Would people during the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, and previous, have even known what sort of cats that were obtaining ? There is a good chance that a number of exotic cats taken in were for the novelty, and so cats such as the Caracal, Jungle Cat and the African/Asian Golden Cat, despite being endangered in some parts of their native countries as well as hardly seen, would have established themselves here, remaining undetected probably for most of their short lives. However, could such cats, and even rarer cats only seen in zoos, roam Britain ? Well, it seems likely. If reports are few and far between of a certain type of cat, does not necessarily mean it must be dismissed. Cats such as the Leopard and the Puma will have far larger territories than something like the Caracal, and so there is more of a chance that a four-feet long, black animal will be sighted, despite moving mainly at night. However, we only have to look at the various reports through the years in Britain of a ‘lioness’ or ‘tiger’ for one to realise that a number of people are unsure as to what they are dealing with and seeing, so it is certainly possible that run down collections have housed several smaller cats, which their appalling owners have thought were something indeed they were not.

If someone obtained a melanistic Golden Cat, either after being told it was a Black Leopard, or simply wanting a Black ‘big cat’, and such an animal escaped and bred as a pair, then black offspring would be evident. This isn’t to say that in the wilds of Kent or anywhere else in the British Isles there are large numbers of melanistic Caracal or Golden Cat, but in a few cases such animals would explain the unusual reports of smaller exotic cats with dark coats, that quite simply to do not appear to be Leopard young. It must also be said that it is quite possible that cats such as the Asiatic and African Golden Cat are also mistaken for the Puma in some instances, simply because to the untrained eye of the general public due to the fact that much of the public is unaware of the different species of cat, especially when for so long they have always believed Puma are black. The African Golden Cat ( felis aurata ) is a strong feline with a smallish head, long legs and is over twice the size of a domestic cat, standing twenty inches at the shoulder, with a body length of two-and-a half-feet, with a coat of great variation that be anything from reddish fawn to greyish with a white underside, as well as some species having some dotting. Black specimens have been recorded in this species, but more so in the Asiatic Golden Cat which seems the most likely cat to feature in some reports of alleged Puma which somehow do not seem to fit in withPuma reports. The Asiatic Golden Cat (fig. 1)   (felis temmincki – named after Coenraad Jacob Temminck, the Dutch naturalist who described the African Golden Cat ), is slightly larger than its relation, but again there are variations in size and colour with melanism occurring often. In some cases, especially in Kent melanistic versions may be behind so-called Black Leopard reports and the golden brown to darker brown variation may also be behind some Puma reports, as the Temminck’s Cat has a thick tail throughout with white underside, ears are rounded and these felines can reach well over two-feet in length, however some specimens have spotted flanks. Unfortunately little is known about this cat in its native land so for it to be monitored in Britain is nigh on impossible, especially as felines like the Caracal, are being lumped in with the reports of other cats, simply because those that see these elusive cats cannot give the defining details.

We cannot ignore the possibility that Britain, and the counties within its fold could well harbour smaller exotic cats and in some instances, not necessarily as many large cats as one might think. However, this would then suggest that a number of Golden Cats, Caracal, etc , would have had to have escaped from somewhere in the first place in order to spawn the current population, but this isn’t necessarily so. A steady influx of cats, from a) private collections, b) zoo escapees, c) genuine generations spawned from families several years ago, d) cats used aboard boats for ratting which have come ashore, e) in some cases especially imported either to be hunted, or released deliberately, would provide the countryside with a fair amount of cats, but as I have said before, we cannot dismiss the possibility that other cats roam the counties when in the past felines such as Jungle Cats and Leopards cats have been killed on the roads. Certainly, some reports in Kent suggest species of feline away from the usual reported cats, but across Britain there are many cats reported too casually and taken for granted in the sense that possible populations of Golden Cat, Caracal etc, are ignored simply because infrequent reports of them are not taken seriously or do not seem to fit in with that particular areas activity. However, as mentioned before, whilst Black Leopard and Puma reports can filter it at an extraordinary rate, reports of smaller exotic can be pretty much one a year, but unless that particular case is looked in to adequately, such a cat cannot be identified.

There is no consistency with regards to reports of the normal spotted Leopard or the Jaguar in Britain, but again, people are never quite sure what they are seeing or obtaining. The Jaguar, according to wild cat author C.A.W. Guggisberg, was once considered the ‘panther’ in Venezuela during the 1500s, simply because the witness who described these great cats, Amerigo Vespucci, had observed incorrectly simply like everyday eye-witnesses do.

The Jaguar is a powerful animal, with a large head that houses the strongest teeth of all the cats. The main difference between the Jaguar and the Leopard is the fact that the Jaguar (panthera onca) is a very heavy set animal, its head is more rounded, has massive limbs albeit short and a tail not usually longer than about one-third of head and body. The Jaguar can appear reddish-yellow, pale buff with black spots on the head, neck and limbs with large black blotches on its under parts. On the shoulders, flanks and back of the Jaguar spots form into large rosettes which have within them one or several dots, whilst on the back of the great cat elongated black spots run in a row.                                

            Jaguar Coat

          Leopard Coat 

Melanism in the Jaguar is not uncommon, and were once perceived as separate species, but it seems unlikely, despite one or two overblown reports, that such specimens roam Kent, but as for the rest of Britain, who knows, but we are dealing with an animal that can reach over six-feet in length, and weigh over one-hundred and twenty pounds. These animals are strong swimmers, are capable of killing very large prey and like the Leopard are known for their deep cough. Jaguars have often been perceived as fearsome man-eaters but it is more likely for the Leopard to develop man-eating tendencies, but there is no evidence to suggest that Leopards in the UK are attacking people.

THE NEW REGIONS

With wild cat species habitat divided into eight regions across the globe, the list below is very much an unofficial new register which takes into account populations of cats which now inhabit Australia and Britain. Britain is listed separate from Europe, simply because it only officially harbours two kinds of cat, the Domestic and the Wild Cat native to Scotland, as well as an abundance of ‘new’ cats not recognised. This list takes into account also some of the possible Black Leopard reports across the U.S.

Although to quote author Rex Gilroy in his MYSTERIOUS AUSTRALIA:

“A popular myth has grown up about these animals; namely, that they are escaped circus or zoo panthers that have gone wild. In all my 30 years of investigations into the Australian panther mystery, I have not uncovered one authenticated case of a panther having escaped from an Australian circus or zoo and gone wild. Nor is there much substantiation to other exaggerated story that cougars were liberated in various parts of Australia by American servicemen during World War II…It cannot be a member of the feline family as no such animal is known from the Australian fossil record. In fact, our ‘panther’ is actually a marsupial – a giant marsupial cat species that has survived from ice-age times, perhaps, as with the ‘Blue Mountain lion.”

One can establish from the above, confused list that Britain most definitely has at least five non-native species of cats within its leafy fold…fact. The fact that they are unlikely, certainly not in the foreseeable future anyway, to be officially recognised obviously does not mean they do not exist, but the smaller cats, such as the possible Golden Cat populations may not be in abundance, yet due to the difficulties in monitoring such felines, it is extremely unlikely that they will ever be accepted, or proven. Eye-witness reports tend to be randomly logged across Britain, appearing in newspapers, often logged by researchers, who, from extensive research and study should be able to determine how many of the larger cats are prowling the area they look into. As I have stated before, these cats do have large territories and can travel miles in a night but it seems unlikely that they do, and only branch out in their mileage when food source is scarce. A large cat like a Leopard will not make a kill and then suddenly travel fourteen miles to be sighted again, and so one has to look into some of the so-called reports in the press of what appears to be just one large cat doing the rounds when the reality is, such a cat will not expel such energy over hundreds of miles in just a few days. Also, until the possibility of melanistic smaller cats is accepted, as well as full identification of populations of smaller cats, instead of one or two elusive individuals, one must not be tempted or swayed to believe in mutant felines roaming the county, despite the fact that some do indeed believe new species of cats are evolving, simply because they cannot fit together the pieces of the jig-saws they are being presented with.

THE MATING GAME

It was once believed that only a few large cats inhabited Britain, and that somehow these certain individuals were scouring the whole country, looking for the opposite sex in order to produce offspring. Of course, despite these animals having vast territories, especially in their countries of origin, but not so much in Britain, such claims nowadays are absurd, although it is quite possible cats from Kent are slinking into neighbouring counties, although extensive research seems to prove that the cats in question patrol territories of anything up to eighty-square miles, but some of these hunting grounds will be scarred by obstacles, such as wide rivers, although during darkness motorways are not a problem for these highly intelligent cats.

Each cat out there establishes its own territory but it is very likely that in Britain territories will overlap, the ground of a Puma has been proven to fade into the hunting ground of a Black leopard, and that’s simply down to the nature of the land and the obstacles these animals face, because in some instances some of these dissecting intrusions are even too much for a cat to conquer, but a number of different species of cat are sharing habitat. This however does not mean they will breed, but they will certainly be aware of each other, but does not mean cat fights will be in abundance.

The territory of a male Leopard could well cover the smaller territories of a handful of females, and scent marking will attract attention for mating although aggression can also be displayed in some encounters. Male cats can determine whether or not a compatible partner is a potential female. Sexual hormones are present in female urine and other secretions, and the female cats will often call to attract the attention of a male, or more than one, and even then the female may not be ready and will tend to lash out and become aggressive toward the male, and this can take days, but then finally they will mate, with the females ova only becoming released from the ovary after being stimulated by the actual mating procedure. The mating game is certainly a well constructed practice which attempts to be devoid of any kind of aggression, with the male often making tentative advances in which eventually the female cat will raise her hindquarters, whilst crouching on her stomach, lifting her tail to one side in order for the male to penetrate easily whilst he ‘treads’ her. The male may grip the nape of the female, something which mother cats do to ‘still’ their cubs, although he will be very aware of the power of the females bite in such instances.

Mating is usually over in seconds, there is no pelvic thrust as such, the excitement amounts quickly, and the male is often out of the way before he gets a frightful nip from his ‘lover’. However, the male and female may copulate many times a day, up to one-hundred times in fact, although felines such as the Ocelot not so much.

The male penis contains a bone called the bacula which is used to caress and stimulate the female's vaginal walls, and mating may last up to four days on heat, and cats such as the Leopard are happy to mate in trees, as well as in shallow water, but such cats mate often simply because one session may not be sufficient to produce young. However, cats such as the Lynx, rely on the availability of prey in order to ovulate, and only become induced ovulators when prey is scarce.

Female cats will seek other males, but in smaller counties of England this is not always possible, but it certainly seems that mating does occur hence the thriving population of cats and reports of large cats with apparent young.

Thankfully, in Britain, there is not much threat to young cats, and they should be able to adapt to terrain quite easily, although in some areas the roaming female may struggle to provide food for them, despite the abundance of rabbits, birds, rodents in the British countryside. The female feline will bring prey to young in order for them to play with, and practice their hunting techniques which they will also develop by playing amongst themselves. A female cat will often return to a certain den to raise young, and the young will leave the den permanently after around six weeks although the ‘family’ remains intact for a couple of years. Larger cats do remain dependant on their mother more so than the smaller cats, possibly because in their countries of origin larger cats such as the Leopard are able to develop hunting skills and gain strength which enables them to bring down heavy, yet often dangerous prey, whereas smaller felines take to hunting more easily simply because they hunt prey smaller than themselves.

So, if so many Leopards roam Britain, cats which, in their native countries bring down large prey, then why aren’t they attacking humans ? Well, just like any animal, it becomes used to its environment, and recognises prey from a young age. Cases in Britain that appear to show humans that have been attacked by exotic cats are dubious to say the least. Cats have an acute sense of hearing, so it would not be that easy to disturb a cat at close quarters or step upon it, or approach it easily and this has been proven with our own encounters with Lynx and Black Leopard. Domestic cats are not going to be frequent prey, simply because they are not too different from their relatives, they have acute senses and so are unlikely to sit around and wait for a large cat to come and consume them. Even so, if such an encounter occurred, any exotic cat isn’t going to want to risk getting clawed when there is much easier prey around. The same could be said for us humans. These cats are not starving felines that will come into our villages and tear us from our gardens, they have adapted perfectly to the countryside that we believe does not provide sufficient habitat or fodder despite the fact that there are more animals out there than we realise, and enough livestock which provides a twenty-four hour restaurant.

 THE PRESS & THE ‘PANTHER'

According to ‘press’ reports from late 2002 Kent had produced 92 eye-witness reports of large, exotic cats. Not only was this ‘statement’ wildly inaccurate, based on anecdotes but simply proves that the press are all too eager to feature stories rushed to them simply to fill a gaping space in their pages. Most of these so-called 92 reports put Kent second in a fictional league of ‘cat flaps’ across the country, only second to Scotland as if the whole situation was some kind of game, when the reality is, to advertise such inaccurate statistics is rather worrying. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if nobody comes forward to report sightings anymore, so called researchers in the field should have their areas mapped out to the extent that they no longer require public information. This isn’t to say that the public are at fault, more so the press are often the most cynical and inaccurate source of information regarding stories of ‘beasts’ roaming the fields, and the unknowing public will immediately go to the press to report their sightings and evidence, but all this merely creates is a never ending circle of non-productive pulp, where so-called influential ‘experts’ seem to get off on plastering images of ‘big cat’ evidence across the news etc. What is the point in this ? Self-satisfaction ?

There is a reasonable chance that the large cats that roam Britain will be confined to folklore simply because the same old trash is being churned out in the press, the same old theories and the same hilarious games. The press want stories, they don’t care what they print in those stories, and they certainly are not interested in in-depth analysis, all the while alleged frothing cats are prowling the misty moors ripping up dogs and attacking people, despite leaving very dubious marks on their prey which have to be questioned, albeit too late by the time the headlines have exploded again.

One only has to siphon through countless reports of ‘big cat’ attacks and even run-of-the-mill sightings to conclude that many are exaggerated, and even untrue. Some witnesses are made fools of in the press, and KENT BIG CAT RESEARCH fails to see why attention-seeking witnesses should be taken seriously, yet so many people rush to the local press, or even some of the major tabloids to tell of their encounter with the local ‘monster cat’. If a large feline in Britain does attack a human in a fatal manner, possibly resulting in death, which may occur despite the lack of evidence so far to suggest this, the press will have a field day, trackers will be called in to extinguish the ‘menace’ and so-called cat researchers will be aroused by such a story, as if to say to the sceptics, “Told you those cats were out there!”, but that’s not what it’s about. This isn’t about proving a point, we are past that stage where authorities have ignored the cat populations, we are beyond the point where stories in the newspapers are exciting and it’s time the species of cats are looked at more closely, their behavioural patterns and the way these cats look at us humans, and more importantly, what will happen when the woodlands shrink, making way for shopping precincts, crude rail links and dominant structures. If Leopards acquire a taste for the flesh of humans then they are lethal animals, especially in their countries of origin where man-eaters have claimed over 100 people in under a decade, but why aren’t they attacking here ? Much of it is due to the way they adapt to the environment, and the way the cats perceive the things around them. In his book WILD CATS OF THE WORLD, David Alderton spoke of a special project enforced to deter tiger attacks in India, which involved locals wearing masks. It was said that those villagers who wore the masks were not among the victims of the tiger attacks but during the year of the experiment over twenty-five people without masks were attacked and killed. Cats are curious animals, and will gradually get used to new surroundings and encounters with seemingly new opposition, they too have fears which they must overcome in the same way we must get used to these cats being around, but a majority of the public, and certainly this is based on the poor representation of these felines in the press, will fear these animals, because over time they will have drilled into them inaccurate beliefs. There is so much prey around for these cats but one-off attacks on domestic cats, dogs, and even the more rare close encounters with humans are so blown out of proportion that the police often get involved, even though they do not know how to deal with these animals but like to be seen to be doing something.

It is highly unlikely that anyone could get close enough to an exotic cat to injure it, step on it or ‘stroke it (!)’, and such an action would not be advised. People have often reported seeing cats that appeared tame to some extent, but this is still a wild animal, and if slashed (although cats puncture, and use claws for holding prey) by one of these animals its claws would not leave thin scratches or exact parallel lines. The claws of say, a Lynx, move independently, and are formed around the paw. In order for the first and fourth claw to scratch, the second and third would penetrate more than an inch deep (figs. 2 & 3).

With regards further to attacks, cats such as Black leopard and Lynx would never place themselves in a situation of being cornered. 

They are not invincible animals but to creep up on a large cat, without it hearing you, or reacting with a growl is nigh on impossible. 

Pictures Courtesy of SCOTTISHBIGCATS 

If a cat is sleeping then close encounters are likely, but again, anyone foolish enough to stray close enough will certainly get a warning.

The press had a field day covering the BEAST OF BLUE BELL HILL, a pretty much non-existent cat that sounded good! All the stories that appeared were based on the name, the cat on the whole was lumped in with the phantom hitchhikers and road spectres, as well as the history of the place, despite the fact that sightings were few and far between. In fact, according to some stories in the press, a number of cat sightings across Kent, were of the Blue Bell Hill cat! Bizarre! According to the press the BBH cat appeared during the late ‘90s, swims rivers of strong current for fun, and gets back within the hour, and also goes around ripping the throats out of guinea pigs! Such hokum spreads like wildfire though, and ends up with brief mentioning on atrocious television programmes like SCREAM TEAM, but it’s what a majority of the public want, it’s easy on the eye, accessible and a bit of goofy fun, but the facts are, there is no ‘beast’ of Blue Bell Hill as such, no Fen Tiger, more so in this case because no tiger would exist in the UK wilds, and an animal such as the Surrey Puma has been so badly labelled that any cat within Surrey would have become that Puma. These cats become monsters through the press, who genuinely believe that black pumas with glowing eyes (shouldn’t that be reflective ?) are stalking the fields like fictional werewolves, and they sincerely want this because it makes a good story, but its regurgitated pulp that pulls a great number of people in like quicksand, and unfortunately, some people thrive on the limelight, mainly because it’s the only way they can exist. Where would these people be if these cats no longer existed?

Obituary

QUENTIN ROSE

QUENTIN ROSE was a professional dangerous animal trapper who assisted police with regards to reports of big cats in the British countryside, and across the world. Sadly, during October 2002 Quentin died of septicaemia.

I spoke to Quentin in-depth shortly after he paid a visit to Kent to discuss sightings of exotic cats across Britain. In his time he had been a zoo-keeper, lived with Indian tribes in Canada, where he acquired his trapping skills and was concerned about the welfare of wild animals in the British countryside, and the possibilities of attacks on humans.

For some strange reason a number of people created false rumours about Quentin and were quite wary of him and his research, but all I can say is that he was a professional in a field of bumbling fools, an intelligent and pleasant fellow who helped me a great deal, and certainly cringed at the way some people are dealing with the ‘big cat’ situation.

  BACK TO TOP