Big cats roaming UK ‘feasible’ says expert as beast with ‘muscular shoulders’ spotted

Big cats[1] could be on the prowl throughout the British countryside, according to experts after a recent sighting of a creature[2] with “muscular shoulders”. Some scientists have recently indicated wild big cats[3] are not just figments of the imagination, but instead could be prevalent across Britain. Paul MacDonald, from the Scottish[4] Big Cat Research Team, says they maintain a confidential list of sightings to shield the animals from potential harm or hunters.

In the last few weeks there have been several reports from areas of Worcestershire about a “panther-like” beast which many speculate is responsible for the mauling of a lamb. Substantial paw prints were left behind. There have been a number of sightings along the Worcestershire-Gloucestershire fringes for the last three three decades and the latest one features a purported big cat snapped between Burcot and Blackwell.

An image was shared by an anonymous member on the Evesham and Villages Big Cat Group Facebook[5] page last week.

Best grooming advent calendars for men 2024 including LookFantastic and Rituals[6]A photo of a black animal, said to be a big cat (CornwallLive/BPM)

The snapshot offers a glimpse of an animal exhibiting feline finesse muscular shoulders, a slim, tan-coloured body and an impressively long, dark tail all stealthily positioned at the field’s brink. Commenters were quick to point out the creature seemed too ‘long and muscular to be’ a normal cat. The person who shared the footage initially mistook the beast for a fox when they caught sight of it in a field near a village, far from any motorway.

While some suggested it might be an otter, there was chatter about it possibly being one of the legendary big cats rumoured to roam the region.

University of Surrey’s big cat expert and Lecturer in Ecology and Conservation, Tara Pirie, spoke to Radio Hereford and Worcester: “I think it is highly feasible, I’ve been a safari guide in South Africa for 10 years so I got up close and personal with leopards, lions, cheetah and as far as I’m aware we’re still allowed to have one of these big cats and it to have escaped or it to have been actually let loose.”

She added, “Big cats are highly adaptable, there’s food, there’s water, there’s a lot of cover, so in my mind there’s absolutely no reason that a big cat could[nt] be roaming the country.”

References

1. ^ cats (www.mirror.co.uk)
2. ^ sighting of a creature (www.mirror.co.uk)
3. ^ wild big cats (www.mirror.co.uk)
4. ^ Scottish (www.mirror.co.uk)
5. ^ Facebook (www.mirror.co.uk)
6. ^ Best grooming advent calendars for men 2024 including LookFantastic and Rituals (www.mirror.co.uk)