"Big cat" sighting near Dursley stuns mum and daughter

“No big cats here, just big egos and self proclaimers who want to pretend, bad enough having rambo run about the fields and towns with combat trousers, knives on his belt and looking like Benny from Crossroads Motel! MonsterQuest with them rubbishing these UK gib cat groups and making Frank look like a wierdo, as well as the rest of these way-out fantasy freaks...

Have a read and a good laugh at this by Null Hypothesis:

Big Cats: The Hidden Truth

By Dr. Claude de Curtains
Purrbeck College, London.

Nowadays it's all about having the latest mobile phone, but back in the 1960s it was all about having an exotic pet (Perry, 2002). Owning a leopard or panther was not only fashionable it was also legal.

You could even stroll down the street with your big cat on a lead and take it to the local park ("Look, squirrel, fetch"). However, in 1976 someone important decided that this was a bad idea.

The owners had three options: get a license, get a syringe full of nasty stuff from the vet or set the animals free; the latter option was actually legal until 1981.

It was considered that these animals would have no problem surviving in the wild and this theory is supported by the increasing number of big cat sightings in Britain over the last twenty years

A national survey recently recorded over 2000 unconfirmed sightings of big cats in just over 12 months (Bamping, 2004). Of these, two thirds were large black cats (melanistic leopards) and if confirmed, the British leopard population now rivals that of the Kashmir region of the subcontinent (Owen, 2004).

It has been suggested that Ian Fleming, the author of the famous James Bond books, predicted this big cat phenomenon back in the 1964, but his theory was mooted by scientists. It is believed that he named his leading lady ***** Galore in the book Goldfinger as a silent protest.

Web pages run by avid cryptozoologists (people who study unverified animals) are springing up all over the place (but mainly on the internet). This survey aimed to re-analyse old data to test for a missing link in the occurrence of the big cat sightings.

Members of the public who were on record as having sighted a mystery big cat were re-interviewed about their sighting. Information was collated on time of day, date, weather conditions, grid co-ordinates of the location together with features of the local area.

In addition, a profile of the individual recorder was achieved with the help of criminologists, brought in for their expert knowledge of building profiles of dodgy looking people.

A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was run because it sounded dead cool. We aimed to test the null hypothesis: There is no way any of these sightings were made up.


A total of 274 people were interviewed concerning unverified big cat sightings. There was no regional bias in the distribution of sightings with 42% from Scotland, 49% from England and 44% from Wales. The sex ratio of recorders was 47 % female, 52% male and 1% from Lincolnshire. A selection of variables generated from the interviews are summarised below:

- 2% were dog owners
- 8% believed in the Loch Ness Monster
- 13% claimed to have witnessed a UFO encounter
- 9% believed England would win the next Football World Cup
- 17% had an Arts degree
- 63% of sightings were made in the fog
- 89% owned a guest house or newsagent within a mile of the sighting
- 97% of sightings were within 2 miles of a pub
- 80% said their cats preferred Whiskers
- 9% were students (of which 76% were pesky)
Contrary to the Teddy Bears picnic (Kennedy, 1930), if you go down to the woods today there's fat chance of a big surprise. The notion of big cats roaming around the British countryside is as laughable as it is ludicrous. Our study suggests the chances of bumping into a leopard in your local wood are 1 in 6 billion. You are three thousand times more likely to step in a dead hedgehog and stand an equal chance of being struck by a microlight.”

“Antiwinsor.. Their are in fact bunnies that do attain huge proportions only they do not breed in our countryside....They are grown abroad for the food chain unfortunately, however if one was seen over here in the wild,then it would definately be reported and a search followed through. Cats however only attain a certain size according to a particuliar species or environmental factor so as to aid with their overall survival in the wild. although some domestics can really get quite big. :).”

“Newspaper reports of Big Cat Sightings in Britain are a fairly regular occurrence. Like UFO's, visits by Aliens and Ghosts they strike the imagination. They make popular stories and will sell papers. Such observations do tend to occur in clusters so that the various spectral cats are given their own special names such as the Beast of Bodmin Moor, The Beast of Bolton, The Crystal Palace Puma and more. It would seem that no area of the British Isles has not had a visit from one of these mythical beasts at one time or another.



Invariably some 'expert' will state that the big cat is a 'Panther'. The moment that the word 'Panther' is used I would call the expertise into question. No zoo personnel working with Big Cats in captivity would ever call a cat a Panther. This is not to dispute that the word does not exist because it does. Lions are Panthera leo. Tigers are Panthera tigris and the Leopards are Panthera pardus. Of the three the only one likely to be called a Panther is the Leopard and then only if it was a melanistic or black leopard. If it were it would be called a 'Black Panther' and NOT simply a Panther. There again within the zoo world the big cat keepers are much more likely to refer to these animals as Black Leopards. There are black Jaguars too Panthera onca and once again they would be called Black Jaguars and NOT Panthers. None experts use the term 'Panther'. The same so called experts may actually go on to state that the animal was Puma-like. The Puma or Cougar is not a Panthera cat and as far as I am aware there have only been two recorded cases of black Pumas, one in Brazil in 1843 and one in Costa Rica in 1959.

These experts tend to be associated with groups dedicated to proving the existence of wild Big Cats in Britain. One cannot help to admire their aims. It is an interesting hobby, gets one out into the countryside and demands a deal of research and scrutiny of reports. It is not a bad hobby to have. Some take it a lot more seriously than others.

Peter Dickinson hubpages...

Here are what some real experts said regarding the Helenburgh Big Cat sighting:

"But experts have examined the shaky footage and say the animal's characteristics are typical of a domestic cat.

Rob Weaver, a BBC wildlife presenter and film-maker, said it would be very unusual for a big cat to calmly walk around in a public place.

"The small, almost dainty steps the creature takes along the rail are not characteristic of a puma, or a similar big cat, which tend to have a far more loping gait," he said.

Dr Luke Hunter, executive director of Panthera, a big-cat charity in New York, also said he was certain the beast was really a plump moggy.

He said that big cats such as black panthers do not walk about with upright tails – unlike the animal in the footage.

Graham Law, a zoologist at Glasgow University who has worked with leopards for 23 years, also said the animal was more likely to be of the domestic variety.

He said: "The video isn't of a good enough quality to verify exactly what the animal is. A leopard would not confidently walk down a railway line. It would more likely move along the sleepers or stay in heavily forested areas.

"People like the idea of believing there's a mysterious beast roaming around, which is why the sighting may have been hyped up a bit."”

“Here's to those determined big cat trackers in Gloucestershire with their night vision goggles, telephoto lenses and recording equipment.















They have quite rightly dismissed recent DNA tests on a deer carcass that claim a fox was responsible. Why would a fox attack something that wasn't in a bin liner?

The incidents began a few weeks back when various weekend residents of pretty Cotswold villages found their City bonuses mauled and strewn across the lawn. Anxious parents brought forward the dates of their children's BCG jab – the so-called Big Cat Guard booster – and everyone began logging onto Big Cat Monitors.co.uk which, incidentally, is a genuine website and not the superstore in which your average puma around town buys his flat-screen TV.

The sightings are by no means restricted to the south, of course. Scotland has enjoyed more than its fair share, since many big cats have relocated to the north, attracted by its wide open spaces, discarded pizza boxes and opportunity to take part in referendums.

In 2004 there were stories about the Coulport Cougar, seen near Loch Long. In 2007, the Ban***hire Journal carried a breathless report about a "big, black, panther-like animal" that was seen near the Banff Links, although sadly no mention was made of its handicap. In 2009, another panther-sized big cat was seen walking along the railway line in Helensburgh. Shaun Stevens, a researcher for Big Cats in Britain – another genuine body, in case you're wondering, and not a list of the nation's millionaires – commented: "Knowing the width of the rail tracks in the video is four feet, eight-and-a-half inches, the animal photographed is clearly in excess of four feet." This statement sent members of Panthers, Railways and Train Timetables into paroxysms of joy. Or would have done if such a group existed.

The video footage of these and other sightings is oddly compelling. Often you hear nothing but the sound of the wind, or the breathing of the person holding the mobile or camera. Then the creature appears, walking along the top of a dry stone dyke, or skulking at the edge of a field. We want these stories to be true, want something untamed to be out there, free. Big cats, Big Foot, the Yeti, all of them. Instead, we just have the Not Yeti, so familiar to parents. "Have you done your homework?" You know the response.”

“Penny. If you want to believe in your big cat myth then that's fine. The fact is and this is a fact based on research, based on science and professionals who do this as a job and not for their own belief and super-ego, the fact is that there are no big cats wild and native to these shores of the UK. It is very true that the UK does have its fair share of mass populations of domestic cats and, there are well-known small numbers of mix hybrid small cross bred cats which have entered our country through the lack of good welfare and kinship. Such animals costing many tens of thousands of pounds have been known to be about. No one is differeing or even discounting this fact and especially that. Regarding can big cats live here in the UK? Of course, but not everywhere and each area of our UK cannot hold such big cats nor can there be.
Your own website and that of your groups are very heresay, fine if you want to believe, fine if you want to post your camera shots of foxes and domestic cats and of deer etc. As to fact against fantasy, mere heresay, poor images, very lacking and very emotive evidence from that person or this person when in fact those have no facts whatsoever.... Non-believer, yes that is what I am. And until evidence, proof and real fact has been shown and that clarity and fool-proof methodology along with data testing and testing from professionals are given and then scrutinised, then sadly this myth will continue to be just a myth.
"But experts have examined the shaky footage and say the animal's characteristics are typical of a domestic cat.

Rob Weaver, a BBC wildlife presenter and film-maker, said it would be very unusual for a big cat to calmly walk around in a public place.

"The small, almost dainty steps the creature takes along the rail are not characteristic of a puma, or a similar big cat, which tend to have a far more loping gait," he said.

Dr Luke Hunter, executive director of Panthera, a big-cat charity in New York, also said he was certain the beast was really a plump moggy.

He said that big cats such as black panthers do not walk about with upright tails – unlike the animal in the footage.

Graham Law, a zoologist at Glasgow University who has worked with leopards for 23 years, also said the animal was more likely to be of the domestic variety.

He said: "The video isn't of a good enough quality to verify exactly what the animal is. A leopard would not confidently walk down a railway line. It would more likely move along the sleepers or stay in heavily forested areas.

"People like the idea of believing there's a mysterious beast roaming around, which is why the sighting may have been hyped up a bit.

There are no native big cats let alone big cats wild and breeding, this is indeed just a work of fantasy. So if you want to continue then fine, but the facts speak for themselves. As for this and that, this was found or that was found. Sorry but that is just not good enough. Frank, the tracker who has never found any let alone tracked any big cats, self-proclaimer who has a super-ego. Fantasy players just like him and these big cat UK groups fit into the same mould..mere fantasy and no fact. So, if you want to believe then fine, carry on...”

“A lot of ranting from a total non believer..Possibly if people are trying to prove their existance then you could prove they do not exist...:)”

“Antiwinsor, I have an oversized black and white cat that I could possibly pass off as a panda. But as she is bone idle and rarely ventures off the bed there wouldn't be many reported sightings !!”

“This 'big cat' sighting was of a cat that carried its tail pointing straight up. It's domestic moggies, not big cats, that often carry their tail high. This point has been made by therealcat, but I thought that I'd emphasise it. Frank Tunbridge should know this, but does he?”

“Has anyone reported oversized squirrels, rabbits or hedgehogs? Why are the sightings of oversized animals are almost always cats? If it was really down to optical illusions and misidentified animals wouldn't there be some variety?
When an old Gloucestershire railwayman was told of a big cat sighting he said, "I've seen plenty of them, some close enough to touch". He used to see them when he walked home along the railway line at night. The 1976 act that saw many cats turned out is only a minor part of the story.
For a different view on the subject search "The White Leopard Society" and read the ATS thread about our native european leopards and the relevance of the white 'horse' of Uffington.”

“For the so-called "big cats in the UK" NONSENSE, watch, listen and understand. Most likey these so called big cat groups and their "experts" and "groupies & oh this is my hobby lot" will say...ah but, we have this here! if that is so then sorry but you are wrong and talk out of your rear ends. Why not engage in Dr. Elbroch and have him examine your so-called "evidence". I am sure he will agree with the rest of the real professionals such as Dr. Hunter and Dr. Law et al. That there are NO big cats free and breeding within the UK as this is just a well-worn out myth and its all nonsense! http://tinyurl.com/d78yddg”