It has been a summer full of reports fro Dorset, Hampshire, Sussex,Essex, and places in Gloucester which has also had many sightings and I visited a few areas last week. Gloucester has a good network of like minded interested people that work together on reports and gathering evidence. Most of the active people of that area are coming to Dorset to meet the people of down here to have a conference. Also other large cat investigators from throughout Britain will also be coming to give evidence or to talk about their research, or technology used to capture recordings of these elusive animals. This is the first of its kind in this area and the conference is by special invite only. We hope to hold a more open , public awareness night at a later date.
for those people not in the know, an new website for Dorset is now live on the web ! Big cats in Dorset. It is still under construction but will soon have lots of data and information and hopefully an interactive part. (Thanks Marc Eldridge, for Getting that together).
I have received more reports also from North Dorset Somerset borders around the Caundel villages and near sherborne. Yeovil also has had several sightings this year and villages around Glastonbury and Street have also had reports of livestock possibly taken by large cat. Dorchester areas also have had lots of cat sightings and the sea cliff between Weymouth and Bridport also have had many sightings.
more people are reporting the sounds that large cats make, and typical leopard sawings are often to be heard along with yowls of possible pumas. A member of the Dorset group caught a leopard calling on trigger cam several months ago !and perhaps other leopard like noises.
It just goes to show that with perseverance people can achieve the seemingly impossible. very soon many people will have all the evidence that is needed, but for what ? as the real important question to ask is what next ? When we have all the proof needed to convince the sceptics, and the wildlife authorities, and government bodies,What will happen ? Well we will just wait and see. I know that many people would rather the truth not be let out as they fear an eradication programme commencing and the cats would be sought out, trapped shot and gone forever, but I do not see it like that. I want people to know the truth about the cats before jumping to silly conclusions. It is paramount that much research is done by the many amateur cat investigators and filtered out to all public bodies and authorities. We have to keep ahead and be in control or else a panic and fever could take hold if something happened that could cause a witch hunt in the future. Everybody must be educated beforehand,without mass hysteria . The media also have a moral obligation not to cause panic by over sensationalizing the subject.