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#1
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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 |
#2
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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." |
#3
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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 --This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get correct one remove fame & fortune **$om $ --Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off-- |
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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 |
#5
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"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 |
#6
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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 |
#7
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"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 |
#8
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"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 |
#9
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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 |
#10
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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 |
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