British Black Leopard Photograph

originally posted by: Kester
a reply to: blackbird9393

I've seen several and they're definitely leopard like.

Most likely they've been here for ten thousand years since the ice age and they've bred with Roman escapees. Now the population is expanding rapidly and sightings are increasing. That doesn't explain the Australian and USA sightings of similar cats. There must be more to it. ABC.

Before 1976 people in the U.K. could keep dangerous wild animals as pets,I'm sure many were released into the wild before the dangerous wild animal act became law

My family have a story of one of their friends bringing a lion with them to their home in Surrey and my grandfather getting a surprise when he glanced to his left atop the paper he read in the sitting room to see a lion looking at him

Text below from the guardian paper

"Under the Dangerous Wild Animal Act 1976, private owners of all animals that are legally deemed to be dangerous are required to buy an annual licence from their local authority. The authority inspects the owner's premises, setting standards and confirming that the owner carries third party liability insurance for the animal"

This is where these animals originally came from,not hidden from roman times

Well I'll keep an eye when I spent 4 days out wild in the Scottish highland in April. I'll have my camera with telephoto lens so if I see any wild cats, ATS will have pictures

As for the pic in the OP .. I can't make anything out

a reply to: Whereismypassword

There are many, many sightings from before '76.

blinks - blinks again

" a UK population of ABCs surviving from the roman era " < [ paraphrased ]

just WTF ??????

would you like to try and think this through ?

a reply to: ignorant_ape

There's no known reason for the european leopard not to have arrived across the land bridge with all the other european mammals that made it here. Under the dense oak forest canopy a melanistic form would have been favoured.

The Romans had perfected leopard trapping. They drove them into a trap disguised as a den. The black leopards showed up well against the sand of the arena so commanded a very high price. Orders exist for a certain number of black leopards to be supplied. Breeding would certainly have been attempted.

Many exotic animals were brought here for show and gladiatorial games, black leopards among them. Escapees breeding with the native black leopards have increased steadily in numbers. Now there are more deer here than at any time since the ice age. The black leopard population is also increasing rapidly.

There were never enough black leopards in recent captivity to come anywhere near explaining the constant stream of sightings and encounters. A few were released, including two in Wales, but that's a drop in the ocean compared to the number of leopards we have here.

a reply to: Kester

Of course there will be sightings before 1976 as people kept them as pets and let them go when they couldn't afford to feed them or they got too big etc etc

The sightings we see today are from breeding pairs released from 40 years or so ago

Breeding pairs from roman era would have our countryside overrun with them and they are clearly not

a reply to: Whereismypassword

Black leopards held their value when zoos and private collections had more than enough of the other cats. There have never been enough of them in captivity in recent times to come anywhere near explaining the number of sightings. Lynx and puma are more difficult to see in the British countryside. There are large numbers of them with proportionately fewer sightings.

I can't see why they would be expected to overrun an area. As solitary animals with individual territories they aren't going to breed like rabbits. They have been increasing in numbers in recent decades to the point it could be described as a population explosion. They're increasingly seen in towns and cities, as with other wildlife.

There have been many escapes and releases of several types of exotic cats over a long period of history, but what is known about these cannot possibly explain the proportion of sightings that are black leopards.

a reply to: Kester

appologies - this is going to be a curt post - as i is packing for a weekend away

but it boils down to - an utter abscence of evidence

1 - you new hypothesis of NBCs [ native big cats ] that arrived via the land bridge there are only 2 felines evident in the paeleolith finds - cave lion [Panthera leo spelaea] and eurpean lynx [ lynx lynx ]

i know absence of evidence is not always evidence of absence

but the same archeology has tracked other speices that still survive in the UK and others around the world

2 - the romans - did the romans have such extensive gladatorial games , arenas and menagaries in britain ?

3 - wolves - again documentwed from before homo sapients to the medieval era - the wolf in great gritain [ mainmand ] lsasted longer than the romans - it took 1000 years from when romans left till wolves were extinct - they were ruthlessly exterminated - but not a single feral big cat was captured during this period [ 600 CE to 1600 CE ]

thats all for now

a reply to: ignorant_ape

The date of the 'last British lynx' has been very fluid. Some experts think the lynx was never fully exterminated here, the cleverest survived and bred a clever, elusive strain. Now there have been many escapees and releases to add to the population.

Yes, the Romans had many amphitheatres, gladiators and exotic animals here.

Two days ago I met a hunter who told me about his close encounter with a big cat in the North of England. How long will his tale last? How can you say not a single feral big cat was captured? They're part of our experience here.

a reply to: Kester

the " extinction date "of creatures is often fluid - heck people still argue over thylecine

but as you raise i - are lynx and panther even capable of interbreeding ?

and i can say that not a single ferral big cat was documented - because it wasnt

we have records of thousands of wolf hunts and culls - and not one big cat was docuimented in the slaughter

a reply to: Kester

Also in Holland. There have been some sightings of big cats, but its always in the small sections of the papers.

Yup, I'm in Texas....goin out in four hours where I get me on my mini DVR off that Zeus 2 thermal thingy I see the big black cats with......

One of her two kittens was found by the road by Princeton high school last week....

I'm the one that claims they have canine faces.....like a short nose lab.....a little shorter, makes me look like a pit bull face almost....


I'll do a thermal video.....they're big....three foot tail is the clue to look for, as they disappear like magic, ain't lyin

a reply to: GBP/JPY

The dog faced cats are very interesting. We have reports of them here.

Big cats that disappear like magic. There's a naturalist here who agrees. I won't name him because I can't readily find a link. He's seen them go behind a bush or into a dip in the ground then not reappear. He's gone to look and there's nothing to be seen. He's a very experienced observer.

a reply to: ignorant_ape

Getting a cross between a leopard and a puma seems difficult enough. Lynx and leopard I don't think is likely.

There's some information on cat hybrids here. messybeast.com...

A quick look at the recent news reveals the usual mix of fleeting glimpses and sloppy/disingenuous reporting. Not usually anywhere near adequate documentation.

Big cat spotted on Hertfordshire college campus Read more at www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk...

www.hertsad.co.uk...

Big cat seen lurking at Oaklands College in St Albans

Mandy Christina Hallam said: "If I had not seen one for myself about nine years ago I would be sceptical too! Read more at www.burtonmail.co.uk... oh7z.99

Reports of a big black cat on Ilkley Moor in Yorkshire

www.google.co.uk...