Big cats in England

"O J" wrote in message
...
Hi All,

Good news for those who are admirers of big cats. I just saw
this on my Yahoo interface to the Associated Press.

Good for the big kitties!

Regards and Purrs,
O J

LONDON (AFP) - There is "little doubt" that
significant numbers of big cats such as pumas
and lynxes are roaming the British countryside,
with more than four sightings of such beasts
reported per day, a campaign group said.

The British Big Cats Society (BBCS), set up to
compile evidence that such beasts live wild in the
country, called for a government-run scientific
study of population numbers.

Unveiling the results of its own 15-month survey
which recorded more than 2,000 sightings, the
society concluded that there was "little doubt that
big cats are roaming Britain".

"The evidence has been growing and is
increasingly clear," BBCS founder Danny
Bamping said.

"We are now going to approach the proper
authorities to ask for their support in
undertaking a properly-funded scientific study
on the big cats in Britain."

I hope they'll be protected as well as studied.

Joy

My sister accidently caught a "big cat" on a video of her holiday there.
Some newspaper bought the rights to the video tape. We have no idea what the
followup was, as we aren't in England.

Yowie

"O J" wrote in message
...
Hi All,

Good news for those who are admirers of big cats. I just saw
this on my Yahoo interface to the Associated Press.

Good for the big kitties!

Regards and Purrs,
O J

LONDON (AFP) - There is "little doubt" that
significant numbers of big cats such as pumas
and lynxes are roaming the British countryside,
with more than four sightings of such beasts
reported per day, a campaign group said.

The British Big Cats Society (BBCS), set up to
compile evidence that such beasts live wild in the
country, called for a government-run scientific
study of population numbers.

Unveiling the results of its own 15-month survey
which recorded more than 2,000 sightings, the
society concluded that there was "little doubt that
big cats are roaming Britain".

"The evidence has been growing and is
increasingly clear," BBCS founder Danny
Bamping said.

"We are now going to approach the proper
authorities to ask for their support in
undertaking a properly-funded scientific study
on the big cats in Britain."

I hope they'll be protected as well as studied.

Joy

Joy, big cats aren't native to the UK. If there are any in the wild (and I
think there most probably are a few), I have grave misgivings about them
remaining here. The theory is that they are cats that have escaped or have been
deliberately released from private collections when legislation was brought in
controlling who could have them and how/where they were kept.
Reasons for my misgivings - example, we now have wild mink in the UK. They are
escapees (unintentional & deliberate escape - "liberation") and descendents of
escapees from mink farms. The mink in question is the American Mink - it's not
native to the UK and it has no natural predators over here. It also breeds
extremely well over here. It is destroying our native and now very rare,
extremely endangered water voles. There's nothing better a mink likes than a
tasty water vole for lunch. The mink is killing off our own wild life rather
efficiently. For example - the stream at the end of my garden is a tributary of
the River Wensum. It had been mink free until quite recently. I used to see a
lot of water voles about. I haven't seen *any* this year. There's no sign of
them. Some time ago a downstream neighbour told me she'd seen a mink on the
banks of the stream where it goes by her place. Mink have been reported
elsewhere on the river system too. Also, the number of fish in the stream has
noticeably declined when the water is *good* and it's not fished to any extent.

The other problem is that in relative terms, the UK is a small landmass, highly
urbanised in many areas so there simply isn't the space for big cats to be
about in any quantity without possible serious consequences for people. In this
case, it isn't the people encroaching on to land previously the natural habitat
of the big cats, it's more the other way around.

I have very grave doubts about big cats remaining wild in the UK.

Cheers, helen s



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dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers wrote:
I have very grave doubts about big cats remaining wild in the UK.

Non-native species are always a threat to the local ecosystem. Take for
example the starlings. They came from the UK to this country and now
they're displacing native species.
One could also argue that it's survival of the fittest, but is it when
it's caused by humans?
Good questions to ponder over a pint of ale.

--
Victor Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

"dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers" wrote
in message ...
I hope they'll be protected as well as studied.

Joy

Joy, big cats aren't native to the UK. If there are any in the wild
(and I
think there most probably are a few), I have grave misgivings about
them
remaining here. The theory is that they are cats that have escaped or
have been
deliberately released from private collections when legislation was
brought in
controlling who could have them and how/where they were kept.
Reasons for my misgivings - example, we now have wild mink in the UK.
They are
escapees (unintentional & deliberate escape - "liberation") and
descendents of
escapees from mink farms. The mink in question is the American Mink -
it's not
native to the UK and it has no natural predators over here. It also
breeds
extremely well over here. It is destroying our native and now very
rare,
extremely endangered water voles. There's nothing better a mink likes
than a
tasty water vole for lunch. The mink is killing off our own wild life
rather
efficiently. For example - the stream at the end of my garden is a
tributary of
the River Wensum. It had been mink free until quite recently. I used
to see a
lot of water voles about. I haven't seen *any* this year. There's no
sign of
them. Some time ago a downstream neighbour told me she'd seen a mink
on the
banks of the stream where it goes by her place. Mink have been
reported
elsewhere on the river system too. Also, the number of fish in the
stream has
noticeably declined when the water is *good* and it's not fished to
any extent.

The other problem is that in relative terms, the UK is a small
landmass, highly
urbanised in many areas so there simply isn't the space for big cats
to be
about in any quantity without possible serious consequences for
people. In this
case, it isn't the people encroaching on to land previously the
natural habitat
of the big cats, it's more the other way around.

I have very grave doubts about big cats remaining wild in the UK.

Cheers, helen s



You make some very good points here, Helen. Maybe the thing to hope for
is that they can be safely relocated to a place where their kind is
native.

Joy

dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers wrote:
I have very grave doubts about big cats remaining wild in the UK.

Non-native species are always a threat to the local ecosystem. Take for
example the starlings. They came from the UK to this country and now
they're displacing native species.
One could also argue that it's survival of the fittest, but is it when
it's caused by humans?
Good questions to ponder over a pint of ale.

--
Victor Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

"dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers" wrote
in message ...
I hope they'll be protected as well as studied.

Joy

Joy, big cats aren't native to the UK. If there are any in the wild
(and I
think there most probably are a few), I have grave misgivings about
them
remaining here. The theory is that they are cats that have escaped or
have been
deliberately released from private collections when legislation was
brought in
controlling who could have them and how/where they were kept.
Reasons for my misgivings - example, we now have wild mink in the UK.
They are
escapees (unintentional & deliberate escape - "liberation") and
descendents of
escapees from mink farms. The mink in question is the American Mink -
it's not
native to the UK and it has no natural predators over here. It also
breeds
extremely well over here. It is destroying our native and now very
rare,
extremely endangered water voles. There's nothing better a mink likes
than a
tasty water vole for lunch. The mink is killing off our own wild life
rather
efficiently. For example - the stream at the end of my garden is a
tributary of
the River Wensum. It had been mink free until quite recently. I used
to see a
lot of water voles about. I haven't seen *any* this year. There's no
sign of
them. Some time ago a downstream neighbour told me she'd seen a mink
on the
banks of the stream where it goes by her place. Mink have been
reported
elsewhere on the river system too. Also, the number of fish in the
stream has
noticeably declined when the water is *good* and it's not fished to
any extent.

The other problem is that in relative terms, the UK is a small
landmass, highly
urbanised in many areas so there simply isn't the space for big cats
to be
about in any quantity without possible serious consequences for
people. In this
case, it isn't the people encroaching on to land previously the
natural habitat
of the big cats, it's more the other way around.

I have very grave doubts about big cats remaining wild in the UK.

Cheers, helen s



You make some very good points here, Helen. Maybe the thing to hope for
is that they can be safely relocated to a place where their kind is
native.

Joy

"dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers" wrote in
message ...
I hope they'll be protected as well as studied.

Joy

Joy, big cats aren't native to the UK. If there are any in the wild (and I
think there most probably are a few), I have grave misgivings about them
remaining here. The theory is that they are cats that have escaped or have
been
deliberately released from private collections when legislation was
brought in
controlling who could have them and how/where they were kept.
Reasons for my misgivings - example, we now have wild mink in the UK. They
are
escapees (unintentional & deliberate escape - "liberation") and
descendents of
escapees from mink farms. The mink in question is the American Mink - it's
not
native to the UK and it has no natural predators over here. It also breeds
extremely well over here. It is destroying our native and now very rare,
extremely endangered water voles. There's nothing better a mink likes than
a
tasty water vole for lunch. The mink is killing off our own wild life
rather
efficiently. For example - the stream at the end of my garden is a
tributary of
the River Wensum. It had been mink free until quite recently. I used to
see a
lot of water voles about. I haven't seen *any* this year. There's no sign
of
them. Some time ago a downstream neighbour told me she'd seen a mink on
the
banks of the stream where it goes by her place. Mink have been reported
elsewhere on the river system too. Also, the number of fish in the stream
has
noticeably declined when the water is *good* and it's not fished to any
extent.

The other problem is that in relative terms, the UK is a small landmass,
highly
urbanised in many areas so there simply isn't the space for big cats to be
about in any quantity without possible serious consequences for people. In
this
case, it isn't the people encroaching on to land previously the natural
habitat
of the big cats, it's more the other way around.

I have very grave doubts about big cats remaining wild in the UK.

This problem of "imported" species out-doing the native species is a major
problem here in Australia, particularly when it comes to feral cats, dogs
and pigs, although there are many other introduced species that are wreaking
havoc in their own environmental niches (can toads, european carp, indian
mynah bird etc etc). Because Australia was so isolated for so long (in terms
of evolution) our native fauna simply doesn't have the natural methods of
dealing with the effecient hunters that come from other parts of the world.

Ironically, one of our natives, the possum, is a large problem in New
Zealand, where it a pest and not part of the natural ecosystem.

Yowie

Yowie wrote:

This problem of "imported" species out-doing the native species is a
major problem here in Australia, particularly when it comes to feral
cats, dogs and pigs, although there are many other introduced species
that are wreaking havoc in their own environmental niches (can toads,
european carp, indian mynah bird etc etc).

Aren't cats causing problems in the Galapagos islands, too? None of the
animals there have predators, so they didn't evolve any fear of other
animals. That's a big part of the charm of that area - the animals will
come right up to you because they have no reason not to. But with cats
on the island(s), many species will be in big trouble.

And then there's the brown snake in Guam.

Joyce

wrote:

Aren't cats causing problems in the Galapagos islands, too? None of the
animals there have predators, so they didn't evolve any fear of other
animals. That's a big part of the charm of that area - the animals will
come right up to you because they have no reason not to. But with cats
on the island(s), many species will be in big trouble.

Just got back from the Galapagos a few weeks ago :-))) What a fabulous
trip! Yes, cats are a problem on some islands, along with goats, rats,
pigs and several other non-mammalian species. However the scientists
there are working on, and implementing some very clever schemes to
eradicate pest species. They just need more resources and money to get
the job done fast enough. And I can vouch for the fearlessness of the
animals and birds - just incredible. The National Park has a policy for
visitors: you can't touch the animals - but they can touch you! (And
they do!)

Deb.
--
http://www.scientific-art.com

"He looked a fierce and quarrelsome cat, but claw he never would;
He only bit the ones he loved, because they tasted good." S. Greenfield