Thursday, January 05, 2012
Leicestershire Mercury
There have been so many big cat sightings in Leicestershire and Rutland – the latest on January 1 – that some experts are convinced there are breeding populations. But Tom Mack hears that conclusive evidence might never be found
For big cat hunter Nigel Spencer, the interest in the big cats that seem to be living and breeding in parts of Leicestershire has become a passion.
Nigel has taken over the reins of Rutland and Leicestershire Pantherwatch, an organisation set up by his father, David.
One of the first groups to be set up online, it now works with similar groups up and down the country collecting reports.
Barely a month goes by without newspaper articles about sightings across the country appearing in newspapers, and UK website bigcatsinbritain.org has more than 5,000 logged reports in total.
Many sightings are made by police officers and other trusted authority figures.
So while the news coverage of the big cat issue still has the whiff of a conspiracy about it, Nigel sees no comparison between his hunt and the more quirky paranormal investigations others get involved in.
The 49-year-old, from Oakham, said: "Big cats are breeding in the UK, without a shadow of a doubt.
"We have a lot of sightings in Leicestershire and similar things are happening in every county in the UK, as well as in Ireland and parts of France.
"The reports of sightings include about 80 made by British police officers.
"But actually filming them in the wild and proving there are breeding populations out there – rather than just the occasional escaped animal – is very difficult."
He said the stealthy movements of the animals, combined with the areas they live in, make them hard to find.
"In Africa, you just set up a camera by a water hole and all the animals from two miles around will come by, and in the Americas, where pumas come from, they can be seen in the open country.
"Here, they can easily dart into the undergrowth and quickly disappear.
"It would take millions of pounds, with helicopters and thermal imaging cameras, to actually track them properly in this country."
Yesterday, the Leicester Mercury reported on the New Year's Day sighting, made by 15-year-old Sarah Burdett. After seeing a big cat stalk across a field outside her bedroom in Foxton, she went outside to track the beast.
She found both paw prints and faeces containing animal fur that she believed suggested a feline predator was in the area.
While Sarah made a report within an hour, many others living in the countryside don't think to report sightings anymore, Nigel said. "I'm very surprised more people didn't see the cat at Foxton," he said.
"Over the years, we must have had between 15 and 20 sightings in that area, so I'm sure an animal lives in that area.
"But I think with all the sightings, people are now used to the idea big cats are out there so they don't report sightings."
Nigel said the main questions of doubters could be answered easily.
The first question is where the animals came from, to which Nigel answers: "Back in the 1960s, people could buy panthers, pumas and even lions and tigers from Harrods.
"There are pictures of people walking them in the street.
"When the Dangerous Animals Act 1976 came in, there were a number of years before releasing dangerous animals into the wild became an offence.
"The act meant people needed to buy cages and have inspections and a lot couldn't be bothered with the red tape.
"Many admitted on television that they released animals into the wild, including a man from Coventry who released a couple of pumas in Derbyshire.
"It's been too long for these new sightings to be animals released in the 70s, so that suggests they're breeding in the wild or being bred for the black market and being released."
The other main query is how they can survive in England.
"These are very adaptable animals," Nigel said. "Pumas live in the Rocky Mountains in America where temperatures drop to -30C and with the large number of rabbits in England, it's easy for them to hunt."
What convinces Nigel most, however, was his own experience of seeing a puma while driving through Essex 11 years ago.
He said: "I was driving through a village on my way back from a job when a puma crossed the road in front of me.
"It was two feet away and its head was higher than the bonnet of my car."
A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it did not collect reports on big cats and had never found conclusive evidence of big cats living in the wild.
She said: "Natural England receives some sightings of big cats on behalf of the Government and a handful of reports have been received over recent years.
"They have sent people out to investigate but there's never been evidence of big cats found in those cases."
See the Rutland and Leicestershire Panther Watch website at: www.bigcats.org.uk/
Big cat sightings
Big cat sightings reported in the Leicester Mercury include:
August 1998: Prints found at Ketton Quarry, Rutland, were believed to be those of the Catmose Cat. Castle Cement, which owned the quarry, made a set of concrete prints, which experts said appeared to be feline.
September 2000: Graham Pearce, of Measham, shot video footage of a suspected big cat near the village.
Early 2001: Three sightings in the countryside around Coalville were reported to Leicestershire and Rutland Panther Watch within three weeks.
There were also two sightings around Coalville in February the following year.
August 2001: Three big cats were reported several miles apart within a month – in Stathern, Twyford and Lowesby.
September 2002: Joanna Baker, the education officer at Twycross Zoo, reported seeing a 3ft-long cat on a path near Snarestone.
July 2004: A brown, puma-like animal was seen by motorist Diane Bean, 56, of Scraptoft. It crossed the road in front of her car just outside Beeby.
2007: Pc Mick Kaiser, of Shepshed, was jogging along a disused railway when he saw a big black cat.
September 2009: Jenny Worthington spotted a big cat near Moira, days after finding a cat-like paw print.
September 2010: Solar panel fitter Pete Base was driving past Greetham Valley Golf Club, in Rutland, when he spotted what he believed was a panther about 100 yards in front of him.
New Years Day, 2012: Teenager Sarah Burdett saw a big cat in fields at Foxton.
If you have any news on this item please let us know by leaving a comment or email bcib@btopenworld.com Please report any sightings at http://www.bigcatsinbritain.org/localreportform.htm If you wish to comment on any of the items please click the header of the story.
Leicestershire Mercury
There have been so many big cat sightings in Leicestershire and Rutland – the latest on January 1 – that some experts are convinced there are breeding populations. But Tom Mack hears that conclusive evidence might never be found
For big cat hunter Nigel Spencer, the interest in the big cats that seem to be living and breeding in parts of Leicestershire has become a passion.
One of the first groups to be set up online, it now works with similar groups up and down the country collecting reports.
Barely a month goes by without newspaper articles about sightings across the country appearing in newspapers, and UK website bigcatsinbritain.org has more than 5,000 logged reports in total.
Many sightings are made by police officers and other trusted authority figures.
So while the news coverage of the big cat issue still has the whiff of a conspiracy about it, Nigel sees no comparison between his hunt and the more quirky paranormal investigations others get involved in.
The 49-year-old, from Oakham, said: "Big cats are breeding in the UK, without a shadow of a doubt.
"We have a lot of sightings in Leicestershire and similar things are happening in every county in the UK, as well as in Ireland and parts of France.
"The reports of sightings include about 80 made by British police officers.
"But actually filming them in the wild and proving there are breeding populations out there – rather than just the occasional escaped animal – is very difficult."
He said the stealthy movements of the animals, combined with the areas they live in, make them hard to find.
"In Africa, you just set up a camera by a water hole and all the animals from two miles around will come by, and in the Americas, where pumas come from, they can be seen in the open country.
"Here, they can easily dart into the undergrowth and quickly disappear.
"It would take millions of pounds, with helicopters and thermal imaging cameras, to actually track them properly in this country."
Yesterday, the Leicester Mercury reported on the New Year's Day sighting, made by 15-year-old Sarah Burdett. After seeing a big cat stalk across a field outside her bedroom in Foxton, she went outside to track the beast.
She found both paw prints and faeces containing animal fur that she believed suggested a feline predator was in the area.
While Sarah made a report within an hour, many others living in the countryside don't think to report sightings anymore, Nigel said. "I'm very surprised more people didn't see the cat at Foxton," he said.
"Over the years, we must have had between 15 and 20 sightings in that area, so I'm sure an animal lives in that area.
"But I think with all the sightings, people are now used to the idea big cats are out there so they don't report sightings."
Nigel said the main questions of doubters could be answered easily.
The first question is where the animals came from, to which Nigel answers: "Back in the 1960s, people could buy panthers, pumas and even lions and tigers from Harrods.
"There are pictures of people walking them in the street.
"When the Dangerous Animals Act 1976 came in, there were a number of years before releasing dangerous animals into the wild became an offence.
"The act meant people needed to buy cages and have inspections and a lot couldn't be bothered with the red tape.
"Many admitted on television that they released animals into the wild, including a man from Coventry who released a couple of pumas in Derbyshire.
"It's been too long for these new sightings to be animals released in the 70s, so that suggests they're breeding in the wild or being bred for the black market and being released."
The other main query is how they can survive in England.
"These are very adaptable animals," Nigel said. "Pumas live in the Rocky Mountains in America where temperatures drop to -30C and with the large number of rabbits in England, it's easy for them to hunt."
What convinces Nigel most, however, was his own experience of seeing a puma while driving through Essex 11 years ago.
He said: "I was driving through a village on my way back from a job when a puma crossed the road in front of me.
"It was two feet away and its head was higher than the bonnet of my car."
A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it did not collect reports on big cats and had never found conclusive evidence of big cats living in the wild.
She said: "Natural England receives some sightings of big cats on behalf of the Government and a handful of reports have been received over recent years.
"They have sent people out to investigate but there's never been evidence of big cats found in those cases."
See the Rutland and Leicestershire Panther Watch website at: www.bigcats.org.uk/
Big cat sightings
Big cat sightings reported in the Leicester Mercury include:
August 1998: Prints found at Ketton Quarry, Rutland, were believed to be those of the Catmose Cat. Castle Cement, which owned the quarry, made a set of concrete prints, which experts said appeared to be feline.
September 2000: Graham Pearce, of Measham, shot video footage of a suspected big cat near the village.
Early 2001: Three sightings in the countryside around Coalville were reported to Leicestershire and Rutland Panther Watch within three weeks.
There were also two sightings around Coalville in February the following year.
August 2001: Three big cats were reported several miles apart within a month – in Stathern, Twyford and Lowesby.
September 2002: Joanna Baker, the education officer at Twycross Zoo, reported seeing a 3ft-long cat on a path near Snarestone.
July 2004: A brown, puma-like animal was seen by motorist Diane Bean, 56, of Scraptoft. It crossed the road in front of her car just outside Beeby.
2007: Pc Mick Kaiser, of Shepshed, was jogging along a disused railway when he saw a big black cat.
September 2009: Jenny Worthington spotted a big cat near Moira, days after finding a cat-like paw print.
September 2010: Solar panel fitter Pete Base was driving past Greetham Valley Golf Club, in Rutland, when he spotted what he believed was a panther about 100 yards in front of him.
New Years Day, 2012: Teenager Sarah Burdett saw a big cat in fields at Foxton.
If you have any news on this item please let us know by leaving a comment or email bcib@btopenworld.com Please report any sightings at http://www.bigcatsinbritain.org/localreportform.htm If you wish to comment on any of the items please click the header of the story.
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