LINKIE

It seems that very large cats have been spotted in the smaller towns/villages
of West Lancashire in northern England.

What's scary, is that I live around about 10 mins drive from the southernmost
ones.

Eeeek!!

*lol* The The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) said something about planning a field trip to Devon to spot Big Cats in late July I think. I think I'll pass.

Yeah, come to my back garden and bring your binoculars instead...

I saw one in west yourkshire out side keighley, i was walking the dog with my mum and it came ambling through the trees its tail was as long as its body and its eyes were big and yellow. soon after it appeared my dog chased it off.

im glad it wasnt in a fighting mood

I think these are just about the most belivable cryptids BUT I still have my doubts.

I find it strange that more sheep haven't been killed or that they aren't seen more frequesntly.

I doubt they are breeding because the British weather isn't compatable to the tropical areas they originate from - but having said that any released could probably survive for a while

Can you give me the location and when you saw this... I live a stone throw from Keighley. PS... Welcome to UM.

why doesnt britain just send in teams of people to tranqulize the cats? :/

yeh, if u got the swtomach to track a ABC....

Beacuase we don't know that they're there.

There was a guy came over from Alaska (a tracker) and was taken to one of the hotspots where hunters claimed to have seen the cats-he just walked around saying "dog,dog,dog" he also rubbished all the photographic evidence of sheep kills as being down to dogs.

If we had a resident population they would be seen far more often therfore the government won't justify spending taxpayers money on chasing phantom cats about.

it was in silsden in a place we called bluebell woods.

its up at the top of northstreet on the way to braithwaite. but last i went up there it was all closed off.

oh yeah it might be easier for me to tell you the location is near a large dam.

Thanks for that, I know the place well and will definately have a nosey.

can you still get down there?

about a year ago i went back for a visit with my new bloke and wanted to take him there to see if we could see it and we got sent back by a farmer saying the foot path had been closed

I don't know what the access is at the moment but I will get down there, that won't be a problem.

lol good luck hope you see him i only saw him once and i was about 6 years old i dunno if he has a family hehe

Well, I guess all those big cats we have in zooz over here must be zombies then...

Cats are very adaptable creatures, and their survival isn't dependant on whether or not they're in a tropical or temperate zone...in fact, they're quite capable of surviving here. So long as they have a food supply (which is pretty plentiful) there's no reason to assume the population couldn't be breeding.



Good for the tracker. But it's already been established that, by and large, the livestock deaths credited to big cats aren't killed in the same manner a dog would have done so. Most of the victims suffer a single punch like blow to the body, which actually tears open the ribs, with teeth and claw marks being just an anchor hold. This is the prefered method for a variety of big cats.

I'd say there's no doubt whatsoever that there are, in fact, big cats in the UK...the only question to be asked is what numbers they're present in, and whether or not they're breeding. I am skeptical that there's anything like a stable population of them, although there have been a few sightings of an adult with cubs.

I have said this before.. Big cats are here, there is enough evidence to support that.. I for one have no objections. Since the law changed back in 77/78 many that had to submit their animals decided to release them into the wild rather than submit them to the autorities.. I also welcome the introduction of wolves back into the UK.

Seraphina, all the evidence I've seen of sheep kills is of the throat being torn out - thats dog not cat. Add to this the fact I've never heard of the prey being found in a tree (indicative of big cats, certainly panthers) and i'm struggling to see many instances of ABCs killing sheep. Quite often there is only a single kill again, not Cat behavior- they have a territory (huge admittedy) and visit known food sources in there.

I stand by my comment about breeding, your reference to zoo's is irrelevant ans breeding cats have heated dens. Cat that used to the tropics couldn't survive in the UK , its metabolism simply isn't suited to it. Cougars, yes but the creature reported are usually black cats.

I'd agree with your summation, i think theres no doubt some morons released big cats but you'd have to be talking huge numbers for a viable population to be established. The released cat probably died of starvation after a few sightings and the trend continues.