Plenty of Wallabies here, up on the downs :?: is that English, they escaped from Wipsenade Zoo and have been breeding on the Downs for years.
new, big cat sightings!
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Has any one been to one of the talks Quentin Rose used to give on this subject? He was an ex Zoo keeper who specialised in capturing escaped zoo animals all across Europe also in capturing and moving "probleme" animals in zoos and safari parks ect.
He was probably one of the most knowledgeable persons on feral big cats in the UK. He was respected enough that many local police forces would call him in to investiagte sightings.
From his lectures, I recall him saying that about 95% of sighting/incidents he has investiagted personally or has enough evidence to draw a conclusion, were not cats. In however many years he had been examining "kills" only two or three were conclusively belonging to a big cat and he determined that be the presence and pattern of claw marks on the kill. If I remember correctly he thought there was probably under a dozen Leopard/puma size cats in the country at that time, but with an unknown number of Lynx as well. He really believed that unless something was done by DEFRA, we would have a major problem a few years down the line as numbers increased.
With regards the danger to the public, unless one is wounded or injured in some way, I think its pretty remote. Even in California where this the start of a problem, and where they have a very large and growing population of puma, I would bet statistically, more people die of bees stings. The danger in California could be reduced considerably if the local authorities allowed the hunting puma with hounds to start again, but sadly, I think you will need to see a few joggers or kids killed before that is likely to happen. For more info on known recorded attacks in North America take a lok at:
http://www.cougarinfo.com/attacks3.htm
Finally, just to show what might turn up if if you start using a fox call, see the pic below:
The chap in the picture is an American hunter/guide called JJHack and he called the puma in for a friend and fellow hunter to shoot. The cat went to about 200lbs as I recall and JJ is not a small guy by any stretch. The photo is not doctored in any way, but the same photo has been circulating the Net and the story has "mutated" or morphed to the point its now mentioned in the urban legends website Snoops! JJ is actually a net buddy of mine and I recall him posting the pictures originally.
Regards,
Pete
He was probably one of the most knowledgeable persons on feral big cats in the UK. He was respected enough that many local police forces would call him in to investiagte sightings.
From his lectures, I recall him saying that about 95% of sighting/incidents he has investiagted personally or has enough evidence to draw a conclusion, were not cats. In however many years he had been examining "kills" only two or three were conclusively belonging to a big cat and he determined that be the presence and pattern of claw marks on the kill. If I remember correctly he thought there was probably under a dozen Leopard/puma size cats in the country at that time, but with an unknown number of Lynx as well. He really believed that unless something was done by DEFRA, we would have a major problem a few years down the line as numbers increased.
With regards the danger to the public, unless one is wounded or injured in some way, I think its pretty remote. Even in California where this the start of a problem, and where they have a very large and growing population of puma, I would bet statistically, more people die of bees stings. The danger in California could be reduced considerably if the local authorities allowed the hunting puma with hounds to start again, but sadly, I think you will need to see a few joggers or kids killed before that is likely to happen. For more info on known recorded attacks in North America take a lok at:
http://www.cougarinfo.com/attacks3.htm
Finally, just to show what might turn up if if you start using a fox call, see the pic below:
The chap in the picture is an American hunter/guide called JJHack and he called the puma in for a friend and fellow hunter to shoot. The cat went to about 200lbs as I recall and JJ is not a small guy by any stretch. The photo is not doctored in any way, but the same photo has been circulating the Net and the story has "mutated" or morphed to the point its now mentioned in the urban legends website Snoops! JJ is actually a net buddy of mine and I recall him posting the pictures originally.
Regards,
Pete
Pete E said:
There's a few hunts round here that I'd be happy to export to California, seeing as they serve no purpose here at all !! (If they ever did)
cheers,
Martin
The "official" verdict on wallabies on Staffs moors is that they are extinct....but apparently (accordin to my ecology lecturer) thats more to stop people hunting for them and there may be some left....somewhere....
i've always been very interested in ABCs in the UK - i've had a long range siting of a Puma near Uxbridge (i have exceptionally good eyesight and know for certain what i saw!) plus friends near Lightwater have had a close encounter with a black panther on two occasions in the last 12 months...
Fortean Times (FT) have all their previous ABC articles in the archive section of their site for those who may be interested... it's a great read as sightings include lions and tigers :yikes:
In the current issue of FT there is mention of 2 occasions in 1974 when a total of 100 BABOONS escaped in Shropshire and Co Durham - note that not all of the latter were recaptured :yikes:
Last year 2 pumas escaped from animal parks in Northern Ireland - they were never recaptured
many of you will recall the story of the tigers kept in a New york apartment - well a spin off articl from that one explained that many US states have no laws controlling dangerous animals - it is estimated (cause there are no official figures) that there are 10,000 tigers in the US!!!!
Fortean Times (FT) have all their previous ABC articles in the archive section of their site for those who may be interested... it's a great read as sightings include lions and tigers :yikes:
In the current issue of FT there is mention of 2 occasions in 1974 when a total of 100 BABOONS escaped in Shropshire and Co Durham - note that not all of the latter were recaptured :yikes:
Last year 2 pumas escaped from animal parks in Northern Ireland - they were never recaptured
many of you will recall the story of the tigers kept in a New york apartment - well a spin off articl from that one explained that many US states have no laws controlling dangerous animals - it is estimated (cause there are no official figures) that there are 10,000 tigers in the US!!!!
10,000 tigers in the US? Not a chance! You only have to know something about hunting in the States and the various State wildlife bodies to realise that a population 1/10th of that would be known and being monitored.
The so called "Florida Panther" is a good example of this that has a population a tiny fraction of that at probably only 30 to 50 individuals...
With regards the Lynx in Scotland, I hope it has not been re introduced through the "back door" as to become established it I suspect it will need legal protection.
I don't see a problem with re introducing it as it poses no danger to humans although it might pose a problem to people with live stock. The European lynx is quite a bit bigger than its American cousin and would have no problem taking animals the size of a large calf or even a pony...People say that they will live off deer ect but in reality they will take the easiest prey they can catch which in a lot of cases will be farm stock...
Regards,
Pete
The so called "Florida Panther" is a good example of this that has a population a tiny fraction of that at probably only 30 to 50 individuals...
With regards the Lynx in Scotland, I hope it has not been re introduced through the "back door" as to become established it I suspect it will need legal protection.
I don't see a problem with re introducing it as it poses no danger to humans although it might pose a problem to people with live stock. The European lynx is quite a bit bigger than its American cousin and would have no problem taking animals the size of a large calf or even a pony...People say that they will live off deer ect but in reality they will take the easiest prey they can catch which in a lot of cases will be farm stock...
Regards,
Pete
Back in 1973 / 4 I found a Scottish wildcat that had been run over on the lane going past the farmworkers cottage I lived in at the time in Nottinghamshire. They were supposed to be extinct in England for a long time back then. Plus there have been another couple of road kills to prove that there are big cats in the UK. I'm not sure of the status of the 'Kellas cat' from Scotland, whether it's a hybrid or whatever but some of these are well known.
Unfortunately the usual sighting is made by people with little experience of the kind of wildlife observation and track interpritation that bushcrafters might have.
last year two suspected killers hid in the forests of nottinghamshire for a few weeks and the police knew it was useless to try to find them so an animal that is wary of people is going to be much harder to find.
Unfortunately the usual sighting is made by people with little experience of the kind of wildlife observation and track interpritation that bushcrafters might have.
last year two suspected killers hid in the forests of nottinghamshire for a few weeks and the police knew it was useless to try to find them so an animal that is wary of people is going to be much harder to find.
