'This', yet again - UK Wild Cats

[XFool]

Often treated in the media as a 'joke' subject (possibly understandably?), this is an averagely serious article on the topic by the Guardian.

‘Beast of Cumbria’: claimed leopard sighting fails to convince experts

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/22/it-was-a-big-cat-claimed-cumbrian-leopard-sighting-fails-to-convince-experts

Research from the Royal Agricultural University suggests possible big cat presence in the UK, but others say evidence is flimsy

"Claims of big cats in the UK are not a new phenomenon. The so-called Beast of Bodmin has been rumoured to be stalking the moors in Cornwall since the 1970s and a DNA test on animal hair found in barbed wire in Gloucestershire in 2022 pointed to the presence of a big cat. In August 2023 there was a widely circulated photo of an alleged big cat in Staffordshire."

All the usual things are mentioned - see the obligatory "Beast of Bodmin" above - including the obligatory comment from somebody:

"Prof Andrew Hemmings of the Royal Agricultural University isn’t so quick to dismiss the reported sightings from the likes of Larkin-Snowden and Minter. “In my own opinion I do think they’re out there,” he said."

However these articles always manage to frustrate me. Why? Because they always take exactly the same form, even the serious ones. "Beast of Bodmin"... blah blah blah... "No evidence" blah blah blah ... "They might be out there" blah blah blah.

But we do actually know stuff - yes, really!

I live in Barnet, North London. Now you have probably never heard of "The Beast of Barnet", mainly because it is seemingly never mentioned in any of these crypto animal sightings. What's the difference between the "Beast of Barnet" and the ever mysterious "Beast of Bodmin"? It's that the eponymous "Beast of Barnet" was actually captured *. She was a female European Lynx, was initially moved to London Zoo and given the name Lara. She later moved to France, under a zoological breeding programme and eventually had cubs that lived on in many zoos around the world.

But you never hear this!

So the answer to the question "Are they out there?" is a definitive "Yes". They are far from common, we have no idea whether there are any breeding in the wild but, if you look into the matter, as I once did, you find that there have been recorded incidents down the decades of the real existence of such animals in the wild in Britain. Mysteriously, journalists never seem to get to the bottom of this and include it in their articles on the subject.

So some of these mysterious "Beasts" have, possibly(!), turned out to be real in the past. Though you would never guess if from the typical journalist's article on this subject.

What became of the 'Beast of Barnet'? Times Series investigation reveals Cricklewood lynx Lara's legacy lives on

https://www.times-series.co.uk/news/11068162.what-became-of-the-beast-of-barnet-times-series-investigation-reveals-cricklewood-lynx-laras-legacy-lives-on/


* BUT... Was Lara actually the reported "Beast of Barnet"? Nobody knows. Lara was real enough and of course, when found, she immediately acceded to the title, but whether the reported "Beast of Barnet" itself was any more real than the "Beast of Bodmin" or any other such reported creature remains an unanswered and unanswerable question.

[XFool]

A follow on article from the above:

More than 2,700 dangerous wild animals kept in homes in Great Britain

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/22/dangerous-wild-animals-kept-in-homes-in-great-britain

Venomous snakes, primates and wildcats among creatures in domestic settings, wildlife charity Born Free finds

[bungeejumper]

The so-called Beast of Bodmin has been rumoured to be stalking the moors in Cornwall since the 1970s and a DNA test on animal hair found in barbed wire in Gloucestershire in 2022 pointed to the presence of a big cat.

My bro-in-law swore until the end of his days that he'd seen the Beast of Bodmin, a large black feline prowling through scrubland and brush a few miles south of Boscastle. Big Cat Safaris would have made an interesting contribution to the local tourism trade. Sadly, though, Derek's fondness for a post-breakfast or pre-lunch tipple would probably have ruled his evidence out of any serious academic study, so we shall never really know.

BJ