonably neutral, and have removed the POV box. If somebody disagrees, then please put it back and explain why.--Farry (talk) 21:38, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Government involvement

The article says DEFRA made a statement in 1991 - but DEFRA was only formed in 2001. Totnesmartin 16:19, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

DEFRA made a statement about a Lynx that was shot in 1991 in 2006 - confused yet?--Greenfinch100 09:19, 5 November 2006 (UTC)


[edit] 'Evidence against'

This part of the article contains refutation of evidence. There is not such a thing as evidence against something. --80.56.36.253 09:41, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Captures, road kills, shootings and skeletal remains

Isn't this a bit long for a subsection title? How about just "Captures and remains", which says the same thing? Details of remains belong in the text, rather than the title, I feel. Totnesmartin 12:17, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm slowly learning that if you want something done round these yer paaarts, you've got to do it yourself... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Totnesmartin (talk • contribs) 18:56, 23 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] References and sources

Could somebody please insert [citation needed] where they think references/sources are needed, so as they can be put in. thanks Greenfinch100 15:20, 18 February 2007 (UTC)