Northern Ireland Big Cat Search Abandoned

[UM-Bot]

The police have called off an operation to catch a big cat on the loose in north Antrim after being disturbed by people trying to take photographs of the animal.

People are being asked to stay away from the area near Ballymoney, where the animal, thought to be a puma, has been seen.

View: Full Article | Source: BBC News

[Starlyte]

I'm still a little confused where this cat came from. I'd say that Pumas probably aren't found in abundance in Ireland so, how did this one end up on the island? I didn't know a lot about Pumas so I looked up some info. about them. Here is a link to a brief description of them, their habitats, and what food they prefer. CLICK HERE According the the site it says that Pumas are solitary animals which explains why this one is alone (which I'd also say that would make it a male). Also, it seems they are right in that if it is a Puma then they need to worry more about protecting their livestock than worrying about it attacking humans. They are also some species of Puma on the endangered list so it would be worth it for officials to resume the search after the public gets bored with it, and try to capture the big cat and take it somewhere where it can be protected or at least somewhere more suitable to its habitat (though they can survive in a wide variety of settings).

[Posy]

The law in Northern Ireland regarding dangerous species is very lax. Apparantly anyone can keep a dangerous animal e.g. lion, tiger, puma etc without a license. The USPCA have called for the same laws as the rest of the UK, which has very stringent regulations regarding wild animals in captivity.