MAFF Beast of Bodmin Report

 

Considering the evidence offered this was a very slim paper (16 pages and a lot of that were photos and a map) and was very selective in the 'evidence' it chose. It was also very badly funded and I spoke to a person (NOT identifying them in any way as it could still get them intro trouble) involved who stated that the "investigation" was mainly indoors with the exception of a few photographs taken at sighting locations.

"It was not to prove that big cats were there but assess material submitted as evidence -as deemed worthy".

It was a white wash in other words.

I was asked by someone to give evidence but was then told that as I was on the Partnership Against Wildlife Crime (PAWS) I had to abide by that contract and could not give evidence.

There were plaster casts of pawprints that were definitely large cat and a baggie with five hairs a cat left as it ran through a wire fence was dismissed as they were unable to carry out hair analysis.

Droppings that were large and very cat-like were rejected. I was told that anyone could get a friend at a zoo or wildlife park to pick up droppings or make plaster casts and even gather hair. This shows why finds need to be mapped as well as photographed (date stamp) in situ and bagged immediately.

There were a couple farmers who had recordings of large cat calls but, sadly, those, too, can be recorded at zoos or wildlife parks. Eye witness testimony was also not that accepted and the kill they chose to look at was obviously not a cat kill.

I was once asked whether I would do an independent investigation and gather evidence but I explained that no one was willing to put up money for that and I definitely could not afford to pay for the work.

Since then, still in the 1990s, we got DNA twice as well as scat from a cat and expert trackers from outside the UK and independent of the pro and anti parties involved, have found evidence.

We know the cats of various types are out there and have been for a very long time (minimum early 19th century) and they have had no negative impact on wildlife and despite many fake claims -a good few I investigated- no one has ever been harmed by a wild living large cat -they avoid people and even in cases where they were accidentally cornered they simply snarled as the person involved moved back and allowed them to escape. Today, DEFRA has any trapped large cats killed on the spot even when someone has found a wildlife park to take them.

I keep vague location records and never tell people where cats are sighted -besides a cat covers a great deal of territory as I have noted before).

They are here and new native species.

Exotic Species In The UK: You Got The Cash You Can Cut A Deal

Sriramulu Ravi Kumar. Kabini Forest  Karnataka. Country  India

 First item: Yes, cats as well as other exotic animals are killed on our roads. Wallabies or boar often are a small snippet in a locals newspaper. Muntjac deer are hardly newsworthy it seems. I have had reports from very qualified people who have seen dead wolverine as well as various large cats killed on very busy roads. The roads in question are deadly to try to stop on and do not even have breakdown pull-ins.

Asking the police they would not stop at the locations given due to "high risk of causing a road traffic incident or possible fatality".

Highways England leave these animals where they are for nature to take its course as unless they are a hazard to motorists there is no call-out. 

If you do see such an animal find the nearest turn off and look for the land at the back of the road in question as a carcass may be recoverable or photographed from there.

Second item: As previously discussed, there are plenty of black leopards, puma as well as lynx in wildlife parks/centres. These are not all zoo "excess" (breeding) stock. There are puma, etc, in wildlife rescue centres along with privates and canids as well as zebra. Where do these animals all come from?

Private and illegal; breeding. We know that as we were putting a stop to this in the 1990s but in the 2000s someone decided to undo all of that. Now, if you get on a Face Book exotic pet page you will find almost anything you want (often you'll be contacted privately if you show an interest in a specific animal) and all available via "secure mobile app"....well, sounds legit, right?

Therefore various cat types, marsupials, silver foxes, porcupines, primates, civets and other animals seen or reported out in the UK countryside or towns -it shows how unregulated exotic animal breeding and selling is.

Black Leopards Are NOT Rare

 "Black leopards are very rare"

No they are not.

They are found in India, Thailand, Africa, etc. and if they are so rare why does almost every wildlife in the UK have a pair of black leopards?

Photos (c) 2024 Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (Thailand) June 2024

ALL Books Are Priced For Region and Printed and Posted in Region -NO International Shipping

 To make it clear: 

1.  if you order a book from the online store it does not involve international shipping. Books are printed in your region -that's how print on demand works.  

2.  The price of the book should be shown in your own currency.

3.  Obviously your local postal rates apply and there are options for tracked, special delivery and untracked (the least expensive) postage from within your region.

Ordered in your region, printed in your region and delivered by the postal system in your region.  It could not be more simple.

One important thing to note is that third party sellers will state "post free" and that is a lie. You often pay 30-75% more on a book ordered through a third party seller than from the online store. The reason is because the third party seller HAS to buy from the online store and the selling price usually covers two postal payments -0from store to them and then to you.  

People have purchased from third party sellers and not gotten their books or have had to wait over a month for them to arrive. At that point they contact me and it is all very simple: they tried to rob me of a sale and bought a book at a far more expensive price because they read "post free". That is important because if you buy from a third party seller you are removing the small profit I make on a book. Also, ordering from the online store is not just cheaper but, even though it has never happened since I started selling in 2009,  I can actually look into why you have not had your book delivered. Third party seller -your tough luck.

Support the creator and publisher not third party scammers.

I have asked to clarify which countries books can be ordered from as I know someone in Hong Kong and China were interested and it looks like you can order from there. According to the  print company:

We do NOT ship to the following countries/territories:

• Belarus
• 
  
• Region of Crimea
• 
  
• Cuba
• 
  
• Iran
• 
  
• Johnston Island
• 
  
• North Korea
• 
  
• Russia
• 
  
• Saint Pierre Et Miquelon
• 
  
• South Sudan
• 
  
• Sudan
• 
  
• Syria
• 
  
• Republic Of Turkmenistan
• 
  
• Ukraine
• 
  
• Wake Islands
• 
  
• Yemen Arab Republic
• 
  
• Venezuela
• 
  

Hope that helps!

New Big Cat DNA Evidence...We Got That in 2000 and 2005

 Well, working with UK police forces we had all the puma and panthera DNA evidence we needed by the early 2000s so t6his is nothing new.  What I can tell you is that I was actively speaking to witnesses who had very close observations of this type of cat in Cumbria back in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

All that has changed is that there are far more outlets ready to grab stories now and not for educational reasons either -wording and stories are always highlighting the sensationalist aspects.  But, it is still interesting that almost two decades on people are catching up.

https://www.countryfile.com/news/new-dna-evidence-confirms-presence-of-big-cat-in-cumbrian-countryside?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0LN5QPoGSIxP0GThHxyp6mvcJChgoPk2DFfOGusYFqVqDipxdoOsVOUiQ_aem_AdKp0vVBdjka_37Qzi_lQ54RTXINbvpsvjMfYohoIBhHkXF8ZJhEuFP01XvWZq47yBjXygySlgmRuJkcPIQVnaxo

New DNA evidence confirms presence of big cat in British countrysideCould this be conclusive evidence that there are big cats roaming the British countryside?

An undisclosed Cumbrian hill farm is the location for the first ever positive identification of big cat DNA taken from a carcass.

In October last year, Cumbrian resident Sharon Larkin-Snowden came across the carcass and disturbed the animal that had been feeding on it.Larkin-Snowden told big cat expert Rick Minter’s Big Cat Conversations podcast that the carcass was clearly still fresh and that only some of the internal organs had been consumed.

“To my right, I saw something black running, and assumed it was a sheepdog,” she said. “Then I did a double take and realised it was a black cat. It ran towards a stone wall, stopped and then jumped the wall. It was big – the size of a German shepherd dog.”

Larkin-Snowden took swabs from the sheep’s nose and back and front legs, and they were sent to a laboratory at the University of Warwick which specialises in testing for big cat DNA run by Prof Robin Allaby.

Allaby told BBC Countryfile Magazine they were able to make a positive identification of DNA belonging to a cat from the Panthera genus. This includes five species – lion, leopard, tiger, jaguar and snow leopard, but only two – leopard and jaguar – that have melanistic (black) forms as seen by Larkin-Snowden.

The existence of non-native big cats such as leopards, but also others such as pumas, has long been held to be a reality by investigators such as Minter. He has received more than 1,000 eye witness accounts of big cat encounters and he says they come from all over the country.

Asked why hard evidence of their existence such as dead bodies or scats never come to light, Minter said they do – but that many people did not want to go public with them.

“Why would a private estate volunteer this information?” Minter said. “If you are gamekeeper and you get one in your rifle scope, why would you release that to anyone? They are concerned about the consequences of revealing their locality.”

Minter added that it was relatively unusual for non-native big cats to predate sheep. They were far more likely to take wild prey such as deer, but that in the uplands of Cumbria, there may not be sufficient deer and other wildlife for them to subsist on.

This news follows the 2022 discovery of strands of black animal hair on a barbwire fence in Gloucestershire apparently belonging to a big cat

Yes, We have DNA Results Following "Big Cat" Incidents

 A change from when I started the exotics work (hence Exotic Animals Register -EAR) in 1977 is that DNA testing was introduced.

Three police forces gathered hairs that underwent DNA tests and -Panthera pardus (leopard) and Puma concolor (puma). Here is a clipping of one such conclusion that was largely ignored by the national press as well as "big cat enthusiasts"

So we have record of cat kills (photographic) some mapped out territories, evidence of breeding successfully, scat, skeletons examined revealing large cat gnawing and DNA plus other things -all outlined with photos etc in The Red Paper Vol. II : Felids.

EAR Archives.

The Red Paper 2022 Volume II: Wild Cats, Feral and New Native Species

 

226 pp

Paperback

Interior Color and Black and white

Dimensions  A4 (8.27 x 11.69 in / 210 x 297 mm)

https://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/the-red-paper-2022-volume-2-felids/paperback/product-n48529.html?

£25.00

In 1896 Scottish naturalists and zoologists declared that the true Scottish wild cat had become extinct by the 1860s. What we see today is nothing more than a wild tabby cat. In this work the true history and destruction of wild cats from England, Wales (where hybrids clung on into the 1940s) and Scotland is explored and after decades of research the true look of the wild cat is revealed. The "English Tiger" and "Highland Tiger" truly lived up to that name.

Dogma is finally thrown out.

There is also a look at the "New Native Cats" ranging from Asian Golden Cats, Lynx, Puma and others and the evidence leading to their being so designated.

No silly press or media stories just solid facts backed up by evidence.

The author acted as an exotic species wildlife consultant to UK police forces from 1977-2015 as well as cooperated with university projects on the subject.

Island cats as well as feral cats their lifestyles and problems mare also covered .

Fully referenced and including maps, illustrations and very rare photographs -some never before seen in print- make this a book for amateur naturalists and zoologists.

Photo of Animal Found Dead In UK

 I am going to ask (I know no one bothers but... ) for opinions. I can tell you: 

1) There is a series of three photos  

2) The photos are 100% confirmed genuine and there are TWO separate photographers 

3)  The photos were taken in the SW of England and we know the location and a third person confirmed the dead animal.   

What do you think it is?