Suspected big cat attack in Gloucestershire

Looks like a deer has been ripped to bits and they are suspecting a big cat attack...
Also they are going to be checking the corpse for DNA so with a bit of luck they will be able to tell what has done it

news.sky.com...

my first thought was its my cat on the prowl hungry as he's a blooming big thing well over a stone in weight being part norwegian forest cat or maine coone but more than likely its probably a big cat someone had smuggled in as a kitten but has now grown a little too big and isn't as cute as it once was so they drove it to the nearest bit of countryside and dumped it so its doing what nature expects

Originally posted by 2012king
Looks like a deer has been ripped to bits and they are suspecting a big cat attack...
Also they are going to be checking the corpse for DNA so with a bit of luck they will be able to tell what has done it

news.sky.com...

Could it be? or could it also be wolves etc?

I hope they find something, I posted a thread a while back on big cats in that area, with some videos.....

Bout time something happened that would provide SOME evidence, youd think this would happen more often tho, as they DO need to eat

i dont see the 'big' deal with all these big cat/ big foot stories
who really cares?

we know there was fr!ggin dinosaurs why should this surprise us?
and if its where people live so? what about brown bears, kangaroos, camels, sharks,whales,crocodiles...
snakes,rats,dingoes,

Well for starters it might have also been a dog attack
So until the so called investigation concludes we really shouldnt assume anything.
So please keep us posted on any further developments in this case

reply to post by 2012king

Near where I live ,in Angus Region North East Scotland,there have been numerous(well over 20) sightings,some with photographs,of large cats near or in forested areas.The latest involved a taxi driver encountering a large black panther like feline on a country road at 3 am one morning,he took pictures with his camera phone as the cat didn't appear to be fazed by his appearance nor did it act aggresively toward him as he exited his car.
I shall look for these pictures and post them later.

I don't doubt for one minute that these large felines are living in the UK,most likely the first generation were released by some idiot who thought it might be "cool" to keep a panther/leopard etc as a pet but when they matured beyond the cub stage became too much to handle.They aren't causing any harm so they really deserve to be left alone as they are patently capable of sustaining themselves in the wild,although it would make sense to identify known hunting areas of these cats in order that veterenarians are able to monitor them to ensure that they are in good health.

Originally posted by stopmakingsense
i dont see the 'big' deal with all these big cat/ big foot stories
who really cares?

I'd like to know what the big deal is too. I hear about the big cat attacks all the time and wonder "So?"
Maybe it's because I grew up where bears and mountain lions were just a few miles away.

Originally posted by tinfoilsrule

Originally posted by stopmakingsense
i dont see the 'big' deal with all these big cat/ big foot stories
who really cares?

I'd like to know what the big deal is too. I hear about the big cat attacks all the time and wonder "So?"
Maybe it's because I grew up where bears and mountain lions were just a few miles away.

Well as it is in England where there are apparently no Big Cats in the wild any more it is kind of a big deal. Even if it is just to warn people to be careful. But for some people like me it is interesting to find out that we may have this wildlife still living in the UK in the wild. =)

There is a big probability that cats released after the law changed in 1978 (I think) that were released into the wild in fear they would be persecuted for owning them, they have been hunted in our recent history in the uk so chances are a few could still be left.

The most common sightings are what people believe to be lynx and sometimes leopard, scotland does have a native wild cat that is big but not that big although half breeds with domesticated cats have been found up to a stone or two in weight (my friend had one it was the size of a small dog) As far as I know Britain has had no wild dogs/wolves or bears for hundreds of years

when i woke up this morning there was what i thought was a big black cat staring at me in the face.... turned out it was my cat getting comfy on my pillow.

in all seriousness though, there's bound to be big cats in the english countryside that have escaped (didn't a zoo loose a 'dangerous' animal recently?) or been released after someone illegally got one and couldnt handle it. there's plenty of food for them to survive (deers, rabbits etc) and more than enough areas to roam around un-discovered.
i found out there's also meant to be one around where i live. i did some digging after i seeing a large black cat-ish shaped thing a couple of times when i was walking my dog. there's also often big areas of flattened long grass that looks like somethings been sleeping there. there's more than likely a reasonable explanation for it but i like to let my imagination loose once in a while and think a puma or something has had its slumber there

I think it would be great if they confirmed big cats were living in parts of the uk, after all, they are supposed to be extinct/not living here so it would be good to know there are a few knocking about.
I cant see it being a wolf attack, as i would have thought they would be a lot easier to have tracked down, but i guess it could be some sort of dog attack.
I guess we will just have to wait and see what they come up with, if anything
The only problem i can see coming out of big cats being confirmed, is they will end up sticking them in zoos or something similair, either for their own protection or for the protection of their prey. It would be a shame if they did, because its not like they are having a massive impact on the wildlife they have eaten.

great post .... i live just up the road in the forest of dean and I know of 2 close up large black cat sightings .... it would be good to get some scientific proof as well

This story is exciting mainly just for the reason that finally people might just admit what's in front of their noses!

I've seen a big cat when I've been out walking the dog. Scared the life out of me at the time, but I feel kinda privileged now, just for the fact that they don't show themselves very often. I don't doubt at all that they couldn't live in this country though - plenty of food and stuff for them. Just coz they were brought in doesn't make any difference.

At the end of the day though, publicity gets me worried. Coz people will get scared and they'll hunt it down. And frankly, I wouldn't wish that on anything if it's doing no harm.

It's not wolves though, we don't have wolves other than in Scotland and they're in a specific fenced territory. It could've been a large dog, but from what they said the corpse was still warm when the people found it, and yet it had been mauled fairly well. So unless someone stopped to let their dog eat the deer, then ran off, it's probs more likely to be a cat. We get sightings all the time. It's a fairly normal thing.

Either way, it's interesting!

Originally posted by WozaMeathed
Well for starters it might have also been a dog attack

So until the so called investigation concludes we really shouldnt assume anything.
So please keep us posted on any further developments in this case

edit on 12-1-2012 by WozaMeathed because: (no reason given)

According to the Sky article:
The injuries to the neck of the deer and the way the carcass had been consumed are believed to be highly indicative of a big cat attack."

(my italics). An expert interviewed today by the BBC said that the neck wounds were typical of being bitten by a panther, leopard, etc and were inconsistent with being caused by a dog.

Hummm...

It might not have been a big cat at all.

More likely it may have been this unusual hungry human-dog:

reply to post by moosevernel


Right, England, duh. I guess that's what I get for skimming.
And sleeping during social studies class back in junior high.
Thanks for the help, moosevernel. Makes sense now.

For those who suspect it may be wolves or dogs - I think they've more or less ruled that out already by the way the animal was taken down. It seem's to be typical of a big cat take down, the crushing of the windpipe etc.

reply to post by Suspiria


Well you can't fully rule it out that it could of been dog's but it's very unlikely, their is few dogs with that jaw size and strength their is some though.
dogs such as the Japanese akita which were used to hunt deer and bear but I doubt someone is stupid enough to let their dog/dogs go on a deer rampage then again I've heard of people doing worse with animals in the UK

Originally posted by RAY1990
reply to post by Suspiria

 

Well you can't fully rule it out that it could of been dog's but it's very unlikely, their is few dogs with that jaw size and strength their is some though.
dogs such as the Japanese akita which were used to hunt deer and bear but I doubt someone is stupid enough to let their dog/dogs go on a deer rampage then again I've heard of people doing worse with animals in the UK

Alas I fear some people are stupid enough to do that.

MoD chiefs 'hid evidence' of big cats prowling UK, new book claims Puma's body 'is being kept in secure vault at RAF base' By DAMIEN GAYLE Last updated at 7:52 PM on 29th December 2011 Comments (140) Share Fearsome: A new book claims the carcass of a puma-like animal has been kept hidden at an RAF base Ministry of Defence chiefs are covering up the existence of big cats stalking the British countryside, according to explosive claims in a new book. Hundreds of big cat sightings have been recorded over the years, from the Beast of Bodmin Moor to the Surrey Puma, but it is now claimed that evidence of them has been suppressed. Rick Minter, author of Big Cats: Facing Britain's Wild Predators, claims that the body of a fearsome puma-like animal


Rick Minter, author of Big Cats: Facing Britain's Wild Predators, claims that the body of a fearsome puma-like animal is being kept hidden in a top security vault at an RAF base.
He likens the alleged cover-up to the U.S. government's veil of secrecy surrounding an alien crash landing in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947.
In the book, seen by the Sun, he writes: 'It is at RAF Fylingdales that we have Britain's Roswell moment on big cats.


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