Another recent 'big cat' image had me rolling my eyes yet again (I must stop doing that as it hurts). With UFOs the remarks are always "Why is the photo never clear?" and in cryptozoology there is the same problem -with "bigfoot" photos the blurry could-be-anything photos are known as "blob squatches".
And we have the same with 'big cat' videos and photos as I have noted before.
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/big-cat-makes-van-driver-8838607
'Big cat' makes van driver slam on brakes - 'it was jet black and massive'
Another week another sighting of a 'big cat' prowling through the UK countryside - this time in Wales. Pictures show what looks like a black panther walking up a hill in the Colwyn Bay area.
The person who captured the video of the large dark shape says they are "sure" it's a black panther. Rumours that big cats roam the British countryside have been around for years. with many sightings in Gloucestershire.
The witness, who does not want to be named, said: "It's such a privilege seeing an animal like that. I'm still over the moon about it."
"It was very exciting watching it. People have been talking about seeing it, then I was just driving my van and I spotted it. I just slammed on the brakes.
"Everyone who has seen the video is very sure it's a black panther. It's jet black and massive, with a huge tail - and it's moving as cats do.
"Apparently some black panthers were let loose in Wales in the 1970s and some pairs have bread. I don't think they're a risk. I hike around here all the time.
"They are very solitary animals and wouldn't go near us unless they really had to." The video was shot on Sunday (October 15) at 8am.
The introduction of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 saw a number of big cats previously held as pets released into the wild, according to reports. It is suggested some were released into the Welsh countryside.
Recent DNA from a black hair sample, snagged on a fence at a Gloucestershire farm, was found to have 99 per cent chance it was a black leopard.. The creatures also hit the headlines when presenter Clare Balding spotted a mysterious animal in the Wye Valley while she was recording a BBC Radio 4 episode.
During audio shared on TikTok from the moment, she says: "It's disappeared completely hasn't it, it's gone off into the woods and disappeared. I should point out that I never knew that there were stories of a big black cat, so when I saw it I didn't even say to you 'look', I just thought 'Oh look'.
Even on the actual video clip the image is not much clearer and although it looks like it might be a cat it could also be a dog but evidence wise the clip proves nothing and I am always wary of Tik Tok videos. The pro 'big cat' people have stated that the cat "is massive" because ancient human survival instincts are such that they can spot danger and gauge size. Hmm. So why are so many drivers crashing into cars in daylight and only a few feet away from them?7
https://www.tiktok.com/@independent/video/7291226606989757729
The desperation to get a "genuine big cat" leads to many claims about what an image or clip contains. In this case not much of value but it is still being declared a genuine 'big cat'. I did laugh at one point in the article: the DWAA 1976 as the catalyst that sparked off all of the modern 'big cat' sightings is inaccurate. Some cats and other species may have been released but I threw out that explanation in the mid 1990s when research showed the extensive history, importation, etc of exotic species including puma, leopards, lynx and so on.
This shows the outdated books used as references by many in this field -Di Francis was inaccurate and spouted so many inaccuracies that today's enthusiasts accept as fact. Janet and Colin Bord and their Alien Animals is also referred to and that contained less than accurate information. Other works tend to be authors (even certain "noted" ones) simply doing a copy and paste job and whether "mystery cats" or other "cryptids" most have never even carried out basic research or even gone to the original sources. I do.
Now, also back in the 1990s we had a close (10ft/3m) sightings of a panther that was sleeping in an enclosed space but after hissing at the witness escaped through another exit. The police were obviously involved and a black hair was found and sent for DNA testing. The results were without question Panthera pardus -leopard. So to read that a hair snagged on a fence was supposedly DNA tested and found to "have 99% chance it was a black leopard" makes me ask where the DNA test report is and which lab carried out the testing?
There is a massive data base that scientists consult if in any doubt so a hair should come back as "Result -Panthera pardus" and most labs provide other data. "99% chance it was a black panther" is not a scientific statement but sounds more like a guess work conclusion. WHO tested the hair?
All of this shows why zoologists and naturalists (who zoologists generally rely on to do all the dirty work) do not take the subject seriously (publicly). I have spoken to many naturalists from ornithologists, mammalogists, etc who while out doing field work observed these cats at close quarters (10ft -100yards -3m-100m). You would be surprised who and what bodies accept that these animals are out there but just do not get embroiled in the whole "British Big Cat" farce.
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