In addition to the mystery of the Eastern cougar in the US (see earlier posts), there are other feline enigmas around the world. The United Kingdom has far more than its share: sometimes it seems that mystery big cats haunt every moor and wood.
One such case, in Scotland, is backed up by numerous sightings and a videotape of a large black cat. Now the authorities think they have their suspect identified. The animal left pawprints showing it was a leopard, perhaps 18 months old. A police spokesman suggested it was the offspring of animals released into the wild in the 1990s, when a stricter law against keeping exotic pets was enacted and some owners might have dumped their felines.
COMMENT: The implication (supported by numerous other cases) is that the UK has one or more breeding (or interbreeding) populations of big cats. We have definitely not heard the last word on this subject. The best book on the topic is Karl Shuker's Mystery Cats of the World, which is, sadly, out of print and difficult to find.
No comments:
Post a Comment