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Big Cat sightings

Mike Hodgkiss said:
I have always been intrigued by this subject . I know 4 people who have seen big cats in the UK [ all large black panther type creatures ] Two of these people were anglers who saw them at close quarters whilst out Angling , 3 of the 4 sightings were in daylight . I have absolutely no reason to doubt the veracity of these sightings . Following the various Big Cat FB pages , a good proportion of sightings are made by anglers or other folks pursuing outdoor/country pursuits , I guess because they are out and about in the wilds often sitting quietly ,blending in with the scenery . Anyone on here had any direct experiences/ accounts they would care to share ?
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Not sure how you fish for them. 🤣
 
Graham Tremble said:
Incidentally, a ‘big cat’ would easily attack and kill a human as they do regularly in other countries…..
G.T.
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I would strongly dispute "regularly" Graham. Having read extensively on this subject through the books of Jim Corbett, "Maneaters of Kumaon" etc. it's very evident that big cats, 99% of the time, only resort to killing humans when they are incapable, for whatever reason, of hunting their natural prey. The most common reason was gunshot wounds and porcupine quills. These books were set in the 1920s-30s when India had a much larger big cat population than it does today, yet attacks on humans were still rare, some areas going 30 years between reported incidents, despite a healthy tiger and leopard population. So I wouldn't consider a lack of attacks on humans in the UK as any sort of evidence that they don't exist.
 
Alex Gowney said:
I would strongly dispute "regularly" Graham. Having read extensively on this subject through the books of Jim Corbett, "Maneaters of Kumaon" etc. it's very evident that big cats, 99% of the time, only resort to killing humans when they are incapable, for whatever reason, of hunting their natural prey. The most common reason was gunshot wounds and porcupine quills. These books were set in the 1920s-30s when India had a much larger big cat population than it does today, yet attacks on humans were still rare, some areas going 30 years between reported incidents, despite a healthy tiger and leopard population. So I wouldn't consider a lack of attacks on humans in the UK as any sort of evidence that they don't exist.
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I get your point but NOBODY has EVER been attacked in the UK as far as I am aware. Plus, pet dogs are taken by big cats where they exist. Again , I have never heard anyone complain that their pet had been attacked or killed….. You may have seen photo’s or reports of this?
G.T.
 
Out of curiosity I googled how many people in India were killed recently by Tigers in India. Apparently 497 people were killed between 2014-2022. If you consider simply ‘attacks’ by ‘ big cats’ it must be thousands. I realise this isn’t India…….yet…..😉G.T.
 
Graham Tremble said:
Out of curiosity I googled how many people in India were killed recently by Tigers in India. Apparently 497 people were killed between 2014-2022. If you consider simply ‘attacks’ by ‘ big cats’ it must be thousands. I realise this isn’t India…….yet…..😉G.T.
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That's interesting. I read that between 2015 and 2018 only 34 people were killed in the whole of India. That's 11 a year, or less if the years are inclusive. For a country with a population of nearly 1.5 billion I guess that's not many. Having said that, I certainly wouldn't want to bump into a big cat on a dark night!
 
Alex Gowney said:
That's interesting. I read that between 2015 and 2018 only 34 people were killed in the whole of India. That's 11 a year, or less if the years are inclusive. For a country with a population of nearly 1.5 billion I guess that's not many. Having said that, I certainly wouldn't want to bump into a big cat on a dark night!
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It's a serious amount if you are one of the 34.
 
Many years ago I was at a game range in Namibia, as a tourist ofcourse. The ranch had a lot of animals plus a compound where the lions were kept. I was next to a male,I was in a hide so quite safe, but this cat was maybe 18" away just the other side of the wall. It was huge. If anyone came across something like that whilst fishing the only thing left would be a pair of brown underpants!
 
Graham Tremble said:
Out of curiosity I googled how many people in India were killed recently by Tigers in India. Apparently 497 people were killed between 2014-2022. If you consider simply ‘attacks’ by ‘ big cats’ it must be thousands. I realise this isn’t India…….yet…..😉G.T.
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A leopard with a will would definitely take out a human being. Though a tiger and lion are on a different scale. There's even an isolated species of Bengal tiger, in a swamp environment in India, that has an extremely aggressive predation instinct for human beings.
 
Graham Tremble said:
I get your point but NOBODY has EVER been attacked in the UK as far as I am aware. Plus, pet dogs are taken by big cats where they exist. Again , I have never heard anyone complain that their pet had been attacked or killed….. You may have seen photo’s or reports of this?
G.T.
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There’s a programme on Blaze tv about paranormal events, can’t remember what it’s called (Britain's big cat mystery)?? But a chap on there reported being attacked….obviously all unproven but there are reports of attacks (or at least one).
The part of the programme I found most convincing was examination of a sheep carcass that according to a big cat expert showed clear puncture wounds possibly inflicted by a large predatory cat
 
Alex Gowney said:
Just came across this;
https://www.discoverwildlife.com/.../new-dna-evidence...
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Everitt is a documentary maker working with Netflix etc. You know the ones that do Big Foot, Haunted Houses in Winchcombe, Nessie Hunters, etc...and any 'proof' coming out of Cirencester College should be taken with a pinch of salt, 'young farmers on the piss'. ;) .

Anyway I will keep an eye out my garden backs on to open Cotswold farmland, but I do have a black lab and the last time she went for a stroll there were eight 'Panther' sightings in the local facebook page.:)
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