Dog walker: I've seen a big cat in Woodchester Park
A PROFESSIONAL dog walker has spoken of her shock after she confronted a suspected big cat.
Sarah Johnson was in Woodchester Park when she came across the find last Monday.
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Sarah Johnson
"I'm pretty sure I saw something," said Sarah, who was walking her own working cocker and American cocker at the time.
"I thought it was a black Labrador at first, with it's tail up.
"It was a good 100 yards in front and I walked on but it had gone.
"It was a very brief sighting but it didn't behave like a dog in the way it walked and the way it reacted to my dogs."
Mrs Johnson, from Dursley, walks up to eight miles a day in Woodchester Park, three or four times a week.
The week before she made the sighting she met two national newspaper reporters in the woods, hunting for the black cat which is rapidly turning from myth to reality.
Another dog walker has also reported finding the savaged leg of a deer in Uplands, Stroud, last Wednesday.
Big cat tracker Frank Tunbridge was put in touch with both by The Citizen and is investigating.
"A leg was found near Uplands Park," said Mr Tunbridge.
"It was most probably a big cat – they will eat down so far, then leave it and the rest will be scavenged."
There have now been at least seven reports of either big cats or savaged suspected victim carcasses in recent weeks.
The first find to spark public interest, a carcass on National Trust land at Boundary Farm near Woodchester Park is now believed to be one of three in the area in the same week.
DNA samples were taken from the carcass by Dr Robin Allaby, associate professor at the School of Life Sciences at the University of Warwick. Samples were also taken from another site near Dursley where a deer was killed on New Year's Day, and a large black cat has been seen by residents in recent months.
Then, a woman walking her dog between Whiteway and Rendcomb came across the mutilated carcass of a roe deer on Tuesday, January 10.
And on Thursday, January 12 a dog walker saw a black panther-like creature near the Ram Inn, South Woodchester.
Then on Thursday, January 19, we reported on another carcass find at the new Cooper's Edge development, a housing estate in Brockworth.
Shocked workers on the development said they were sceptical about big cats until now.
It remains the most urban area to have had a report.
Mr Tunbridge, who has documented hundreds of sightings and carcass finds over decades in the county, was hopeful of getting DNA evidence from the Cooper's Edge deer carcass.
He was not surprised to hear of another sighting in the Woodchester area.
"It seems to be coming back to that zone," he said.
"They are attracted by dogs.
"Typically, they would not go for a pack of dogs but they might stalk one or two if the chance arose."
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by bigcatman
Tuesday, January 31 2012, 4:33PM
“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.
Historically there have been sightings within the UK for hundreds of years. These though go hand in hand with observations of faeries, dragons and elves. Time and again the reason for the 'presence' of wild big cats in Britain is because they were released after the 1976 Dangerous Wild Animal Act became law. The implication is that the private owners of various 'Panther' type cats rather than meeting the requirements of the law or hand the animals over to a zoo took them out and released them into the wild.
In 2011 it is 35 years since 1976 Dangerous Wild Animal Act and the chances of any released animal still surviving are between nil and impossible. The argument is then put forward that the animals which people spot today were born in the wild. Assuming that there were animals released and they were in the vicinity of each other then there is a remote possibility that they got together and bred. It is however highly unlikely.
In all of the dozens of sightings which have occurred there has yet for a convincing photograph to be taken. There has been no 'proof' whatsoever. There have been investigations by both private and Defra scientists. Information has been collected and pooled together. Nothing has been proved.
I have provided measurements, plaster casts of paw prints, hair and whiskers for DNA analysis. I have examined several carcases of animals presumed to have been killed by Big Cats. I have seen the damage that domestic and feral dogs can do to livestock. The day someone shows me a sheep carcase in the upper branches of a tree I may just possibly change my mind.
I have even attended the place, along with the police, where Big Cats have been sighted. I have spoken to people of presumably sound and sober mind who were convinced by what they have seen. I still don't believe.
Within the zoo world there are stories which pass around and never ever hit the press. True or not, who knows? Zoo Keepers are an itinerant lot and such stories are inclined to change and be embellished as they pass down the line. A lot of zoos have closed since 1976 as have laws and practices. Not every zoo owner was good and there are possible scenarios which occurred.
There is no question that some smaller cats have escaped from somewhere. I have seen photographs of a Jungle Cat that was hit by a car and heard of others. The smaller Leopard Cats too. If rumours are true a Puma and a Lynx were captured alive. Another lynx was hit by a car. Isolated and very rare incidents but no convincing proof”
by omorley
Monday, January 23 2012, 11:47PM
“Professional dog walker? Well I have a dog and walk it everyday and I reckon I do it pretty well, guess that makes me one too!”
by LordGagas
Monday, January 23 2012, 10:58PM
“good add for her”
by Library_User
Monday, January 23 2012, 10:49PM
“"I'm pretty sure I saw something" - er, not very specific.”
by pickle2010
Monday, January 23 2012, 10:29PM
“still waiting for those dna results ..why?”