The English Midlands seem to be the favourite hotspot for mystery cats this summer. The anatomy of the press interest in such hotspots is almost as interesting as the cats themselves, and I thinkv that if we could understand this mechanism it would tell us an awful lot about how the modern media machine works. this is not to say, however, that these animals do not exist. There is too much evidence to the contrary.
This story, which broke a few days ago, took the Internet by storm. It was originally claimed that this was a creature that looked like a leopard, but it is simple, when you zoom into it, to see it’s nothing of the sort. It is either a serval, or – more likely – a Savannah Cat, which is a domestic breed produced by crossing domestic cut with servals. They cost a fortune, and seem to have a tendency to escape given half a chance.
And so the Welsh wild big cat reports continue to come in. Again, I would like to stress that the important thing is not whether or not these cats are there. We know they are. But the two big questions that need answering are what species they are? and what effect they having on the ecosystem as a whole? If I were a betting man, and betting is one of the few vices I have never had, I would say that the results on the ecosystem are going to be good ones across the board. JD
A series of reports in the West Midlands have been reported to the police, and have fuelled another bite of “big cat fever“. Having investigated some of these reports over the years, I think it is very likely that there is a small breeding colony of big cats of some species in the region. The most interesting thing to me, to find out what species they actually are, and most importantly of all, what the effect is on of them upon the local ecosystem. We wiped out all our major predators centuries ago, the last one to go being the Gray wolf in the 16th century and in Ireland in the 17th century, and before that the Eurasian lynx between 400 and 800 years before. so we have a very unnatural ecosystem with lacks large predator, and my suspicion is that if the ecosystem now has a large predator in the shape of pumas or black leopards, it is actually going to repair the ecosystem, rather than do it any harm. JD
I have always been interested in the Florida Panther. It is, by the way, not a panther at all, but the subspecies of puma which is critically endangered. i have always had a theory that the black mystery cats which turn up in Britain and across Europe might be melanistic pumas. The puma is not supposed to be able to produce a melanistic colour morph, but I have often wondered whether a severely depleted gene pool might act as a situation whereby such a colour morph might be produced. Thus, I am particularly interested in the Florida pumas because they are undeniable an extremely limited gene pool. However, it has to be said, that I have seen no proof that they are producing such a colour morph, but I live in hope. JD
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The Centre for Fortean Zoology is the Anglophone world’s largest and longest standing mystery animal research group.
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Wild panther ‘spotted in Wales’ – FemaleFirst
FemaleFirst
In a report filed to Puma Watch – an organisation that logs sightings of big cats around Wales – Shaun explained: “I was going for my morning walk …
Big cat attack suspected in death of Powys livestock | County Times
County Times
It has been revealed that Powys was the site of one of two suspected big cat attacks in Wales over the last five years
Escape of big cat belonging to Germany’s ‘Tiger Queen’ shatters peace of small town – The Guardian
The Guardian
Gardeners tending to allotments were terrified to see animal roaming wild after mauling one of its keepers – but critics have long been concerned.
JUST IN CASE YOU DIDN’T KNOW
The Centre for Fortean Zoology is the Anglophone world’s largest and longest standing mystery animal research group.
* You can find us at cfz.org.uk
*. We stream a biweekly show on Youtube called On the Track
*. Follow this link to subscribe to our free monthly newsletter