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.

The Red Paper 2022 Volume I: Foxes, Jackals, Wolves, Coyotes and Wild Dogs of the United Kingdom and Ireland

 

361 pp

Paperback

Interior Color & Black and white

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

£25.00

https://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/the-red-paper-2022-volume-1-canids/paperback/product-r97ywj.html?

 When the Doggerland bridge flooded the British Isles became separated from

Continental Europe and its wildlife developed uniquely. The British Isles, for the purpose of this work includes Ireland, and isolated the wolves on both became what would be island species not affected by the usual island dwarfism. These wolves, after millennia. Became “unwanted” and forests and woodland was burnt down or cut down for the specific purpose of lupicide; the killing of every and any wolf –and there was a bounty for “a job well done”.

At the same time there also developed three unique island species of Old fox from the coyote-like Mountain or Greyhound fox, the slightly smaller but robustly built Mastiff or Bulldog fox and the smaller Common or Cur fox –the latter like today’s red foxes had a symbiotic relationship with humans.

These canids were mainly ignored until it was decided that they could provide fur and meat and those things earn money. From that point onward, especially after all other game had been killed off, the fox faced what writers over the centuries referred to as vulpicide –extermination through bounties paid, trapping or hunting and despite all the hunters noting that the Old foxes were nearing extinction they continued to hunt until by the late 1880s the Old were gone and replaced by the New –foxes imported by the thousands every year for the ‘sport’ of fox hunting and this importation also led the the UK seeing the appearance of mange (unknown before the importations).

The travelling British sportsmen went coyote, wolf and jackal hunting and on returning to England wanted to bring a taste of this to “the good old country”. Wolves, jackals and coyotes were set up in hunting territories from where they could learn the lay of the land and provide good sport later. Some hunts even attempted to cross-breed foxes, jackals and Coyotes.

Then there were the legendary –almost mythical– “beasts”; the black beast of Edale, the killer canids of Cavan and the “girt dog” of Ennerdale.

In more recent times raccoon dogs and arctic foxes have appeared in the UK; some released for ‘sport’ while others are exotic escapees long since established in the countryside.

The Current Threat To UK Fauna And The Introduction Of New Fauna Species -a look inside

  

Pages  20

Binding Saddle Stitch

Interior Color (photographs)

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

UK £15.00

https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/the-current-threat-to-uk-fauna-and-the-introduction-of-new-fauna-species/paperback/product-j4m9r7.html?page=1&pageSize=4

 In the United Kingdom new species of fauna have been introduced since Roman times and the number of species released or escaping into the countryside since 1900 has steadily increased. New species are filling in niches left by species extirpated by humans and these new species have, after 40+ years of observation created no problems.

Despite this the official policy of the UK Government and the Department for Environment Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is to class such species "invasive" and trap and kill them as the opportunity arises.

This paper suggests that DEFRA needs to reassess its stance since it is impossible to exterminate all established "invasive species" -the New fauna now closely tied to the Old fauna,

Did The Lynx Survive Until The 18th Century In The UK?

 

Pages 13

Binding Saddle Stitch

Interior Color Color

Dimensions

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

£11.00

https://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/did-lynx-survive-until-18th-century-in-uk/paperback/product-r5nwpm.html?page=1&pageSize=4

For many the lynx (Lynx lynx) died out during the last ice age in Britain. However, the historical evidence shows that it continued until hunted to extinction during the Medieval period.

Over recent years many have claimed that the lynx in fact survived up to the 18th century -some state it survived later than that.

In this publication naturalist Terry Hooper-Scharf assesses the evidence and points to reports and other factors not widely known to draw a definitive conclusion on the subject

The "Girt Dog" of Ennerdale: Hyena, Thylacine or Escaped Exotic Cat -A Naturalist's Assessment of the Evidence

  

A4
B&W
42pp
Illustrated
£10.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/the-girt-dog-of-ennerdale/paperback/product-1dzqgy79.html

Over 200 years ago, in 1810, sheep were being killed in the Ennerdale area of Cumbria. 

The sheep were allegedly hardly eaten yet their blood had been drained and the killer responsible thwarted the efforts of organised hunts and terrified hounds. What was the “Girt Dog” of Ennerdale? 

Many theories abound from a paranormal creature called a “Mauler” to an escaped hyena , Tiger or even a Thylacine. Perhaps an unknown species of native British big cat?

 The truth of what the “Girt Dog” was lies within the original accounts of the time. Documents that modern writers appear to have never consulted. Noted British naturalist Terry Hooper-Scharf assesses the evidence.

Terry Hooper

 

Born Bristol, England  June 1957

Naturalist and author set up the Fox Study in 1976 which later became The British Fox and Canid Study which still continues work on current foxes as well as long British fox types.  The Fox Deaths Project is focused on the City and county of Bristol and has been yielding unexpected information on disease, etc.  Hair gathering from foxes around the UK is taking place to hopefully submit for a DNA analysis project.

Specialising in wild canids and felids, Terry has looked at existing, threatened or extant species particularly from Japan and Hong Kong and the work has been incorporated into The British Fox and Canid Study.  He is also credited as observing the first raccoon dogs in Lippe in the 1970s.

In 2021 the British Canid Historical Society was set up to look at various aspects of foxes.

From 1977 until (officially) 2016 Terry was an exotic species consultant specialising in felids and advising UK police forces via the Exotic Animals Register (EAR) as part of the Partnership Againgst Wildlife crimes. During this time he contributed to various technical papers and helped University of Wales Swansea and its Exotic Cat Group which presented findings to the Eastern Cougar Foundation Conference on the evidence regarding large ‘exotic’ cats in the UK.

 

Papers and Books

1. A Method For Grading Sightings Of Non-Native Cats: Application to South and West Wales, UK: Professor Alayne Street-Perrott, Alaric B. Smith Exotic Cat Group University of Wales Swansea and Terry Hooper-Scharf Exotic Animals Register.

Proceedings of the 2^nd Eastern Cougar Conference, Morgantown, West Virginia, 2004  

2. Exotic Cats In Britain: An Historical Perspective, Professor Alayne Street-Perrott, Alaric B. Smith Exotic Cat Group University of Wales Swansea and Terry Hooper-Scharf Exotic Animals Register, Proceedings of the 2^nd Eastern Cougar Conference, Morgantown, West Virginia, 2004  

3. (Contributor) Survey effort and Sighting Probabilities for Non-Native Cats in Carmarthenshire, Professor Alayne Street-Perrott, Alaric B. Smith Exotic Cat Group University of Wales Swansea, Swansea Geographer 2004  vol. 39

4. The Biography of Perceived Encounters with Pumas and Other Exotic Cats in South and West Wales, UK; Alayne Street-Perrott, Alaric B. Smith Exotic Cat Group University of Wales Swansea and Terry Hooper-Scharf Exotic Animals Register. 2004

5. Felids: Wildcats, Ferals and Hybrids, Terry Hooper-Scharf. Vale Wildlife Group, 2000

6. UK National Wolverine Population and Evidence, Terry Hooper-Scharf, Vale Wildlife Group, November 2000

7. The Red Paper: Foxes, Fox-Domestic Dog, Hybrids, Arctic Foxes, Wolves, Jackals and Coyotes: An Extensive Study of Vulpes vulpes in the United Kingdom and Releases/Escapes of Non-Native Canids; Terry Hooper-Scharf.  Black Tower Books, 2011

8. The “Girt Dog” of Ennerdale: Hyena, Thylacine or Escaped Exotic Cat: A Naturalist’s Assessment of the Evidence. Terry Hooper-Scharf. Black Tower Books, 2018

9. The Red Paper: Canids (2010)

10. The Red Paper 2022: Volume 1 Canids

11. The Red Paper 2022: Volume II Felids

12. The Current Threat To UK Fauna And The Introduction Of New Fauna Species April, 2022

13. Did The Lynx Survive Until The 18th Century In The UK? May 2023

14. The Scientific Need For DNA Testing Of Old Wild Cat and Old Fox Specimens February 2024

15. The Extirpation of Wild Cats and Introduction of New Wild Cats To Britain March 2024

Various other unlisted papers and articles 2000-2024

Terry also applied his knowledge of the natural world to look at subjects ranging from gorillas and other primates as well as 18^th -19^th centuries mysterious predators in France, the UK and Ireland.

Dead 'Big Cat' On The Side of the Road?

 Let me make this very clear. I have seen MANY photographs of dead foxes at the roadside. This time of year they are reported almost daily. The animal in the photo (not the fake on the documentary got caught out with) is a fox. Body and head shape and ears. A FOX.,

So while this is hailed by the loony fringe as a big cat we know it is a fox.

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/woman-spots-dead-puma-on-side-of-road-161205461.html

A motorist took a picture of a suspected dead puma in Chester. (SWNS)

A motorist thinks she may have spotted a dead big cat while driving on a busy road in Chester.

Courtney Roberts, 21, was travelling on the A483 on the outskirts of the city last week when she saw the dead animal lying in a central reservation. She later shared her footage with experts and was told it was thought to be the body of a puma, otherwise commonly referred to as a ‘mountain lion’ or ‘cougar.’

Experts said the big cat, usually native to the Americas, has been sighted in the wild in Britain since the 1960s and 1970s when they were popular to keep as pets. Roberts, from Wrexham, said: "You see so many strange looking animals on the side of the road over here. I had to put my phone on record and point it down to the road, unfortunately it isn’t as clear as I’d like it to be.

"Looking at that picture it does look like a bobcat. My partner was just looking and he saw a Scottish wildcat on Google and I think it looks like one of them but …. in person you can see a spotted pattern on its coat."

She posted the photos on a Facebook group for lost pets, where it was seen by a network of nationwide big cat researchers who then picked up the case. Roberts also decided to return to the location with her partner to try to identify the animal or possibly even recover the body. However, when she went back an hour later, the animal had vanished.

Is this a puma? (SWNS) (SWNS)

Roberts added: "I’ve just gone on to the bypass with my partner and pulled over, and we stopped exactly where I saw the animal, and now there is no animal there. So I think someone has seen my post and gone to take it.

According to Canadian wildlife expert Jason Kenzie, who has worked extensively with exotic cats, the animal is most likely a juvenile puma. He said: “It looks feline, but I believe it’s too large to be a Scottish wildcat. It could be a Bobcat or Lynx, but really this has the markings of a young cougar.”

Tim Whittard, who produced a documentary about Britain’s mystery big cats called Panthera Britannia Declassified, agreed with the puma theory. He added: "This wouldn’t be the first time the body of a big cat has been seen road-killed in Britain. This is the fourth report I’m aware of in less than three months, and there are several high profile cases of similar incidents.”

DragonFly Films claims it discovered the "clearest ever" photo of a big cat prowling the British countryside. (SWNS) (Dragonfly Films / SWNS)

Big cat sightings

Last year, documentary maker Whittard and his Dragonfly Films team discovered what they claimed was the "clearest ever" photo of a big cat stalking the British countryside. The picture, which shows a large muscular panther-like creature lying in long grass, was found in the files of a zoology organisation.

Experts said if the image was genuine, it was "probably the best photo of a British big cat that exists". The photo, which is said to have been taken in Smallthorne, Staffordshire, was accompanied by a handwritten note dated 17 March – but it is unclear in which year it was taken.

A wave of "black beast" sightings were reported during the late 1990s, including famous cases in Herefordshire such as the "Woolhope Wildcat" in 1994 and numerous reports of the "Herefordshire Phantom Feline", also known as "Big Puss", from 1996 to 2000.

A photo of an alleged big cat taken in July 2016 in Gloucestershire was compared in news reports with a photo of a fox in the same location, but was later confirmed again to be the size of a domestic cat, while out-of-focus footage of an animal identified as a lynx reported in November 2016 was also found to be an ordinary cat. In May 2022, a father and son spotted a big cat as they set up a barbecue on the beach at Pwllheli on the Lyn Peninsula in northwest Wales – the second reported sighting within 12 months.

************************it's a fox          ******************************