Okay, so the rumours circulated that there was a lion on the loose near Clacton in Essex. How many more stories like this are going to be followed up by droves of police officers and reported on my drama hungry papers ? It's a sorry state of affairs, and it's hysteria that makes a mockery of my research because when investigators, as usual, find no evidence of the lion king, everyone starts laughing and saying that there are no large cats roaming Britain. So let's  look at the details.

Someone claimed they'd seen a lion in a field a few days ago. The story spread like wildfire, newspapers got involved, my phone started to ring, the police turned up at the location, photographs of the 'beast' began being passed around and so was born the 'Lion of Essex' legend...another unfounded scare akin to the Shooter's Hill cheetah, The Edgware Tiger, the Winchmore Hill lioness, the Sydenham leopard blah blah blah. Yep, the police had every right to investigate it as it was a matter of public safety but surely such a fuss wasn't necessary. A couple of animal trackers would have sufficed because if anyone knows anything about cats, lions do not behave in an incredibly elusive manner, lions would seek large prey and also seek a pride, and lions DO NOT inhabit the wilds of Britain, neither do tigers, jaguars or cheetahs.

There are three suggestions for the Essex lion story - 1) maybe, just maybe there had been a lion that had escaped from a zoo/private collection - or if you read some of the papers, a circus which had stopped by a few weeks previous. 2) there was no lion at all, just a bunch of witnesses who didn't have a clue what they were seeing or maybe had nothing better to do than make it up, 3) judging by a couple of reports in which witnesses described seeing a tan-coloured cat with a white chest, a puma may have been involved. Whatever the truth, if there was a lion roaming Essex - it would no doubt be used to being hand-reared, lacking excerise and keen to feast on those mutant's with their swept over fringes, white teeth and small percentage of brain cells. If a lion had been roaming Essex then the police would not have called off the search. If a lion had bene roaming Essex it would have been heard roaring on numerous occasions, would have been on the prowl for livestock, and would have left behind a few very large prints. Lions are not elusive hunters that climb trees. Lions are bloody big animals.

A few people fell for the photoshopped images floating around the internet. Newspaper reporters and tv crews flocked to the scene, once again falling for it hook, line and sinker and when no animal turned up, the sceptics mocked, scoffing at those foolish enough there would be big cats in the wild. Of course, despite this farcical affair, it doesn't explain the fact as to why for the last two-hundred or so years, peope have reported seeing large black cats, and slightly smaller puma-like cats around Ongar Marshes, Epping Forest, Brentwood etc. It also doesn't explain that in the last week I've received 11 reports of black leopard from various parts of Kent and Sussex and none of these were investigated by police helicopters.

What people need to realise is that there are smaller exotic cats roaming the UK, but stories pertaining to lions, tigers and cheetahs must be taken with a pinch of salt, and if by chance a lion does turn up in the local woods, then it has simply escaped from somewhere and will be recaptured usually with the use of a tranquilliser, or sadly shot dead. Over the years lions, tigers and the like have escaped from private menageries, zoo parks and the occasional circus, but they don't escsper and then live forever more in our wilds - can you imagine a tiger escaping from a zoo and then exisiting in your local wood for years without detection ? It doesn't happen. Mind you, if a black leopard cub, or puma kitten was released it could survive easily in the wilds of the UK, there's plenty of food and cover, but these animals exist by using stealth.

Give it a few months and another big cat scare story will hit the newspapers, televsion reporters will turn up to the scene in their droves waiting for the cat to emerge from the shadows and give an interview, and the 'big cat' hunters/researchers will arrive in camo' gear, salivating at the thought of being involved in another 'mystery.' It happens all the time. One of the only occasions the story turned out to be nothing more than fiction was in 2001 when a lynx was found in Cricklewood in London. It was underweight and had an injured back leg, suggesting it had been kept illegally as a pet - but the newspapers and the like had a field day and I really felt sorry for the animal as it was hunted through the back gardens of leafy London, but thankfully the animal was only tranquillised and was sent off to a zoo. In 2005 when a man claimed he was attacked by a leopard in his garden at Sydenham, police tured up with taser guns...it left me asking who was the biggest threat, a cat which had probably not been in the area whatsoever, or the police and the press, eager to create another witch-hunt. 

I was contacted today by a man who asked me whether I knew anything about a lynx that was found dead on the outskirts of Chatham in 1926. It was a new one on me I must admit, and I'm hoping that a search of newspaper archives will reveal more. Even so, the most fascinating aspect of the story was that the man (a farmer) who found the carcass took it for analysis to 'a zoo.' The lynx had in fact been shot on his farm in an area 'not far from the high road' and it was rumoured to have escaped from captivity although this was never verified. It's these older reports which intrigue me more because they prove that there have been sightings of 'big cats' in the Kent wilds for a long, long time, and yet sceptics are very keen to dismiss the modern reports as if they are part of some hysteria or mass hallucination. It also brought to mind the case of a lynx, housed in a Bristol museum, which was shot dead in the 1800s and then stuffed.

On Sunday 5th August a complete sceptic to such reports had his own strange encounter. At 9:00 am the witness in question was leaving Istead Rise, and driving a long the Weotham Road when suddenly in front of his car a large black cat, which he described as 'panther' casually strolled, from one field to the other. The witness was absoloutely stunned by the sighting. As were the two golfers recently at Dungeness who were on their local course when a lynx stared stright at them before moving off into undergrowth. Daylight sightings are not unheard of, cats still like to bask in the sun or move from a to b before laying up somehwre. In the last two weeks there have been 16 'big cat' sightings reported to me, and half of these were made in broad daylight, including a black leopard near Blue Bell Hill another from Shadoxhurst in Ashford in which a woman reported seeing a black leopard rummaging through the sacks at the end of her drive. The cat measured over three-feet in length and the tail alone was 2-ft long.

A majority of sightings take place at night and often involve motorists. For instance, a black leopard was seen on 22nd July  at 9:10 pm near Hucking my a woman in her car - the cat turned and crossed a field a short distance away, whilsy fifty minutes later but in Rusthall, Tunbridge Wells, another female motorist reported seeing a big, black cat that crossed an unlit road, but then spotted the car headlights and turned back. One of the most impressive sightings however took place on the 24th July at Goudhurst. The couple in question had throw a chicken carcass into their garden to feed the local foxes when during the early hours the security light came on. The witness looked out of the window and could hear a strange snuffling noise and was then shocked to see a massive black cat. When the light went off the cat bounded away.

When you receive as many eye witness reports over the years as what I have, you find it impossible to dismiss every one. Not every witness is out to perpetrate a hoax and not every witness gets it wrong. A few decades ago a naturalist who was investigating the Surrey puma leegnd claimed that all the witnesses were seeing dogs!! This theory is incredibly bizarre - I don't know of many stray labradors roaming the remote corners of Kent of a night and whilst dogs do get loose, they do not resemble 'panthers' in broad daylight. And they most certainly do not lick prey clean and leave fang marks. The photo below shows the skull of a pig killed in Sussex. The unfortunate victim was stripped clean, and there are two deep puncture marks on the lower jaw. In the same area foxes, ducks and deer have been found eaten, scratch marks discovered  6-ft up a tree and unusual scat also found. As I often say to sceptics, if you can tell me what animal did this I'd love to hear from you, although there is only one animal that would leave these type of signs. I'm sure however that there'll still be those among you who say "There's no evidence..."

Left - domestic cat photographed at Sussex.Over the last two days I've conducted two lectures to more than 300 people, and it's always amazing how many people come forward to report sightings of 'big cats' that otherwise they would have kept quiet. Witnesses come from all walks of life but it does help when someone who sees a 'big cat' has had some experience with differing species of cat. One chap came forward to say that a few years ago whilst walking at Pembury he'd seen a black leopard - I completely trusted his opinion as he'd worked with leopards many years ago. In the last few weeks there have been sightings of lynx and leopard from varying parts of Kent - Longfield (lynx), Dartford (black leopard), Sjeppey (black leopard), Sevenoaks (lynx) and Hempstead, near Gillingham (black leopard), Sitingbourne (black leopard) and in most cases I could say that I trusted the witnesses and their descriptions. However, it must be said that not all witnesses know what they are seeing, and too many times photographs and blurry film footga eof alleged 'big cats' makes its way onto websites and into newspapers when the reality is the images clearly show nothing more than domestic cats. This is very frutrating. I recall a few years ago one of the reputable (!) tabloids featured a photo on its front page of an alleged 'big cat' perched on a wall, whilst several cows grazed near it. The paper at the time claimed the photo showed the 'beast of Bodmin' and yet anyone with half a brain could tell it was a domestic cat - the shortness of the tail, the small pointed ears 9which happened to be close together), the short legs etc, etc. This happens all the time, and time and time again it allows the sceptics to make a mockery of decent research.

I present here a handful of images taken by people who claimed they'd seen a 'big cat' - naturally, some people will have genuine misinterpretations of dogs, feral cats, foxes etc, but the first image, taken at Jevington, Sussex, a few years ago, is interesting because the witness was adamant he'd photographed a black leopard. The photo made the local newspaper and yet clearly shows a domestic cat - even from a domestic cat anyone with a good eye should be able to tell the different between a leopard and a domestic cat - even a leopard cub shouldn't be confused with a domestic cat. The leopard has a long, curving tail, rounded ears, a muscular frame, especially in the shoulder and measures between 4 - 7 feet in length. Even a large domestic cat cannot match the description of a 'big cat'.

Left - the 'blob' of Sheppey - a domestic cat.The next image was taken at Sheppey not long ago, and I don't blame the witnesses for photographing it. The image shows a black dot in the distance, sitting at the edge of a field, stalking prey, but again, despite being a poor photo it does not show a black leopard. Also, another image more recently was passed around varying sources after someone claimed to have photographed the 'beast of Essex' and yet once again it is simply an unusual species of domestic cat. Whilst there are known to be smaller exotic cats in the UK - such as leopard cat, jungle cat, ocelot, and possibly caracal, and even jaguarundi, the photographs that appear in numerous papers etc, clearly do not show anything remotely exotic. It baffles me why newspapers etc use such images. Last year a paper down in East Kent sent me several photographs of a 'black cat' slinking along a street in the early hours of a morning. The reporter asked me what I thought about the "interesting photo's" andI just burst out laughing. The photo's clearly showed a domestic ca, nothing more nothing less, and yet several members of staff at the paper were sure this was a big cat. I get so many photo's sent to me by people who claim they've photographed 'big cats', and 99% of the time the images are of domestic animals, nearly always a moggy skulking along the edge of a field. Last year I visited a lady in Northfleet after she phoned me to say she'd photographed a puma in her back garden. I refuse to gte excited about any call until I fully investigate further, and in most cases photo's, and even a lot of sightings turn out to be nothing. Even so, I travelled to Northfleet and chatted with the lovely lady who showed me where in her garden this 'puma' had been and then she produced the photo - a domestic cat, albeit a rather matted loking one, sitting on a paving slab in her garden. The paving slab, in length, measured about 12 inches, hardly a monster cat! I asked the woman if she knew what a puma was, and she said, "Yes, that's one in the photo!"

Left - the 'beast of Essex' - simply an unusual species of domestic.I'm sure to this day she still has the photo and probably tells her family and friends it's a big cat and that I was mad for dismissing it, but as I always say to people, regarding 'big cat' evidence, you have to eliminate everything else first before considering 'big cat'. Another image I was sent came from a Mr Owens and reported seeing an unual spotted cat roaming around the outside of his property at Goudhurst. When he sent the photo I was amazed to see a lovely Bengal Cat. The striking markings, long tail, and muscular shoulder didn't suggest a 'big cat' but certainly an expensive pet that had obviously escaped from somewhere. The Bengal Cat is hybrid of domestic cat and leopard cat, and is a formidable predator in the wild but will be more than happy to show itself to humans. Nowadays such cats are kept as pets, and other forms of smaller exotic cats are also doing the rounds, some costing around £12,000! Not the sort of animal you'd want to escape from your house.

One must always remember that on too many occasions ohotographs that appear in newspapers or on internet sites and even on the news, are dubious to say the least, and if such an animal doesn't look like a leopard then it most likely isn't. It's always great to receive photographs of posisble 'big cats' and their evidence, but always try to get some type of scale when photographing animals from a distance, don't just take one photo, and if you can, try to approach, or at least, if the animal moves out of sight, go to the area and get a photo of you standing there, to judge height etc. Only recently film footage showing an alleged 'big cat' at Gloucestershire was palstered all over the main news (even though the footage was taken over a year previous) and to prove it was a 'big cat' the local researcher visited the area with a cardboard cut-out of what I presume was meant to be a 'big cat' although it looked like a deformed domestic cat. These are the sort of problems in judging scale etc, but hopefully the photo's I've presented here will give you an idea of what not to look for! Below, beautiful Bengal cat photographed in Kent in 2009.

A majority of people who see so-called 'big cats' in the wilds of Britain, are usually walking or driving alone. When these people report their sightings they are ridiculed, but on the occasion there are sightings which involve two or more witnesses. As I mentioned in a previous post there have been numerous sightings over the Easter period of so-called 'big cats' across the south-east and I've received around 10 sightings in three days, 9 of these have been in broad daylight. A majority of these are under investigation. However, when I receive reports of 'big cats' people often ask me if their children are safe to go out in the woods. I can understand why some parents are unsettled by the possibility of a large, predatory cat roaming their backyard. Today was one of those days. In the last two days I've had 3 reports of exotic cats involving small children. One of these came from the wooded areas of Sittingbourne, and involved a group of small children playing in woods near their houses. All of them came running home screaming, telling a parent they'd seen a large cat. One of the children said it was a "jaguar". Now, there are no jaguars roaming the UK, but after speaking with the worried parent it became clear the children had seen a lynx. Interestingly enough they all described, separately, the white underside of the animal as it gazed at them as it sat on a log. They all described a yellowy-orange coat, which had unusual mottled markings. (Left - Mick Cole claimed these wounds were inflicted by a lynx he cornered)

The lynx was said to have been eradicated from Britain's a woodlands a few thousand years ago. Some researchers believe it was an elusive enough animal to have hung on until modern times, but this has never been verified. We do know, however, that in the early 19th century a lynx was shot dead toward the West Country, and many 'big cat' researchers often quote naturlist William Cobbet who in his Rural Rides book spoke of seeing a large cat in a tree at Waverley in Surrey a few centuries ago - although this animal may have been the wildcat, now confined to Scotland. The lynx is a beautiful leggy animal, known for its short almost tuft of a tail, its tufted ears, and striking mottled coat. I had the fortune to share a cage with a lynx a few years ago whilst working with the BBC, and these animals are incredibly elusive.

It's highly unlikely the lynx seen in Sittingbourne was eyeing up the children for dinner. The animal was seen not far from a pheasant pen, and such birds would be ideal prey for a cat. I can certainly understand the concern of parents though when their children run home screaming they've seen a big cat in their woods. Parents want people like me to do something about it, but I cannot take the law into my own hands and build a cage and attempt to trap an animal. It's a catch 22 situation. I always advise that people do not approach, corner, injure such animals, and yet at the back of my mind there is always that worry that one day, just one day a large cat will strike at a child. Take for instance the case a few years ago now of Gravesend man Mick Cole who allegedly walked into his back garden and saw what he first took to the be a fox with a rabbit in its mouth. Mick, an optician, approached the animal which allegedly took a swipe at his hand leaving several nasty gashes. Some would say the witness should have gone to Specsavers, but joking aside, if this really did happen then we have a problem. The animal was simply defending itself, no wild animal should be cornered. Fair play to Mr Cole, he said it was his own fault, but if this had bene a child can you imagine the uproar it would have caused, especially when you consider the controversy recent alleged fox attacks have caused.

In 2005 a man living in Sydenham, south-east London, claimed that he was leapt upon one night, by a black leopard, which was in his back garden cornering his domestic cat. There's no evidence whatsoever to suggest this story was nothing more than a hoax but it didn't stop the press and the police swarming the scene looking fot he 'beast of Sydenham'. There was also a report over Easter concerning a young girl who whilst walking home to her house in rural Maidstone saw a very large black cat pacing back and forth near a dead tree. The girl was petrified and told her parents who phoned me. Then, several more people reported seeing a massive black cat near Blue Bell Hill. The animal had been quite happy to visit a few back gardens.

I'd hate to think what the response would be if a child claimed they'd been scratched by a large cat. Mind you, a few years ago a Josh Hopkins, who lives in Gloucestershire claimed he was scratched by a black leopard which clawed him across his face. Interestingly, apart from the newspapers, no-one else seemed to respond to this alleged encounter. Are the authorities happy for this to continue, or are they waiting for the time when a large cat actually attacks and eats a child ? In the United States with cougar, and in Africa and Asia, with leopard, attacks are rare but they do occur. Strangely, in the UK most attacks on humans, especially children, are carried out by dogs, and whilst these cause uproar, there appears to be no real against people owning such dangerous animals. Leopard and puma are, of course, a different matter, they shouldn't be here. At the moment such animals seem very comfortable with the UK wilds, and there is easily enough prey to support a viable, albeit small population. A few years ago I liaised with professional animal trapper and tracker, zoologist Quentin Rose (who sadly passed away) and he always looked beyond the silly mystery and scepticism regarding these 'big cats' and was concerned about the rise in numbers and potential attacks on humans. He believed that such animals required an official investigation but also stated quite categorically that this would involve trapping such animals and either shipping them to zoo parks or destroying them. I don't condone either of these methods and this seems unlikely to happen due to lack of time and resources from the groups concerned. Even so, an attack on a person, especially a child may change all this.

For now, there are only two opinins on 'big cats' in the UK - they do exist or they don't, and it doesn't go anywhere beyond this. Official groups, such as 'Natural England', have stated in the past that there's no evidence to suggest such animals exist, this is a rather worrying statement considering the amount of evidence that does exist. Sceptics state that these stories are made up yet haven't a clue about what 'big cat' evidence looks like, and then there are the believers, most who are quite genuine people who've simply gone out of their way to report something unusual. Of course, the situation brings with it the weirdo's and conspiracy theorists and paranormal views, and most mysteries do have that effect, but when you cast aside the nutcases, hoaxes, and misinterpretations, there's still a significant body of evidence to suggest there are black leoard, puma, lynx, and some smaller species of cats roaming the UK. As I always state, no evidence is good enough, and even if a child - perish the thought - is attacked, I'm sure someone will scoff, or dismiss the case or claim it was simply an escapee. One part of me hopes the dreaded attack will never occur and that these cats are left alone - in that case the sceptics can continue to bitch, but there's another part of me that wants to see official investigations, which will cost enormous amounts of money, and possibly involve trapping some of these cats for the sake of science.

I recently read another of those predictable blog posts from someone claiming that 'big cat' sightings were hyperbole (exaggeration). That's fine by me, it's your opinion, but try telling that to four screaming kids and a terrified and deeply concerned parent. I'm sure there are many people out there willing to laugh at 'big cat' sightings and my research, but when I present evidence such as deer found high up in trees, rams and their fleece rasped off, large chains of scat consisting of deer fur, scratch marks 10 feet up a tree, enormous paw prints unlike a dog, then I expect the sceptic to tell me the alternative as to what did this and instead of sitting behind a PC saying what can and cannot be, try getting out there and looking at the evidence and interviewing the witnesses you claim are insane or making all this up. At the moment, my money is on the very likely possibility there are large cats around. I'll prove to you there is, but can you prove to me there isn't ?

 (Left - lynx shot in Northern Ireland in the 1990s)

Conducting lectures pertaining to unusual animals in the wilds of the south-east is so exciting - but some people ask, "Don't you get bored talking about the same topic time and time again ?", and the answer to that is a resounding, "Of course not." Not only do I always alter the talks, but I believe that I've found a niche in the way I present evidence in the sense that I try not to bore people to death like so many speakers have the ability to do. Anyone can get up and rattle on about a variety of subjects whilst pointing at a projector screen, but thankfully, over the years I've had so many strange experiences that conducting lectures, up to eleven times a week, that the talks are always fresh. I've been to some very remote places, from eerie village halls in the middle of nowhere, to vast auditorium's, to people's front rooms and of course schools and scout groups - some who prefer me to lecture out in the woods. I feel it is important that when giving a lecture people are drawn in to the subject, as if they were there with me, and it's always important to add humour. However, the best thing about giving talks is meeting so many people across the country. Essex, London, Sussex, Devon, Kent, - there are so many people out there interested in the subject of strange animals in the UK and many people who attend my talks often report to me their findings and experiences.

I've spoken to raging sceptics, who, once they've heard me speak, admit to now being believers, and there are those people who for all their life have never reported something that has happened to them and it comes as a relief when they are able to do so. This is a subject that, despite its seeming mystery is very serious. I enjoy presenting the evidence rather than turning up dressed in camo' gear armed with a handful of cuddly leopard toys. The aim is not to frighten people but simply to educate them.

Due to the fact I've conducted so many lectures over the years and spoken to thousands of people, my name tends to get passed around, which in most cases is a good thing. This way it means people can call me with their sightings and evidence and occasionally some people come forward with experiences that seem a little way off from the norm'. For instance, a few years ago I came in possession of a photo allegedly showing a puma strung up in a tree somewhere in Kent woodland. As soon as I looked at the colour image of the light brown cat I could tell it wasn't a puma - if anything the animal seemed to be a domestic cat, and it also looked as if the photo was a hoax in the sense that someone had taken a photo of a cat, then cu it out, and then stuck it on a woodland background as if it were hanging from a branch. I had heard in the past that someone was touting this elusive image around claiming it was a cat they'd caught in a snare. I'm sure a few folks in a local pub somewhere had probably fallen for the story. And then the legend died down.

Recently I conducted a talk in North Kent and was approached by a lady who discreetly told me that a relative of hers owned a photo showing a "puma" strung up from a tree branch. I showed her the image I had, but she wasn't convinced it was the ame one and so I asked her to put me in touch with the person who had the alleged photo. Usually, when people come forward with info at my talks, I give them my contact details but never hear from them again, but on this case I was rather surprised to hear from the husband of the woman who stated he was the person that had found a cat - which he believed was a Jungle Cat - in a snare. The animal was dead when he and a friend found it so they photographed it after hanging it from a branch. When I asked the man what happened to the body of the cat he simply stated that they left it and it rotted away. So frustrating. Even so, this chap seemed genuine and then purchased a copy of my book from me. A few days later I received a phone-call from the gentleman who was quite shocked to see 'his' photo in my MYSTERY ANIMALS...KENT book. I told him that in no way was the animal a 'big cat' - for one the legs were too short, as was the tail, and there could be no suggestion of anything larger than a domestic, because the carcass was only being held up with a piece of what seemed like string and the thin branching wasn't even bending. The man told me that the photo was very real and not a cut and paste job, but he was also adamant that the cat was not a domestic, although I beg to differ. Sometimes a mystery that is solved can lead to a bigger mystery, however. The man told me that only three people had seen the photo and he had the original in a photo album, and yet somehow I had managed to get a hold of this photo too. Thankfully, many years later we could both air our views, but the animal certainly wasn't a puma.

A couple of day ago I received an interesting call from an Ashford lady who told me that when the snow had hit Kent a short while ago, she'd found enormous aw-prints in her back garden that had dwarfed those left by her own pet cat. Although she never took any photo's the woman did tell me of an intriguing piece of evidence she had acquired, a whisker belonging to a 'big cat'. Now, when I get people speak to me about their finds I never hold my breath in anticipation of seeinmg the evidence because in so many cases where people have claimed to have filmed a strange cat, or got paw prints casts etc, I tend to never hear anything back. Mind you, in most cases when I do follow up reports of so-called evidence one also has to brace themself for the disappointment. Anyway, this lady seemed very genuine and told me she would send me the object which she was sure was a whisker. Today a letter dropped through the letter-box and lo and behold, here it sits, what appears to be a whisker of a cat such as a leopard. The item is about 5 inches long, and resembles something you'd expect to see protruding from the cheek of a leopard. So, watch this space and if I can I will update you on events...

And finally, there have bene a few recent reports to update you on...only some of these do I post online as the last thing I want is people turning up to some of the locations causing havoc. Even so, there has been a report of a black leopard at Ramsgate - the usual stuff, a chap driving when a large animal flashed across the road, just in time for the man to notice how big and fluent this animal was. There have also been reports from Sevenoaks (black leopard), Ashford (black leopard), Canterbury (puma) and two interesting reports from Sussex of lynx. As I stated in a previous post, if anyone wants to find more about lynx in Britain then I recommend the latest issue of BBC Wildlife magazine. There certainly wouldn't be a problem with having the lynx back in its natural envirnoment...although some wold argue that it never went away.

Today I received a phone call. It was like thousands of others I'd received before.

"On saturday 25th February," the man said, "I was driving with my wife from New Romney to Ivychurch. It was about 10:30 pm and we saw a black leopard cub playfully chasing a rabbit. The cat was about 2ft 6" long and had a long tail. It took a swipe at the rabbit but missed and then chased it into the undergrowth and we lost sight of it."

A sceptic, in reply to such a report could easily dismiss such a sighting and say, "He probably saw a domestic cat," but this witness, like a few fortunate others, had had a similar experience before. He continued: "We knew it was a 'panther' - the way it was built but in November 2011 I was driving between Hamstreet and Brenzett on the A2070 and the headlights picked up a set of bright green eyes in the road. I saw a huge animal - it froze in the headlights then leaopt into the undergrowth. It was a massive black cat."

Romney Marsh and much of East Kent has been a hot-bed of sightings for many, many years. When I received this call I still got that adrenalin kick that I got when I took my first ever report of a 'big cat' - when I was 9 years old, which seems like many years ago. Back then, as a kid, it was a time when the 'big cat' situation was a mystery, and the 'beast of Exmoor' a mere whisper on the wind. Newspapers covered the stories because it was new - whereas now, a 'big cat' headline is never far away. Back then there weren't big cat hunters popping up everywhere and those that were seeing such animals weren't coming forward in their droves because a majority of witnesses just ddn't know what they were seeing or what was going on. Nowadays, the 'big cat' phenomenon has embedded itself into British folklore and culture. As a child I never thought that one day I'd be researching these animals full-time - and whilst it's a privilege to do so, the element of mystery isn't what it was once, and in a way it's a good thing because it's now a serious situation, but all those years ago things felt different to my innocent mind.

When I first began researching the sightings it was a hobby - not many people took a 9 year old child seriously - but I knew these animals existed and I vowed that one day I would see one, but even then I knew how difficult it would be. Too many people think they can walk out their back door and see a 'big cat' and when they don't they get incredibly frustrated. The amount of big cat hunters out there who are desperate to see a 'big cat' goes to show how the aims of such people over the years have changed. My motives have never changed - all I wanted to do was make the public aware these animals existed because I'd begun to speak to witnesses who had seen these animals and wanted someone to talk to. I've made many friends over the years, and sadly, it would seem, a few enemies and detractors - I guess if I was still that 9 year old I wouldn't have been the target of cowards and pathetic individuals, but then again, as a 9 year old, I didn't really have a voice either.

As a kid I hoped that one day I would see a large cat - and in the late '90s the local press were running quite a few headlines about a local 'big cat' which they dubbed 'the beast of Blue Bell Hill'. Yep, it's a terrible headline, but I've heard far worse. I recall the Kent Today newspaper at the time running an article after there'd been a sighting at the picnic area which overlooks the Downs at Blue Bell Hill. A couple had been walking along the picnic area one afternoon when a large black cat raced in front of them and headed off down a wooded pathway. As we know, newspapers love these stories and within the next few weeks the 'beast of Blue Bell Hill' became embeded in the psyche of the local populace. Strangely, even sightings at Gravesend, Dartford, etc were dubbed the 'beast of Blue Bell Hill' even though this is on the other side of the river.

At the moment the major tabloids are concentrating their beastly headlines on an area of Gliucestershire where researchers, hunters and the like are setting up cameras etc, in the hope of catching a glimpse of the local beast. I've seen it all before  - it happens every few months - it began with the 'Surrey puma', but since the '60s has happened all over the UK - "the beast of this...., and "the beast of that...." Witnesses come forward - some start reporting things they haven't seen, photographs of muscular domestic cats and blurry blobs start cropping up and then it fades. Nowadays of course there appear to be more concentrated efforts to find these cats - people are buying trigger cameras, there are scent traps etc. When I was a child the occasional police foray into the local woods was as far as it went regarding a search. Back then, nobody wanted these animals caught or categorised - nowadays, that's the only motive.

When the sightings began of a large cat around Blue Bell Hill in the '90s, I'd already marked out the territory of one cat. However, despite so many witnesses ringing me up, I was getting the crank calls too so I had to be careful at the time with regards to giving out locations etc. Things got rather surreal when I was threatened by the local Devil worshippers haha! Even so, one night a relative of mine, whilst travelling near Capstone Park - not far from Hempstead, reported to me he'd seen a large animal protruding from a hedegrow. His son had been with him at the tim and so, hot on the heels I made my way to the area. In most cases I receive sightings hours, or even days later and following these up is unlikley yo produce a personal sighting, but my uncle's report was only an hour or so old. I'll never forget sitting in a vehicle with the headlights on and picking up a set of bright yellow eyes. I'll also never forget seeing those sheep, huddled together in a tight-knit group, and the eyes once again, seemingly with arrogance, glaring back at us. The eyes belonged to an animal that was sitting on its haunches stalking the sheep. I'll never forget slowly getting out the car and watching the sheep scatter and the cat bound off into the distance. It was an amazing experience but I knew I could track this animal and see it again. And I did.

When it comes to research of this kind, it's all very well and good putting reports into a folder otr popping out to the woods a couple of nights a month, but you've got to put yourself out there, become one with nature, eliminate everything else and appreciate your surroundings. I'll never forget melting into the landscape of a farm in the area and seeing the long, dark form a black leopard slink through the fog. The animal had no interest in the sheep on this occasion - it was en route - and it was gone after a few seconds. The more time and effort I put in the more I began to appreciate nature in general - it wasn't just about the 'beast of Blue Bell Hill', it was about understanding. It had been a privilege in 2000 to see this cat twice, but when I saw a different black leopard in 2008, in broad daylight, in the same area, I was gobsmacked. I watched the animal as I surveyed the landscape, and it didn't have a care in the world. It slinked across a field - the same field where I'd watched a fox walk - the long tail, the muscular shoulders, the flat face. It was an inspiring site. I'd found the sheep it had killed just a 1/4 of a mile away - the carcass was fresh (see photo) and rasped clean. The farmer that lost the sheep had never lost a specimen in some 40 years of farming. The cat had preferred rabbit and pheasants, but that night it went for something larger. Bizarrely, by 2008 I'd become accustomed to see unusual cats in the wilds of Kent. I recall becoming good friends with a chap named Ian who lived not far from Higham on the other side of the river. This guy phoned me one night to say that whilst walking his dog he'd been stalked by a large black cat. I took the report with a pinch of salt  - the guy seemed genuine, but when he told me he'd filmed a lynx as well as I had to laugh...until I not only saw the footage, but one summers evening at 8:45 pm saw the lynx for myself. We had been monitoring an area for some months but we never expected this lynx to run across a field in front of us. There were three of us watching that evening - two of us saw the animal as it raced across the field and slinked down into a ditch. It happened lightning fast. It was an area where we had many strange experiences, including being shot at! Nowadays the area, like so many others has changed, but it was clearly a cross-point for at least one species of cat - but both lynx and leopard had been seen there. Then, one evening I was contacted by a hysterical couple who said they'd pulled over by the side of a country lane at Higham and watched a mother and several cubs playing in a field. The reports kept coming. It was not a 'blue Bell Hill beast', just another leopard on its nightly hunt.

I'll never forget the time my father rang me and told me he'd seen a lynx whilst driving home one evening past the local rubbish tip. The cat had been in the hedgerow close to the road and sped off up the field as his car came by. He stopped the car and watched in amazement as the animal reached the top of the field and stopped and looked back at him. The animal's tail wasn't visible from a distance.

Lynx are elusive animals - although they'll take a deer they are more than happy to feed on rodents, hares and birds. They are beautiful animals and I felt so lucky to have seen such an animal.

Most people who see such animals are chance encounters. However, to track an animal is great to do. Imagine if such an animal was tagged and we could then appreciate the ground it covers. No-one appreciates how vast a territory an animal such as a leopard, puma or lynx can cover, but when there is cover and food in an area, it wouldn't necessarilly have to travel that far. My personal sightings were magical experiences. They have stuck in my mind for many years so every time I receive a sighting from a terrified, hysterical, or knowing witness, I know I can share their excitement. After all, the animal they've seen is not from another world, but simply an animal that shouldn't be there. It's not the local 'beast on the loose', or the quarry of the local researcher, it's an animal fending for itself and above all, an animal that does not care for beastly headlines or for the researchers trying to capture a glimpse of it. Without these animals there would be no mystery, and so many seem to forget that this situation is simply about these animals, and about these animals alone. It's not about the evidence really. It's not about the newspapers, or the personal aims of the camo' clad hunter.

When I was 9 years old I was told there was a 'big cat' in the local woods. There will always be a 'big cat' in the local woods. But can you imagine the day one is caught ? I've always been of the opinion that there is no mystery as to why these animals exist. The mystery is created by those who hunt and pursue them. I've also always been of the opinion that the public need to be made aware of what is going on and that the authorities need to acknowledge their existence, but every now and then my 9 year old self taps me on the shoulder to remind me that these majestic animals should be left alone to melt into the countryside...and it wouldn't be a bad thing if they did, after all, they've been doing this for far longer than we realise. Sometimes I wish there were more 9 year old researchers around because in their naivety, they'd see these cats for what they actually are, rather than what we want them to be.

I see that on The Sun website there is more debatable footage of an alleged 'big cat'. It's rather frustrating when people come forward and state that such 'evidence' is "the most conclusive" despite the fact that so many pieces of film footage are shot from a distance and are often blurry. Any sceptic would have the right to argue at such a piece of film, and so many of these types of footage seem to be floating around on You Tube and the like....but these would be the last place I'd submit footage. What is clear is that in the UK...and the same as Australia, there are a lot of large feral cats, a few years ago in Australia a man shot a feral cat that was four-feet in length! Even so, a feral/domestic cat does not look like a puma or leopard, but in my opinion any footage that is blurry or debatable shouldn't be put forward as evidence. It's great that people are roaming the countryside with camera's but to get close enough to a predatory cat requires patience and a lot of luck, but it is also dangerous and that's the concern that many people seem to be forgetting amid the mystery.

Many people ask the question, Where the hell do all these cats come from ? There is quite a simple set of answers on this question and there's no real mystery. Sadly, the mystery of the topic is all that people want. Over the years people looking into the subject have come to the conclusion that there are more than 1000 'big cats' roaming the UK - this is a laughable statistic and wildly off the mark. It's certainly fair to say that it's impossible to judge how many puma, leopard, lynx etc there are, but to say there are a 1000 is ridiculous. Only a year or so ago it was claimed that 13...yes, 13, black leopards were roaming the Romney Marsh area of Kent...where do people get this sort of information! Having researched this subject since the early '80s I've seen only a steady rise in numbers, which would be correct if say a female black leopard had produced between 1and 8 cubs in her short lifespan. There isn't one female on heat scouring the countryside, and whilst every county DOES have a 'big cat' legend, we can only guess that there are small but viable populations. If the country was running alive with 'big cats', as some newspaper headlines claimed recently, then we'd have a majr problem. Whether people like the theory or not, it is a fact that a majority of the animals seen today are offspring of animals from animals released in the '60s,'70s and early '80s around the time of the '76 Dangerous Wild Animals Act. My research has proven that in a majority of English counties in the '60s, people owned puma, lynx and black leopard - lions were also purchased - the most popular story concerning the lion cub, Christian, purchased from Harrords in London. A majority of folk who purchased exotic cats - usually as cute and cuddly cubs/kittens, didn't go to the newspapers with their pets, they kept them in their front room, in shoddy basements, and only a few cases were actually highlighted by the media. In my 2009 book Mystery Animals of the British Isles: Kent I listed thousands of eye witness reports of exotic cats across the south-east and examined some of the theories. My recently published follow up, Mystery Animals of the British Isles: London also looked at several cases of animals being kept as pets. For example, there's the case of the chap who walked into his pub in London in 1974 with his pet puma on a lead. The cat became very agitated ripping apart the upholstery of the pub. The man was eventually fined. In another incident a man purchased a puma kitten for his children and it attacked a child. A lion 'playfully' leapt on a woman as she was walking down a London street, and another man owned a serval - an African hunting cat - which bit a friend in a restaurant. These cases are not rare. In the '60s and '70s it was quite common to own an exotic cat - as well as a menagerie of exotic animals, from monkeys, to reptiles. One man ordered a rhino from Harrods! These animals were simply an extension of someone's ego, a status symbol, a novel pet - just like terrapins, snakes and baby alligators have bene over the years. When the 1976 Dangerous Animals Act was introduced it is a known fact that people DID release their pets. A puma kitten or leopard cub could easily survive in the wilds of England. I've no doubt that the Surrey puma legend began due to a cat that had been released from a private collection - although this does not explain the mystery creature seen around Coulsdon in the 1800s! Even so, whilst lions and larger cats were purchased, it was the smaller cats, especially lynx and puma and jungle cat, whic were released, and the black leopard was certainly the iconic animal to own in the '60s. You'll find that in almost every case, if not all, regarding tigers, lions etc, escaping, they've either been recaptured or shot dead. One fascinating case from the '70s, regarding Kent involved a Mr Fred Lloyd, who, whilst fishing on the banks of the River Medway at East Peckham, on 5th Jan' 1974, got the shock of his life when a black leopard cub rolled out of the bushes. "I grabbed it by the scruff of the neck", Fred told the newsppaers that covered the incident, "...and shoved it straight into my fishing box."

The animal hissed and growled and so Mr Lloyd took it home and put it in a play-pen but the animal proceeded to destroy it and so he transfered it to a beer crate. Mr Lloyd phoned several zoo parks but they, bizarrely, laughed at him. 24 hours later an RSPCA Inspector arrived on the scene but no-one came forward to say they'd lost a 'panther'. Weirdly, a 'panther' cub, caled Zar had allegedly been stolen from a zoo in Essex on 4th January, but there's no evidence to suggest this was the same cat - thought to be worth in the region of £600. It seems highly unlikely this was the same animal, and this may well have been the first case on record where someone actually captured a leopard cub that had been born in the wilds of England. On 22nd Jan' 1975 The Daily Mirror ran a story concerning a London man who had split up from his wife and so decided to leave his aggravated pet puma in the back garden of his former home. Westminster MP, Peter Templemore, when commenting to the press stated, "Sooner or later someone will get killed", and yet three decades later we find that we've not moved on in our progress at offisially recognising the situation we have in the UK regarding so-called 'big cats'.  A puma escaped from a garden in Byton, Hertfordshire on 1st Jan' 1975 - it was never confirmed as to whether to animal was recaptured. These sort of cases are numerous, and again, prove that people were keeping such animals across the country and certainly when the 1976 Act was introduced, a majority of people did not give their animals to zoo parks and certainly did not destroy their 'pets', and so they released them. Even so, there is no evidence of bizarre cross-bred cats out there, so there'd certainly have to be enough of each species for there to be a viable population today, and this is the case. In the 1940s an Orpington man, as a child, was given a present by his father who'd been abroad on war duty. The man was given a cute black cat which decided to eat the next door neighbours cat. The family did not have a clue what sort of cat they had and so asked a vet who stated quite categorically that it was a 'panther' cub. With that, the father went straight to the most remote woodland he knew and released the animal. Only a decade or so ago a man from Torquay, in Devon, phoned police to say say he'd released his "black puma" but wouldn't say where as he didn't want such a "beautiful" animal hunted. Again, these are quite common occurrences. However, these cases do not explain the reports which date back more than a century.

During the Victorian era many people had private menagerie's and travelling zoo's. Barnum, Wombwell, Bostock, Jamrach, just a few well known showmen who would exhibit all manner of curious creatures and oddments to draw in the gullible crowds. However, in my book Mystery Animals of....London I highlighted many, many cases of animals escaping into the wilds, one involving a leopard that escaped in Camden, and even a tiger that grabbed a small child. These are not stories concocted by sensational headlines, despit the fact that newspapers have always sought out a beastly tale or two. If one takes the time to trawl countless archives - and it is an exhaustive process - you'd be amazed at how many stories there are concerning not just exotic cats escaping/being released into the wilds, but a whole host of animals - from wallabies, monkeys, snakes, birds of prey, and not al of these were recaptured or shot dead. There has been a legend around Blue Bell Hill of a large, elusive animal for at leats 400 hundred years! That's a long, long time. Old records know the legend as the 'great dogge' but this beast was said to roam parts of Trottiscliffe too two hundred years later, but one one occasion this 'lean, grey' animal with 'prick't ears' was said to have killed a man who was walking on the Pilgrims Way. There were also rumours of a black leopard being shot near Burham in the 1930s. I was told this information by a Mr Cuckow many years ago because as a child, he, and a few other friends actually saw this happen. They believed it may have escaped the local zoo at Maidstone which was run by Sir Garrard Tyrwhitt Drake but this was never confirmed. Interestingly, I recently read of this case in a new book called Big Cats just a shame the author couldn't have mentioned that he got the information from me! It's also worth noting that even the Roman's housed large cats - but not the puma - in their vast amphitheatre's, and there is also legend that during the wars some pilots brought over exotic cats as mascots, and were then told to shot them but may have released them instead, but this has never been proven and certainly wouldn't account for the amount of sightings there have been. Again, we have to look at consistency and in my two books I've highlighted so many cases that even the most sceptical person would find difficult to debunk.

So, there you have it...a brief explanation as to where black leopard, puma, lynx etc have come from. Interesting to note as well that I've never, in all my years of conducting this research, received a sighting of a leopard with normal pelage. Black leopard parents only produce black offspring, due to a recessive gene, and over the course of a few decades the rosette pattern will gradually seem to phase out due to the density of the darkness. The strain is less dominant in squirrels, but in the leopard in the UK it appears very dominant. I'm happy to consider that we may have leopards of the normal pelage but again, there needs to be consistency in reports for me to take this into consideration. The same also goes for animals with varying coat markings which do not seem to fit in with conventional markings.

Mystery Animals of the British Isles: Kent and Mystery Animals of the British Isles: London are available from Amazon and can also be ordered from bookshops such as Waterstone's.

Left - Hary Matthews photo taken in 1998 of an unusual cat on Cooling marshes.I have just come back from giving a lecture today in Gravesend on the 'mystery animals of Kent', and the feedback, as always ranges from stunned, to spooked, with many of the sceptics in the audience impressed by the evidence I presented. I also noticed that in today's edition of The Guardian newspaper, that a deer carcass, which many people believed had been killed by a 'big cat', in Gloucestershire, had been confirmed as being killed by a dog then scavenged by a fox. This wasn't a surprise to me, despite many people being adamant it had been a cat kill, but the DNA analysis proved otherwise. It's great that 'authorities' are, at times, when they have the time and in some instances the money, analysing alleged evidence of 'big cat' activity because people often say to me that there is no evidence whatsoever that large cats exist in the UK. I find it strange that with so much evidence that the 'big cat' situation is regarded as a mystery and relegated to folklore. Even more bizarre, when evidence is presented to the sceptical eye, they refuse to believe it, even if a majority of disbelievers don't actually know what they are looking at. Some people would scoff at it even if it bit them on the nose and this type of ignorance isn't healthy to any situation.

When walking through the woods it's important to know what you are looking at in regards to native species as well as possible non-native species. It's vital when examining possible 'big cat' evidence, to eliminate every other possibility. In the south-east of England we have foxes, deer, badger, dogs, domestic cats, squirrels, and countless other animals, many which are rarely seen. In parts of Kent and Sussex there are also wild boar and wallaby - bizarrely these animals are also dismissed by sceptics even though they've bene photographed and filmed.

Most people would think that surely the best evidence to support the existence of a 'big cat' cat would be to film it - this is far easier said than done even in today's climate with people walkinga round with mobile phones etc. The problem is, a leopard or puma is an incredibly elusive animal, they can hear, se and smell a human, and often keep their distance. A majority of sightings are so brief and usually involve motorists travelling late at night or during the early hours, or people walking their dog etc. A cat often sticks to hedgreows, tree-lines etc and hunt under the cloak of night - no-one drives with their phone at the ready and if your security light comes on at night the last thing you expect to see in your garden is a black leopard. Even so, many people nowadays are using trigger camera's which they are setting up across the country - this is fine, but it seems that some people just want to film the local 'beast' to make some money out of it and to allegedly 'be the first'. In Kent there have been a few cases where cats have been caught on film, but across the UK film footage does exist - in 2011 a Jungle Cat was filmed crossing a road in the Meopham area near Gravesend. In 1998 Harry Matthews took a photo of an unusual cat on marshes at Cooling. Bizarrely, this photo has appeared on several websites (in other words, stolen) with people claiming it's the 'beast of Bodmin' etc. The cat in the photo is no 'big cat', but it could well be a Jungle Cat or a hybrid of Jungle Cat/domestic cat. Bizarrely, the local news channels at the time when covering the story of the photo claimed it was the 'beast of Blue Bel Hill' even though the animal was seen on the other side of the river, and clearly wasn't something akin to a black leopard. In 1994 a holiday-maker claimed he'd filmed a large black cat at Aylesford Priory, a few miles outside of Maidstone. I'm of the opinion that most footage of so-called 'big cats' will be ridiculed because sceptics expect someone to walk up to a leopard and photograoh it from a few feet away, this is highly unlikely to occur. For me we must look at what I consider to be the best evidence for 'big cats' in the wild, the sheep and deer kills. The photo's here are proof that farmers do lose sheep, and that deer are certainly high on the menu - wherever the deer move so do the cats, and it'ss even more amazing when deer and sheep are found high up in trees. Leopards take their prey into trees, as discussed in the last post. Whilst deer and sheep make an ideal meal for a cat, there is far easier prey to catch - rats, mice, birds, squirrels, foxes - sceptics expect there to be thousands of slaughtered sheep but this isn't the case, but there are cases throughout the south-east where farmers have succumbed to severe livestock losses.

This sheep was killed not far from Blue Bell Hill. When a leopard kills its prey it often goes for the throat leaving puncture marks. A large cat rasps the fleece/fur and leaves a very clean kill. No other animal kills in this fashion - foxes do not bring deer down, and certainly do not stash them in trees! The farmer who lost this sheep had never, in 40 years of farming lost a sheep before. In the same area other farmers had lost a few sheep in similar fashion.

In most cases of large prey, the head is left untouched, birds tend to peck the eyes and foxes will scavenge. It does not take long for a carcass of an animal to disappear in the wild.

These type of photo's can appear gruesome and finding a carcass like this in the middle of a deep, dark wood can be quite eerie, especially if the carcass appears relatively fresh. Quite recently I investigated a sheep carcss in the Rokvencden area, after a lady walking her dog had seen an enormous black cat walk into the churchyard in the village. The next day the woman found a carcass - all that was left was the skull and the spine, the ribs has been sheared off and scavengers had done the rest. In 1998 I found a carcass of a goat in a relatively built up area on the outskirts of Rochester. The goat had been licked clean and birds had taken the eyes. A large cat often stalks its prey, and will sit in an area, iften away from the flock before making its move. Sheep are sometimes carried to the edge of a field and eaten. I'm sure that if sheep could talk they'd have some pretty scary experiences to speak of!

This photo shows a ram kill in Sussex, it was taken by a farmer named Graham Bennett. He'd been losing a couple of rams a week for around five months!

 I have hundreds of similar photo's to this, some of small dogs, others domestic cats, deer, etc and they are all killed in the same way. When dogs attack they can be extremely spiteful, biting the face, the legs, and will rarely eat a sheep, and scavengers tend to pluck bits from the carcass afterwards. In Paddock Wood a few years ago a farmer found most of his flock had been mauled - this had been the work of dogs. The faces of the sheep had been bitten but the carcasses remained untouched elsewhere. 

 The next blog will look at other evidence such as 'scat' (faeces), and paw prints.

Good afternoon and welcome to the second instalment of my new blog pertaining to my research into sightings and evidence of so-called 'big cats' in the south-east. As I mentioned in my first report, there are numerous issues, subjects, questions etc to get through and will, step by step, take you, dear reader into this intriguing situation which has been taking place for many years across the UK. The possibility that large, exotic cats roam south-eastern England has been a bugbear for many sceptics over the years. Those who remain unconvinced of the shaky film footage and blurry paw-print casts have every right to question something for which there appears no evidence for, but hopefully this blog will explain many of the mysteries and fill in the holes that seem to pepper this subject. Today, I'll be introducing you to the species of cat which are believed to roam not just Kent, but most of Britain. Hopefully, this introduction will make many people aware of not just what roams the countryside, but which animals do not. Over the years there have been reports of lions, tigers, cheetahs, and jaguars in the wilds of Kent, but NONE of these inhabit the local woods, in fact it would be absurd to suggest so, and I doubt very much whether such animals would roam any part of the UK. Nearly every sighting of a so-called lion, lioness et al, has been unfounded, and those that turn out to be genuine simply take place after an animal has escaped a zoo - resulting in it being recaptured or sadly, shot dead. In 2011 an alleged 'white toger' sighting took place elsewhere in the country, but the animal turned out to be cuddly toy, and yet police still investigated the sighting!! In the 1960s the Surrey puma flap of sightings originally involved witnesses coming forward to describe lioness sightings - when in fact a majority of witnesses were seeing a puma, also known as mountain lion and cougar, but what we must remember is that despite the thousands of 'big cat' sightings that take place, not every witness is genuine and not all know their species of cat. In London in 1994 a creature known as the 'Winchmore Hill lioness' hit the headlines, this was a decade after the 'Edgware tiger' scare. It's amazing what type of stories make the national headlines!

What we must remember is that whilst lions were purchased quite regularly in the 1960s as novel pets - this very large cat, native to  Africa, would stick out like a sore thumb in the UK wilds. Such an animal would be heard roaring, would seek very large prey and the lion is also a social animal that seeks a pride. Tigers 9which inhabit most of southern Asia) were not regularly kept as pets in the '60s, although in parts of the United States today it is believed that more people own Bengal tigers than there are Bengal tigers in the wild!! Again, a tiger is a very large cat, it's coat is very distinctive and there would be an alarming pile up of prey. The cheetah - this extremely agile and speedy cat which inhabits an area south of the Sahara in Africa, North Africa and the Middle East - was occasionally kept as a pet in the '60s. In India the father of the Moghul Emperor Jahangir was said to have kept more than one-thousand cheetahs! There is no evidence, despite legends, to suggest that the cheetah inhabits the south-east of England. Again, during the 1960s, when the Surrey puma legend began, there was rumour of a creature dubbed the 'Shooters Hill cheetah' even though no-one described seeing such a beast!! It's truly amazing how headlines come about! Another animal highly unlikely to inhabit Kent, Sussex, London outskirts and Surrey, is the jaguar. Those not in the know may confuse such a felid with the leopard in the sense that its coat is straw/yellow coloured and patched with dark rosettes. The jaguar, however, which is a stockier animal than the leopard, inhabits parts of the South and Central America. Both the leopard and the jaguar are prone to melanism - meaning both species can have a dark pigment to the coat - from a distance the animal appears black but up close the rosettes can be seen bleeding through the extremely dark coat. When the jaguar and leopard have dark pelage, people call them 'panthers', but the term 'panther' is simply folkloric and not a species of cat. In other words, a 'panther' is the melanistic (darker coated) form of the leopard or jaguar. The term 'panther' stems from the species classification, for the jaguar it being Panthera once, and for the leopard, Panthera pardus. The rosettes of the jaguar and leopard differ from one another. Within the rosette of a jaguar can be seen a dotted pattern. The jaguar also has shorter legs. Those who have seen the Disney movie The Jungle Book can now be made aware that the large black cat - Bagheera - is not a 'panther', but in fact a melanistic form of the Indian leopard.

Considering the thousands of reports of so-called 'big cats' I've received over the years, I have never received a report of a jaguar.

One detail of the British 'big cat' situation which often confuses people is the frequent use of the term 'big cat' which often suggests to many that the animals roaming the UK must surely be lion, tiger, jaguar, cheetah, but this is not the case. If a majority of these animals were on the loose in Kent, there would be cause for alarm. The only so-called 'big cat' to roam the UK is the leopard. The cat species which have the ability to roar are considered 'big cats, and produce cubs, the smaller cats purr - the puma emits an intense scream - and these cats produce kittens. The remaining cats which are alleged to inhabit the UK are the puma, lynx and jungle cat. Let's look at these cats:

Leopard - If you've ever had the fortune to see a leopard on the television, or in the flesh at a zoo or on safari in Africa, you will immediately recognise this 'big cat', which also inhabits parts of Asia, is recognisable by its yellowy-type coat, and its magnificent rosette pattern. The leopard can grow to around 7-ft in length and stand over 2-ft at the shoulder. An individual can weigh from anywhere between 80 and 180 lb. A genetic mutation results in the 'panther' - the melanistic leopard. Strangely, in the south-east of England I have never received a report of a 'normal' leopard, every sighting has describe the darker form. Although two spotted parents can produce a mixed litter, black parents only produce black offspring, due to the recessive gene.

The leopard is an adept climber - the next time you are walking through your local woods, always be sure to look up into the trees - a leopard can easily climba  tree, not only to sleep, but will stash its prey in the lower branches. Its ability to climb trees means the leopard is the perfect hunter and the acting of chaching in trees means that scavengers such as jackals, hyenas, and in the UK, foxes, cannot steal a kill.

The leopard can have a vast territory, stretching several hundred square miles - looking for a leopard in England is something akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. The leopard mainly hunts at night, and hunts with supreme stealth. The animal emits a variety of noises from a double-barrelled growl, to a deep,swa cough and a warning hiss. Despite their elusive nature, in parts of their native country the leopard is happy to hunt within a few miles of a big city, making it suited to human encroachment. The solitary male could have a territory that encompasses a couple of females. When a male and female copulate, between 1-4 (usually 2)cubs are born. The male often leaves the litter and the cubs stay with the mother for around 18 months before making their own way in life. Inbreeding will stunt the population.

In the 1960s it was relatively common for people to keep leopards - and often the sleek, black variety, as pets. Documented evidence proves this. Even today the darker form of the leopard is considered an iconic animal representing the cool, sexy, suave and sophisticated, and often these animals can still be seen in music video's and advertisements.

Each year I receive between 150 and 250 eye-witness reports of exotic cats across the south-east. More than half of this number are attributed to large black cats. Witnesses, when seeing such animals - even from a distance - notice how long the tail is. The tail of a leopard is unlike a domestic cat - it can measure almost three-quarters the length of the body and curves down behind it in an 'S' shape.

Puma (aka Mountain lion, cougar): If you look on the internet, or in books or newspaper archives in reference to British 'big cats' sightings, you'll be stunned at the naivety when it comes to identifying species of exotic cats. During the 1960s, a time when it was popular to keep a large cat as a pet - newspapers and witnesses alike were describing so many differing species of cats with varying coat colours that confusion was rife. The press would often talk about sightings of a black (melanistic) puma. The puma is never black. Melanism is extremely rare in this cat, but even the darkest form of such a cat, would still a lighter underside. The puma (Felis concolor) is native to certain areas of the United States and Canada. Despite measuring up to 7-ft in length, it is not a 'big cat', for it cannot roar. The puma is the largest of the Lesser Cats, and emits a piercing, eerie cry which can travel for miles - ideal for communication between individuals. The puma, like the leopard, also a long curving tail, its head is relatively small compared to the rest of the body and the coat is uniformly buff coloured. The tail has a black tip. The puma, like the leopard, prefers to hunt prey rather than scavenge. The young of the puma have spots, which fade with maturity. In its country of origin the puma is considered such an elusive animal that it has been bestowed folkloric names such as 'ghost cat' and 'shadow cat'. In some states it has been declared extinct, as human encroachment has forced it back into the deep woods, and yet despite being declared extinct the animal keeps on showing up - and much to the annoyance of the wildlife departments who state categorically that sightings must be misidentifications or escapees.

During the 1960s the puma - which is considered a New World cat - was housed in many private collections across England. In the 1970s a London man walked into his pub with his pet puma on a lead. Another man had his puma destroyed when it attacked his young son. These are not unique cases - the puma was the ideal cat to keep, especially if it was a young - seemingly cute and cuddly individual.

The puma is often reported throughout the south-east of England, but a puma at a distance in daylight is far less conspicious than a black leopard. Its coat can range from the uniform buff to silvery grey and a reddish tan. From a distance someone who sights such a cat may think they are seeing a deer or fox. The puma is the second largest cat to be sighted in the UK.

In its native habitat the puma has been known to attack humans. People cycling through the trees, children running and playing, and also joggers have become prey. Some claim that most attacks take place due to the cat having rabies or being starved due to lack of prey in its area. In Africa and India the leopard tends to only attack humans who live in remote villages which infringe on forest.

Lynx The Eurasian lynx (Felis lynx) is a very interesting animal in that a few thousand years ago it was native to Britain. Some researchers argue that the lynx never fully died out and due to its elusive nature and wide distribution it may well have hung on in the more dense forest areas of the UK. The lynx is mainly identifiable by the fact it has a short stubby tail, large tufted ears and a mottled coat which can range from yellowish, brown, greyish, reddish and silvery. Nowadays the Eurasian lynx inhabits North Europe and Asia, whereas the Iberian lynx dwells in S.W. Europe - the Iberian lynx is smaller than the Euasian lynx. The similar-looking Bobcat inhabits the southern region of the Canadian provinces and the United States and into Mexico. Another similar-looking felid is the caracal, which inhabits Africa. The caracal is smaller than the lynx, has a reddish-rusty coat, and has distinctive tufted ears .

Lynx were most certainly kept as pets, not only in the 1960s, but also during the Victorian era when travelling menageries and private collections were all the rage - which will be discussed in another post. Bizarrely, in 2001 a lynx was found cowering in a back garden in North London. A female witness reported it to the police who with the help of London Zoo darted the animal. No-one to this day knows where the animal came from - no-one came forward to say they'd lost a lynx - which they had probably been keeping illegally.

So, the leopard, puma and lynx are the main three species of cat said to roam the south-east of England, pretty much the rest of the UK. It may be a wild statement for me to make, but again, before you dismiss such reports, please bear with this blog so as to present the evidence for these animals existing in our woods.

There has also, in the past, been occasional reports of other smaller cats, such as jaguarundi, golden cat, jungle cat, ocelot, lserval and leopard cat. These animals certainly wouldn't be a major problem for people to keep as pets, although there aren't many records of anyone keeping the golden cat. The golden cat inhabits Africa and Asia, and is prone to melanism. The African golden cat is twice the size of a domestic cat has a coat which ranges from grey to red-brown and sometimes has spots. The Asian variety - known as Temmick's cat has some similarities to the Africa golden cat in that the coat varies, and melanism occurs. One cat which most certainly has been sighted in the UK is the Jungle Cat, also known as the Swamp cat and Reed Cat, which inhabits parts of Africa and Asia. The Jungle Cat, among a few other smaller species of cat, were used aboard boats for 'ratting'. The Jungle cat grows to just over 2-ft in length, has relatively long legs, at times a banded tail, and a light brown coat. The UK would be perfect for such a cat in that it hunts rodents, birds and reptiles. Specimens have been killed in Shropshire and Essex. A leopard cat was shot dead on the Isle of Wight a few decades ago and the serval and ocelot have been known to escape zoo parks. The jaguarundi probably does not inhabit the woods of Britain. This cat, native to south America looks more like a mustelid - a class of mammal which contains the stoat, European polecat, mink, Eurasian badger, wolverine, pine marten etc. Other cats which do not inhabit the UK are the clouded leopard and snow leopard (in the '80s a clouded leopard was shot in Kent but it had been a zoo escapee) and the rarer cats such as sand cat, marbled cat, pallas cat, andean cat, flat-headed cat etc. Interestingly, in the March of 2011 a rare Amur leopard cat was found in a back garden near London and handed in to Heathrow Pet Centre! Such incidents do not suggest we have established numbers but instead an escaped pet.

Despite the many reports across the UK of the above mentioned species, the UK is NOT running alive with thousands of exotic cats, but there must be small pockets of viable populations. There is no evidence of bizarre mutations such as leopard x puma, etc, although in zoo parks cross-breeding occurs, these animals are generally regarded as freaks, i.e. leopards, ligers etc, and do not occur in the wild. One vital detail that must be looked at in regards to monitoring sightings of exotic cats in the UK is consistency. A majority of witneses describe a large, Alsatian-sized seemingly jet-black cat - the black leopard, as well as a slightly smaller buff-coloured, long tailed cat - the puma, and a smaller still, tufted eared bobbed tail cat - the lynx. Reports, as stated earlier, of white tigers, lions, cheetahs, etc are unfounded and can only be taken seriously if they are consistently reported. So, before the sceptics go claiming that I said there are monstrous, mutant big cats on the loose - think again. Eye witness reports are deemed credible when they involve police officers, government officials and the like, but are often scoffed at when sightings are merely reported by general members of the public, but not everyone has just come out of the pub, is seeking attention, hoaxing or lying.

And finally, for this blog, I'd like to add that it's very important to remember that cats such as leopard, puma etc, in the wild, live for between 10 and 14 years, and longer in captivity. It is clear - and judging by reports - that female and male leopards are meeting up and breeding, and producing enough young to support a healthy population. It is unlikely however that a male leopard in Kent is meeting up with a female in Scotland - research suggests the territory for a male leopard in England ranges from 30 to 100 square miles. A leopard does not have a fixed den, and will zig-zag across a territory, staying in an area where there is food before only gradually moving on. The leopard scent marks its range. Of a night the leopard hunts with stealth, sightings usually occur when someone is driving late at night or during the early hours of the morning, or sightings involve people wlking their dogs or fishing. And sightings often last under three seconds. A leopard will happily, during the day, bask in the sun, snooze under a tree, lay up in an old churchyard, but we need to remember, these are the most elusive animals on earth. And they can smell, see and hear humans from quite a distance. A black leopard in the darkness may only be visible by its eye reflection, whereas a puma can melt into the shadows of daylight like a ghost. They stick to rocky outcrops, hedgerows, tree-lines, dense forest, quarries etc. Of a night an ideal place for a leopard to prowl is a golf course - prey is abundant and there would be no people. A railway line is perfect for navigation - of a night a railway line provides excellent cover enabling a large cat to slink into back gardens, and alongside a railway line there is plenty of prey. And, before anyone starts claiming that there is no prey in the UK for a leopard and that there should be piles of slaughtered animals (as one 'expert' zoo keeper stated)...hopefully the next blog will prove otherwise.