Britain isn't the only country with mysterous big cats.
Here is a German sighting: http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/ger-panther/
RP
High Drama: Tiger causes major disruption
The stories keep coming. Now a tiger-sighting has had helicopters out with thermal-imaging, play at the Rose Bowl was disrupted, and golfers were advised by police to all go indoors.
[url]BBC News - Hampshire 'tiger sighting' causes major alert[/url]
The alarm was first raised by a concerned member of the public who believed there was an escaped white tiger hiding in a field near Hedge End.
Officers were sent to the scene along with a helicopter and thermal imaging cameras, at about 1600 BST on Saturday.
When no body heat was detected police moved in and found a cuddly toy tiger.
A police spokeswoman said officers had responded as if it was a real incident, close to junction seven of the M27.
"We sent some local officers and they confirmed they were looking at it and it was was looking at them
[COLOR="Red"]I love that bit - V
Hampshire police Contingency plans were even put in place to close the motorway, but that proved unnecessary.Police enlisted the help from animal experts at nearby Marwell Zoo, who offered advice and were prepared to send a team with tranquiliser darts to overcome the tiger.
The Rose Bowl said a game between South Wiltshire and Hampshire Academy was stopped for about 20 minutes before they were given the all clear to continue.
Golfers at a nearby golf course were also told to go indoors.
A police spokeswoman said: "After a brief stalk through the Hedge End savannah, the officer realised the tiger was not moving and the air support using their cameras realised there was a lack of heat source.
"The tiger then rolled over in the down draft and it was at that point it became obvious it was a stuffed life-size toy.
"This incident will definitely be the highlight of our day. The CCTV footage convinced us all we were dealing with a real tiger.
"It's not often an incident leaves our staff with a smile on their face and it just goes to show the diverse type of incident we are called to deal with."
V 🙂
It is a funny story V
[url]Toy tiger sparks armed police alert - Yahoo! News[/url]
RP
big cats oop north in the hills V.. 🙂
there have been SO many sightings over the years of a big black cat in various parts of northumberland and the local paper regularly run stories..
you might also find this link interesting.. it's a website set up by a group of researchers who work in this area and across the country too, who are dedicated to solving the mystery by setting up cameras, following tracks etc.. you can even subscribe to their magazine.. 😉
x x x x x
[DLMURL="http://www.bigcatsinbritain.org/bcib_magazine_3.html"]BCIB Magazine[/DLMURL]
ian has also written a book about big cat sightings across the north east.. might be worth a look if you're interested in the topic..
[url]BIG CATS IN BRITAIN: The Path of the Panther[/url]
Hi InfiniteBliss,
Thanks for the links. I didn't know there was such organised research or data collection.
I'm not truly deeply "into" the subject and haven't been for years, since I no longer consider it a mystery. They certainly exist. I've lived elsewhere in the world where such cats are known to be in a more orthodox way, and you still never see them. They're very shy of contact (though actually here in the UK they seem to stroll around regardless).
Actually a mystery your link does bring up is the great range of different cats sighted including, if one trusts the witness-reports, descriptions of big cats that don't fit any known category. I suppose that could be bad witnessing, or can they cross-breed?
(Or do you folks up there just over-feed your moggies? 🙂 The last cat I had became pretty humungous - me being naive as to the common moggie trick of taking up home in two different houses, and being fed fully in each! 😀 I was once away on business for a month when the people keeping "Jason" informed me he was actually female, and pregnant! Was I shocked! But they were wrong: he was just taking in daily twice his needed calories. :rolleyes: So if I were a sceptic I'd still go for an explanation like that.)
V