Weekend Updates: January - March 2013....

Sunday 28th, December, 2012,

Dear Visitor,

Recently, I was sent some images of possible big cat predation in Wales. Unfortunately, I have not had permission from the witness to place an overview of the recent events on their land. However, when permission is granted I will provide an overview of the reported events (including possible predation) on The Sunday Update.

What I do add though is an image of a sheep that had been possibly been predated and sent to me by another witness. Sadly the witness sent the image with no further information about location or circumstances surrounding the incident. The image is quite shocking but please note that my comments (based upon the image itself ) & with no supporting statement by the sender are purely speculative.  I feel that this image is similar to predation I have encountered that I suspect is big cat and can be found in my Key Investigation Four (West Midlands). If you click on the link you can see the similarities of the carcasses. However, as I have no, 'context' for this image presented I can not speculate further.

Regards, Darrell



Sunday 6th January 2013,

Dear Visitor,



I have just received a further image of the possible big cat predation, location & context unknown, reported in my, 'What's New (The Sunday Update)' of the 28th of December 2012; see below. Again I am not able to speculate greatly on the image as no further supporting statement was sent by the witness. However, I will state that it shares many similarities with predation images I have in my Key Investigation Four (West Midlands) where I present images and assessment of the predation events of that investigation.

I will again try to gain some context of the image from the witness by email but to date they have only been happy to send images. I hope with some gentle persuasion to gain some further information.  This is not uncommon to just be sent images or indeed to have full accounts rendered to me by witnesses but them not wanting details of where or when to be printed. I respect and fully understand that decision.

Regards, Darrell

Sunday 20th January 2013,

Dear Visitor,



Today I thought I'd take a look at one of the famous pieces of footage of a possible non-native big cat captured on video; not taken by myself (which I have posted below). What is important about this footage is that a clear ability to scale the animal is present; for at least gaining the length of the animal. The width of British railway tracks is 1.44m. If you freeze the video at various points you can see that the animals body scaled to the railway line is at least two thirds it's width so approximately 96cm. If you go to my Non-Native Big Cat Identification page you will see that an adult Melanistic Leopard body reaches a size of 1.5 - 1.8m. Could this footage be of a juvenile Melanistic Leopard? Also the length could be worked out to a greater accuracy than my aforementioned 'guestimate' if the spacing and widths of the concrete foundation beams that hold the tracks could be ascertained as the animal walks alongside the track for some time. Freeze the frame and do the math (I will aim to do that this week). What is also of note is length of the animals tail and how it holds it; I again refer you to the Melanistic Leopard on my Non-Native Big Cat Identification page (the silhouette ); the similarities are striking. Another important feature is the way the animal moves particularly when it rolls about in the grass; cat like not dog like to me. Please watch the video below several times to get a real sense of the size of this animal. Any comments please feel free to email using my Your Comments page and will add them to the website.



Sunday 27th January 2013,

Dear Visitor,

First of all I want to appologise as I did not find the time to undertake the ‘scaling’ of the possible non-native big cat (Melanistic Leopard) in last weeks Sunday Upadate (see article below) . I will try and do it this week.

Not withstanding this I want to talk this week about the issues that can be encountered when witnesses of potential big cat events get involved with the media/press. In the past few months there has been great excitement caused by the Essex Lion Sighting. Huge press coverage accompanied this sighting; which the police took most seriously and sanctioned the use of firearms for their constables. This is by no means the first time this has happened (as I know from my own investigations and Freedom of Information Requests I have made) but in past instances (the press/media involvement was limited or non-existent). The results of these other instances of firearms constables being used in a big cat sighting was that the incident was investigated, deemed as resolved (either the big cat did not exist or no evidence was found of it during the search), and then witnesses and communities quietly got on with their lives.

Now with the recent Essex Lion event the witness’s involved the press/media (which is not a criticism of them by me as I am sure they thought they were doing the right thing) and instantly a media circus developed. Now the incident is over the two witnesses have been left looking extremely foolish by many (when they thought they were only doing the right thing) and will have to deal with peoples reactions too them regarding their sighting for a long time to come. Also a community where these events have happened have been tarred with a similar brush.

My advice to anyone witnessing a big cat event is to inform the police (their wildlife liaison constable) as they need to respond accordingly to what you tell them and be very cautious about involving the media/press. They may want to know about what you have encountered and present matters in a balenced way but also remember they need to sell newspapers!!

Your comments would be more than welcome and I will be happy to publish them on the Your Comments.  

Regards

Darrell



Sunday 3rd Febuary 2013,

This week I thought I'd take a closer look at a famous piece of footage of a possible non-native big cat captured on CCTV (not taken by myself) which is posted aside this text.

The photograph is taken from CCTV footage from Telford brickyard in June 1999 and purports to show a non-native big cat moving through the brickyard. Myself, I feel that the image shows a domestic cat; a large one at that. However, the issue of scale is important to my aformentioned position on the image. What is required of this footage is an investigation by photographic experts to determine the size of the animal; an organization such as Kodak using their photographic laboratories. Scale can clearly be made in reference to the animal with the bricks in the background. If the brickyard records could be found showing what type of bricks are being stored in the background or if the exact spot could be found in the brickyard where the image was captured this information could be crossed referenced with/by a photographic laboratory such as Kodak then a size for the animal could be clearly determined and thus a more accurate assessment of the type of cat could be made. Until, this research is undertaken I would have to remain of the opinion that this is a large domestic cat.

As regarding big cat sightings and events here at Big Cats GB things are quiet at the moment with just the occasional sighting being reported. Regular followers of the Sunday Update will have to be patient with regards to 'exciting’ non-native big cat sightings and events upcoming on a regular basis; it does not happen like that. Months can go by without nothing of note occurring.

As usual your comments are always welcome and I am happy to publish these on the Your Comments page on the website.

Regards, Darrell

Weekend of 23rd/24th of March 2013,

Dear Visitor,

This weeks Weekend Update is looking at two newspaper articles that appeared online this week reporting events from India which I believe are of huge importance to the non-native big cat debate here in the you UK. To paraphrase the two articles, links to which are at the bottom of the Weekend Update, it appears that large numbers of Leopards have been proven to be living extremely close to human populations in India; with no attacks on humans being reported. I quote directly from the articles now:

The study was conducted in a densely populated valley in Akole tehsil of Ahmednagar district in western Maharashtra, where researchers set up camera traps in 40 locations for a month to gather evidence of wildlife in this prosperous sugarcane belt. The results were startling. A total of 81 leopard images were captured across a sampled area of 179 sq km, in which five distinct adult males and six adult females were identified.Two females were clicked with cubs and a third gave birth six months later

all in an area with a population density of 357 people per square km.

This section of the article below is the most interesting bit for today's update. Please note that the aforementioned & following information has been gained in India by Leopards being tracked with electronic tags they have been fitted with:

The big cat's density in Akole tehsil was found to be higher than some national parks. In Rajaji, for instance, distribution of leopards is reported to be just 2.07/100 sq km following an increase in tiger numbers. Overall, leopard density in India's protected forests is 15/100 sq km...Athreya said with the nearest protected forest some 18km away, there was little doubt that the big cats were living in "human areas", mainly in sugarcane fields. "The leopards were marking their territories on roads and on bunds in sugarcane fields. This was as much their land as it was of the people," she said.

During daytime, the felines would sit very still in the fields, often just a few hundred metres from houses. "However, the night made the leopard king. They even went close to houses to kill dogs, cats and goats," Athreya reported. Remarkably, no human deaths were reported from the study area. Athreya believes this is so because the leopard population in the area is more or less settled. "Leopards instinctively shun humans. That's particularly true of an animal that has grown up in the same area. We found one of our radio-collared leopards visited a particular house every few days without ever disturbing its residents, who sleep in the open," she said.

No how is this relevant to non-native big cats in the UK? Well, the majority of sightings reported are of Melanistic Leopards (and lets for arguments sake assume that they exist in the UK). There are (to my knowledge) no credible reports of attacks on people in the UK and certainly no deaths. This creates a picture of the UK (Leopards living close to human populations) similar to this research from India where LEOPARDS DO INDEED EXIST!! The researcher states;

'Remarkably, no human deaths were reported from the study area. Athreya believes this is so because the leopard population in the area is more or less settled. "Leopards instinctively shun humans. That's particularly true of an animal that has grown up in the same area....'

So if the UK Melanistic Leopard echoes the behaviors of Indian Leopards and if there is a Melanistic Leopard population in the UK it must be a settled one (that has been here for many years and have been breeding) as there have been no UK attacks on humans. However, it may also mean that as there have been no attacks on humans in the UK there may be no Melanistic Leopards on the loose!!!!

I find these articles absolutely fascinating for their ramifications for the non-native big cat debate here in the UK. I hope you read the links below to both articles as they are a great read by true experts in the field not amateur investigators like myself. Your comments as usual are always welcome.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-21/flora-fauna/37902572_1_leopard-population-human-habitats-vidya-athreya

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/21/leopards-human-habitats-india_n_2925785.html?utm_hp_ref=green

Have a great weekend; Darrell (Big Cats GB)



Weekend of 30th/31st of March 2013,

Dear Visitor,



This weekends update is primarily going to focus on the plight of sheep farmers in this devastating cold spell. I'm focusing on them as without their support over the years none of what I do would be possible. Monthly I call farmers to find out what's going on on their farms with relation to non-native big cats. Their responses this week have all been the same, 'the weather is decimating their livestock and threatening many of their livelihoods'. Non-native big cats are the last thing on their mind at the moment.

This is best summed up by one farmer who explained, and I now paraphrase what he had to say to me; his ewes have stopped producing milk for the lambs as they are unable to get sufficient nourishment from grass and the extra man made feed he is providing them. He explains that his ewes shut down milk production if they can not get enough nutrition inside them. Thus the lambs are having to be reared by hand and some have started eating grass at a stage in their development when they should be being weaned by the ewes. He does not know if wholesale nutritional providers are cutting corners trying to save money and the food they provide is not as nourishing for the ewes as it once was. He has ordered thousands of pounds worth of extra nutritional supplements for his ewes but they still are not producing enough milk. He says that if the weather turns wet his lamb deaths will sky rocket from their already high percentage he is facing at the moment. He says things are desperate.

I know myself that farmers care about their stock and are doing all they can to raise their lambs in the best way they can. This year, due to the weather, is for many going to take them to the edge of their endurance and their livelihood's may be threatened. Lets all hope the cold snap brakes and wet weather holds off. I add a couple of links below showing articles relating the difficulties they are facing.

Please note that the two reports picked from the internet at random do not come from farmers I know and to the best of my knowledge do not have non-native big cat predation on their land.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/agriculture/farming/9961479/The-big-freeze-is-driving-British-lambs-to-the-slaughter.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-21928186

In relation to non-native big cat events this week nothing has been reported to me but to be frank my mind is elsewhere; with the farmers who's support makes my hobby possible.

Regards, Darrell