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Beast of Dartmoor mystery SOLVED


jethrofloyd

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He certainly wasn't the only one to release big cats either.  The dangerous animals act was put into force in 1976, however it wasn't illegal to release dangerous animals until the 1980's.  

After the act came into force zoo's quickly became full and numerous ex big cat owners have admitted releasing pets out of desperation.

Interesting but fairly old news. 

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On ‎7‎/‎22‎/‎2016 at 3:15 PM, rashore said:

Awww, those poor kitties :(

these pumas are mountain lions from north America use to the cold and snow.  and so are panthers they are just black

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=puma&qs=n&form=QBIRMH&pq=puma&sc=8-4&sp=-1&sk=

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Black+Mountain+Lion&FORM=RESTAB

 

the reporter should done some research.

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4 hours ago, danielost said:

these pumas are mountain lions from north America use to the cold and snow.  and so are panthers they are just black

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=puma&qs=n&form=QBIRMH&pq=puma&sc=8-4&sp=-1&sk=

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Black+Mountain+Lion&FORM=RESTAB

 

the reporter should done some research.

Actually, pumas and mountain lions are felis concolor, with the Florida Panther being a subspecies of puma concolor. Black panthers are of a different feline species, Panthera pardus or Panthera onca, being jaguars or leopards with black coloring.

Now, while there are lots of panthers pardus and panthera onca displaying melanism, and is what we commonly call black panthers, there haven't been any  felis concolor or puma concolor documented displaying melanism.

So panthers that are just black are not pumas/mountain lions, they are a different species. Though some people do use the tern panther interchangeably.

Perhaps you should have done some research before making your statement daniel.

 

But regardless of which particular species of cat, it's still a shame that the gal released the animals into the wild like that.

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Okay for her to have them in her zoo, but not for anyone else? Shame on her.

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"The farmers don't want the publicity and wouldn't tell you this if you asked but there were a lot of animals lost to the pumas during those years," said Mee. 

That makes no sense ... 

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here is a link with animal names and photos if you follow the links.  you will note that there two couger listings links go the same photos.  then look under p you will note there is only the puma the link also goes the same site.  if look further there is no panther.  a panther is the black color of another cat.  just in I looked up jaguar.

 

http://lib.colostate.edu/wildlife/atoz.php?sortby=Common_Name&letter=P

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It's a nice story, but really, it is just a story. Where are the records that five were shipped and two received? Where is the lady who released them? Without evidence, this story is as valid as the other stories of how a puma could have gotten there. B)

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12 hours ago, Calibeliever said:

"The farmers don't want the publicity and wouldn't tell you this if you asked but there were a lot of animals lost to the pumas during those years," said Mee. 

That makes no sense ... 

Farmers avoid the subject and will put kills down to dog attacks which to be honest a majority are.  What farmers don't want is hoards of journalists and investigators walking through their fields disturbing their live stock even further.

After a possible big cat experience myself about 6 years ago I got to talk to a local farmer who told me quite a bit but only if I promised not to post it or pass on to the investigating groups.  

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I live in the UK and always had the feeling that the Beast Of Bodmin was a released Puma or other big cat. I'm glad to hear the news that it's finally been solved,I'm just hoping that they are left to survive without bogus reports of attacks on farm stock or pets that result in a kill hunt. If they've been there since the 80's like said then they are doing well and should be left alone.

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im a florida resident. i am very familiar with cougars/pumas. the sound they make when they go in heat can be heard for miles. if cougars were breeding anywhere near civilization you would hear them. a cougars life expectancy is 12 years. maybe 25 in captivity. no chance they were released in 1980 and are still alive

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7 hours ago, Cryptozoology1Fan said:

I live in the UK and always had the feeling that the Beast Of Bodmin was a released Puma or other big cat. I'm glad to hear the news that it's finally been solved,I'm just hoping that they are left to survive without bogus reports of attacks on farm stock or pets that result in a kill hunt. If they've been there since the 80's like said then they are doing well and should be left alone.

The article isn't really a solution to this.

I'm very sceptical about the idea of UK big cats, but not entirely closed minded to the early reports. This 'Mirror' article though isn't concrete, it isn't even particularly compelling. 

It's likely we'll never know for sure whether any big cats were ever really released into the British countryside. 

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Well, only very recently a Lynx escape from a zoo and so far has not been found. So it does happen. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-36734796). So if there were no "big" cats on Dartmoor before, there are now :P

Once they get in to the British countryside, it's a needle in a haystack. The fact it's always high humidity here means everything gets over-grown very quickly during the summer and it gets very dense. It's easy for them to hide.

They are actually considering re-introducing Lynx in to the wild here anyway though. Like they have already with Red Kites and Buzzards.

Edited by Finity
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