Aristocrat warns visitors after 'big cat' photographed on his estate
An aristocrat has put up warning signs for visitors to his estate after a member of his staff photographed a “big cat” prowling through the grounds.
The pictures are blurred but appear to show a large black animal
Baronet Sir Benjamin Slade believes that the creature has already killed
foxes, an otter and some of his chickens, and he fears that it could go on
to attack his prized pedigree sheep, a dog or even a guest.
The “beast” was photographed by the night porter at the 98-acre Maunsel House
estate, near Bridgwater in Somerset, in the early hours of the morning about
a fortnight ago.
Beast of Bodmin sighting in Cornwall in 2008 (Rex Features)
The pictures are blurred but appear to show a large black animal with powerful
haunches walking through a meadow of tall grass and wildflowers.
Sir Benjamin, 67, suggested that the creature might live on the nearby
Somerset Levels and travel to his grounds overnight looking for food.
In recent months he and his staff have found piles of feathers from dead
chickens and the mangled remains of a fox.
He is convinced that the picture shows a big cat, but admitted that it is not entirely clear.
He said: “They don’t exactly stand still and pose, which is the problem. It’s got a long tail and seemed to be quite big.
“Apparently these things will do 30 to 40 miles in a night. We are next to the Somerset Levels, which are 250 miles of fields and bogs where nobody lives.
“There is a possibility that this thing is bigger than a puma – it is probably quite frightening.
“We have put signs up telling people to keep their dogs in the car because there is a big cat about.
“We need this thing out of the way before it eats somebody. I’ve got a wedding business here and we are very worried about our guests – they might wander off piste and get gobbled up.”
Sir Benjamin Slade at Maunsel House in Somerset (Rex Features)
Sir Benjamin said hunters up and down the country had contacted him asking if they could come to his estate to look for the cat.
“I might be able to sell the shooting rights if it goes on like this,” he jokes.
The next time a dead chicken or fox is found, he plans to take samples of hair and droppings from the scene and send them off for DNA analysis.
Danny Bamping, founder of the British Big Cats Society, said it was impossible to tell what the photograph shows.
“Like most pictures of big cats in Britain, it is inconclusive because there is no sense of scale and it is blurry,” he said.
“However, that is not to say that the person who took the picture did not think it was a big cat at the time.”
He noted that there have been a “substantial” number of reported sightings of big cats in Somerset in the past year.
The existence of big cats in the British countryside has been debated for decades. Most of the alleged sightings have come since the Dangerous Wild Animals Act of 1976 made it illegal to keep untamed pets.
Some experts have suggested that this led to owners of exotic cats, such as pumas or lynx, simply releasing their animals into the countryside.
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THE MYSTERY big cat said to be roaming the Tamworth area has been
spotted again, this time by a teacher who says she saw it on the area
known as ‘the Bumpy’ between Glascote and Stonydelph, just yards from
where children played.
Jenna Brindley (28), an English teacher at Tamworth Enterprise College (formerly Belgrave School), was walking her dog on Wednesday July 17 between 6pm and 7pm when she spotted the creature.
She said: “It was about 20 yards away and it stood very
still looking at me. After a good few minutes it slipped away into the
undergrowth.
“It was about 5ft 1in long with jet black prominent ears and when it moved, its movements were like a wild animal.
“I was pretty scared, I was panicking to be honest and I was worried because there were children playing nearby – there is a football pitch just yards away.”
PC Ellie Sewell is a wildlife officer with Tamworth police. She said: “This sighting has not been reported to me and we have had no reports of cats or dogs going missing.
“I will let patrols in the area know about this. I’ve never seen the big cat, but if there is one out there, I would urge people to be vigilant.
“They should not approach it, but should try to get a photo of it if they can, so we can determine whether it is on the Bumpy.
“ If you think you may have seen it, please report it to the police and don’t panic, there is plenty of wildlife for it to eat, so it’s not going to start attacking people. Like any wild animals it does not want to be near people and it will keep its distance.”
Have you seen the big cat? email helen.machin@cintamworth.co.uk or find me on twitter: @HelenMHerald
A history of big cat sightings in Tamworth, from the Herald files
Big cat sightings are not unusual in this part of the world. Here are a selection from the Herald files:
In February 2012, a young couple claimed to have seen a panther-like big cat in Dordon.
In January 2012 Dog walker Michael Greatrex photographed giant paw prints in a field off Boulters Lane in Wood End.
In December 2011 a 69-year-old Austrey woman claimed she saw a big cat in Warton Lane.
Also in December 2011 , Wood End woman Karen Rooke said she spotted the beast in the Boulters Lane/Gypsy Lane area.
In November 2011, police officer DC Sarah Anderson was out walking her dog in fields between Baddesley Ensor and Baxterley when she first saw the beast. She then saw it again two days later.
Weeks earlier, train driver Jake Medley was cycling close to midnight in the Shuttington area when a “big black cat” ran across the road.
A panther-like cat was seen in Measham in November 2010.
In September 2010, a Whittington man saw a golden big cat run from Hopwas Woods.
In July 2010, a big cat was spotted in Bonehill, fitting the description of a melanistic leopard.
In June 2010, a Dosthill man reported seeing a stripy big cat close to Hedging Lane.
In November 2009, the Herald reported on how TNT employee Gemma Capostagno was walking on Baddesley Common when she spotted the creature.
In October 2009, motorist Sue Swift saw what she thought was a large black labrador near Polesworth. When she tried to coax the animal into her car she realised it wasn’t a dog at all – it was what she believed was a puma.
Preston woman Jaki Ryding, aged 43, saw a big cat-like beast from a train between Tamworth and Lichfield on Thursday, September 3, 2009.
Also in September of 2009, Lisa Urry, of Borough Road, spotted a big cat on the outhouse of a nearby property.
In July 2009, a big cat-like creature was seen by Margaret Locke, the Musical Director of Tamworth Ladies Choir, who lives in Bonehill.
An Austrey woman, who asked not to be identified, told the Herald she saw a big cat on Monday, June 15, 2009, between Appleby and Measham.
Mount Pleasant resident Richard Foort said he had seen such a creature four times in 2009, prowling wasteland near to the river in Two Gates.
A Gillway woman claimed she saw a big cat in the garden of her Hawthorn Avenue home on July 7, 2009.
A Measham couple spotted a creature on their CCTV in April 2009, when it leapt their six-foot garden fence.
In 2008, a 31-year-old says he saw a feline in fields as he walked from No Mans Heath to Austrey.
In 2007, Coton Green man John Ellis reported seeing a big cat just four feet away from him in Wigginton Park.
In 2006, Drayton Manor zoo manager Robin Roberts broke a 15-year silence to admit that he had seen a black leopard roaming free in the area. Mr Roberts, who worked with big cats for more than 40 years, told the Herald how he and a former colleague saw the creature in a local village.
Also in 2006, a gruesome attack near Austrey, in which a pregnant sheep was stripped to the bone, was blamed on a big cat prowling the Tamworth area.
In the same week a woman, who kept horses in fields in Warton, told the Herald she was convinced a big cat was responsible for two vicious attacks on her lame horse, which left it with bite marks to its neck and deep claw marks needing stitches.
In 2004, Linda Rawlins, of Austrey, said she had seen what she believed to be a black panther twice in five days in fields near her home.
In 2003, a farmer and his wife told the Herald how they spotted a big cat when driving between Warton and Grendon at around 10pm.
In 2002, Warton man Simon Rooke said he believed a big cat was responsible for a wound to his pet pointer, Jasper.
Also in 2002, Fred Hopkins, senior ranger at Kingsbury Water Park, confirmed a sighting had been reported of two animals that fitted the description of large cats.
A similar sighting was also reported in 2001, in Water Orton, when a woman said a rottweiller was confronted by black cats.
In 2001, Measham man Graham Pearce claimed he had caught a big cat on video.
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Canadian Lynx : Wiki Commons
The research, published today in the academic journal Historical Biology, establishes the animal as the earliest example of an “alien big cat” at large in the British countryside.
The research team say this provides further evidence for debunking a popular hypothesis that wild cats entered the British countryside following the introduction of the 1976 Wild Animals Act. The Act was introduced to deal with an increasing fashion for exotic – and potentially dangerous – pets.
The academics believe such feral “British big cats” as they are known, may have lived in the wild much earlier, through escapes and even deliberate release. There is no evidence that such animals have been able to breed in the wild.
The study of the Canadian lynx, rediscovered by research team member Max Blake among hundreds of thousands of specimens at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, details records unearthed at the museum which showed the animal had originally been mislabelled by Edwardian curators in 1903 as a Eurasian lynx – a close relative of the Canadian lynx.
The records also showed that the lynx was shot by a landowner in the Devon countryside in the early 1900s, after it killed two dogs.
Co-author Dr Darren Naish, from the University of Southampton, added: “There have been enough sightings of exotic big cats which substantially pre-date 1976 to cast doubt on the idea that one piece of legislation made in 1976 explains all releases of these animals in the UK.
“It seems more likely that escapes and releases have occurred throughout history, and that this continual presence of aliens explains the ‘British big cat’ phenomenon.”
The researchers point out in their paper that Eurasian lynxes existed in the wild in Britain many hundreds of years ago, but had almost certainly become extinct by the 7th century. Laboratory analysis of the Bristol specimen’s bones and teeth established it had been kept in captivity long enough to develop severe tooth loss and plaque before it either escaped or was deliberately released into the wild. Ancient DNA analysis of hair from the lynx proved inconclusive, possibly due to chemicals applied to the pelt during taxidermy.
Julie Finch, head of Bristol’s Museums, Galleries & Archives,
said: “Bristol Museum, Galleries and Archives were pleased to be a part
of this ground-breaking research, which not only highlights the
importance of our science collections, it establishes the pedigree of
our 100-year old Lynx and adds to our knowledge and understanding of
‘big cats’ in the UK.
He is convinced that the picture shows a big cat, but admitted that it is not entirely clear.
He said: “They don’t exactly stand still and pose, which is the problem. It’s got a long tail and seemed to be quite big.
“Apparently these things will do 30 to 40 miles in a night. We are next to the Somerset Levels, which are 250 miles of fields and bogs where nobody lives.
“There is a possibility that this thing is bigger than a puma – it is probably quite frightening.
“We have put signs up telling people to keep their dogs in the car because there is a big cat about.
“We need this thing out of the way before it eats somebody. I’ve got a wedding business here and we are very worried about our guests – they might wander off piste and get gobbled up.”
Sir Benjamin Slade at Maunsel House in Somerset (Rex Features)
Sir Benjamin said hunters up and down the country had contacted him asking if they could come to his estate to look for the cat.
“I might be able to sell the shooting rights if it goes on like this,” he jokes.
The next time a dead chicken or fox is found, he plans to take samples of hair and droppings from the scene and send them off for DNA analysis.
Danny Bamping, founder of the British Big Cats Society, said it was impossible to tell what the photograph shows.
“Like most pictures of big cats in Britain, it is inconclusive because there is no sense of scale and it is blurry,” he said.
“However, that is not to say that the person who took the picture did not think it was a big cat at the time.”
He noted that there have been a “substantial” number of reported sightings of big cats in Somerset in the past year.
The existence of big cats in the British countryside has been debated for decades. Most of the alleged sightings have come since the Dangerous Wild Animals Act of 1976 made it illegal to keep untamed pets.
Some experts have suggested that this led to owners of exotic cats, such as pumas or lynx, simply releasing their animals into the countryside.
source
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jenna Brindley (28), an English teacher at Tamworth Enterprise College (formerly Belgrave School), was walking her dog on Wednesday July 17 between 6pm and 7pm when she spotted the creature.
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A Tamworth teacher believes she spotted a panther-like black cat just yards from where children were playing.
“It was about 5ft 1in long with jet black prominent ears and when it moved, its movements were like a wild animal.
“I was pretty scared, I was panicking to be honest and I was worried because there were children playing nearby – there is a football pitch just yards away.”
PC Ellie Sewell is a wildlife officer with Tamworth police. She said: “This sighting has not been reported to me and we have had no reports of cats or dogs going missing.
“I will let patrols in the area know about this. I’ve never seen the big cat, but if there is one out there, I would urge people to be vigilant.
“They should not approach it, but should try to get a photo of it if they can, so we can determine whether it is on the Bumpy.
“ If you think you may have seen it, please report it to the police and don’t panic, there is plenty of wildlife for it to eat, so it’s not going to start attacking people. Like any wild animals it does not want to be near people and it will keep its distance.”
Have you seen the big cat? email helen.machin@cintamworth.co.uk or find me on twitter: @HelenMHerald
A history of big cat sightings in Tamworth, from the Herald files
Big cat sightings are not unusual in this part of the world. Here are a selection from the Herald files:
In February 2012, a young couple claimed to have seen a panther-like big cat in Dordon.
In January 2012 Dog walker Michael Greatrex photographed giant paw prints in a field off Boulters Lane in Wood End.
In December 2011 a 69-year-old Austrey woman claimed she saw a big cat in Warton Lane.
Also in December 2011 , Wood End woman Karen Rooke said she spotted the beast in the Boulters Lane/Gypsy Lane area.
In November 2011, police officer DC Sarah Anderson was out walking her dog in fields between Baddesley Ensor and Baxterley when she first saw the beast. She then saw it again two days later.
Weeks earlier, train driver Jake Medley was cycling close to midnight in the Shuttington area when a “big black cat” ran across the road.
A panther-like cat was seen in Measham in November 2010.
In September 2010, a Whittington man saw a golden big cat run from Hopwas Woods.
In July 2010, a big cat was spotted in Bonehill, fitting the description of a melanistic leopard.
In June 2010, a Dosthill man reported seeing a stripy big cat close to Hedging Lane.
In November 2009, the Herald reported on how TNT employee Gemma Capostagno was walking on Baddesley Common when she spotted the creature.
In October 2009, motorist Sue Swift saw what she thought was a large black labrador near Polesworth. When she tried to coax the animal into her car she realised it wasn’t a dog at all – it was what she believed was a puma.
Preston woman Jaki Ryding, aged 43, saw a big cat-like beast from a train between Tamworth and Lichfield on Thursday, September 3, 2009.
Also in September of 2009, Lisa Urry, of Borough Road, spotted a big cat on the outhouse of a nearby property.
In July 2009, a big cat-like creature was seen by Margaret Locke, the Musical Director of Tamworth Ladies Choir, who lives in Bonehill.
An Austrey woman, who asked not to be identified, told the Herald she saw a big cat on Monday, June 15, 2009, between Appleby and Measham.
Mount Pleasant resident Richard Foort said he had seen such a creature four times in 2009, prowling wasteland near to the river in Two Gates.
A Gillway woman claimed she saw a big cat in the garden of her Hawthorn Avenue home on July 7, 2009.
A Measham couple spotted a creature on their CCTV in April 2009, when it leapt their six-foot garden fence.
In 2008, a 31-year-old says he saw a feline in fields as he walked from No Mans Heath to Austrey.
In 2007, Coton Green man John Ellis reported seeing a big cat just four feet away from him in Wigginton Park.
In 2006, Drayton Manor zoo manager Robin Roberts broke a 15-year silence to admit that he had seen a black leopard roaming free in the area. Mr Roberts, who worked with big cats for more than 40 years, told the Herald how he and a former colleague saw the creature in a local village.
Also in 2006, a gruesome attack near Austrey, in which a pregnant sheep was stripped to the bone, was blamed on a big cat prowling the Tamworth area.
In the same week a woman, who kept horses in fields in Warton, told the Herald she was convinced a big cat was responsible for two vicious attacks on her lame horse, which left it with bite marks to its neck and deep claw marks needing stitches.
In 2004, Linda Rawlins, of Austrey, said she had seen what she believed to be a black panther twice in five days in fields near her home.
In 2003, a farmer and his wife told the Herald how they spotted a big cat when driving between Warton and Grendon at around 10pm.
In 2002, Warton man Simon Rooke said he believed a big cat was responsible for a wound to his pet pointer, Jasper.
Also in 2002, Fred Hopkins, senior ranger at Kingsbury Water Park, confirmed a sighting had been reported of two animals that fitted the description of large cats.
A similar sighting was also reported in 2001, in Water Orton, when a woman said a rottweiller was confronted by black cats.
In 2001, Measham man Graham Pearce claimed he had caught a big cat on video.
source
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Museum find proves exotic ‘big cat’ prowled British countryside a century ago
Canadian Lynx : Wiki CommonsThe rediscovery of a mystery animal in a museum’s underground storeroom proves that a non-native ‘big cat’ prowled the British countryside at the turn of the last century.
The animal’s skeleton and mounted skin was analysed by a multi-disciplinary team of Durham University scientists and fellow researchers at Bristol, Southampton and Aberystwyth universities and found to be a Canadian lynx – a carnivorous predator more than twice the size of a domestic cat.The research, published today in the academic journal Historical Biology, establishes the animal as the earliest example of an “alien big cat” at large in the British countryside.
The research team say this provides further evidence for debunking a popular hypothesis that wild cats entered the British countryside following the introduction of the 1976 Wild Animals Act. The Act was introduced to deal with an increasing fashion for exotic – and potentially dangerous – pets.
The academics believe such feral “British big cats” as they are known, may have lived in the wild much earlier, through escapes and even deliberate release. There is no evidence that such animals have been able to breed in the wild.
The study of the Canadian lynx, rediscovered by research team member Max Blake among hundreds of thousands of specimens at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, details records unearthed at the museum which showed the animal had originally been mislabelled by Edwardian curators in 1903 as a Eurasian lynx – a close relative of the Canadian lynx.
The records also showed that the lynx was shot by a landowner in the Devon countryside in the early 1900s, after it killed two dogs.
“This Edwardian feral lynx provides concrete evidence that although rare, exotic felids have occasionally been part of British fauna for more than a century,” said lead researcher, Dr Ross Barnett, of Durham University’s Department of Archaeology.“The animal remains are significant in representing the first historic big cat from Britain.”
Co-author Dr Darren Naish, from the University of Southampton, added: “There have been enough sightings of exotic big cats which substantially pre-date 1976 to cast doubt on the idea that one piece of legislation made in 1976 explains all releases of these animals in the UK.
“It seems more likely that escapes and releases have occurred throughout history, and that this continual presence of aliens explains the ‘British big cat’ phenomenon.”
The researchers point out in their paper that Eurasian lynxes existed in the wild in Britain many hundreds of years ago, but had almost certainly become extinct by the 7th century. Laboratory analysis of the Bristol specimen’s bones and teeth established it had been kept in captivity long enough to develop severe tooth loss and plaque before it either escaped or was deliberately released into the wild. Ancient DNA analysis of hair from the lynx proved inconclusive, possibly due to chemicals applied to the pelt during taxidermy.
Edwardian Lynx © Bristol Museums
“Our museum collections are extensive and caring for them requires the considerable skills of our collections officers. We have an amazing collection of taxidermy animals on display and we welcome museum visitors to come along, to take a closer look and discover more about the natural world.”Dr Greger Larson, a member of the research team from Durham University and an expert in the migration of animals, said: “Every few years there is another claim that big cats are living wild in Britain, but none of these claims have been substantiated. It seems that big cats are to England what the Loch Ness Monster is to Scotland.
“By applying a robust scientific methodology, this study conclusively demonstrates that at least one big cat did roam Britain as early as the Edwardian era, and suggests that additional claims need to be subjected to this level of scrutiny.”The lynx is now on public display at the museum.
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