I have basically finished writing my book `The British large cat phenomenon , the Dorset enigma`.
I am now searching for Publishers.
I have had many reports of large cats within the last two months, averaging one a day. most of these reports are not from my areas but from other areas in Britain, usually southern England with most reports from renown hotspots.
Somerset,South Wales,Sussex,Kent and Essex seem to be hot regarding sightings.I am getting more and more reports from within built up cities and towns suggesting urban living rather than transient animals, although some of them will be cats searching for new territory or mates. the cats in my study areas are still busy doing their stuff and an amazing picture is emerging regarding their habits and movements.While I and my colleagues are certain that the main three candidates are free living(lynx,puma and leopard)we are convinced that many are hybrid animals which confuses the situation immensely. I will soon be posting more photos on this page. (watch this space)
Jonathan, I find your reports very interesting and especially the signs you have photographed. The footprint in the Longleat estate in Wiltshire are definitely of a big cat such as leopard and the track in the snow is also of the cat family. It would be very helpful always to have something to scale the footprints like you did with the hand which gives us a good idea of size. I have filmed big cats in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and in Washington State in North America. I have an open mind on the existence of big cats in the UK but with the evidence your producing its pretty convincing something is happening! Maybe I should take a trip to some of these hot spots!
Hi James, thanks for your comments. You are most welcome to meet up if you like and i could take you around some of my study areas.I am doing this more often for people of whom I trust.I rarely tip people off about possible cat sites without meeting the person first ! feel free to email me on my normal email.I rarely reply to comments as they are usually spam that got through ! Regards jonathan
Just saw your feature on the BBC – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22284463 – might have been out a while, but I was thinking if there are that many sightings how is there not some solid footage of them? I’m not a non-believer, I may have seen a blackcat in Herefordshire about a year ago, surely you could entice them in to a kill to proove they’re there? If they can catch Siberian tigers on film surely we can do the same here…?
Best of luck! 🙂
Regards,
Matt
Hi Matt, There is much good film footage and digital footage of large cats in UK. most people do not see the best stuff ! not all of it is on line, the best is kept by the owners or is secret. there are lots of photos and phone footage which can be seen on the web that are very convincing, but also trigger camera pics and footage which is equally as good but, there is no real close up crystal clear image or footage of large cats in UK. yet ! there will soon be, I am sure.