Panther sighting reported
6:02am Wednesday 14th March 2007
Comments (1)A BLACK panther has been seen prowling a remote hillside in the Yorkshire Dales, according to reports. Day-tripper David Sykes said he saw the animal between Beckermonds and Deepdale, in Langstrothdale, between Hawes and Buckden, on Sunday.
Mr Sykes had gone for a drive with his wife, Jeanette, when he noticed a 5ft-long, jet-black creature out of the car window.
The 48-year-old kitchen designer from Thackley, near Bradford, said: "I looked to my right and saw this black object running through the field.
"I thought it was a sheepdog, but then it turned and I saw it in profile.
"I nudged my wife and I said 'look at that -it's a big cat'.
"We pulled in to the side of the road, got out and we must have been watching it for five minutes.
"It followed the stream down, coming towards us with its tail lofting in the air.
"My wife commented on how big its head was compared to its body."
Mr Sykes said he was annoyed with himself for not carrying a camera.
He said: "It was a bright sunny day and we got a clear view of it. We did not mistake it for anything else -in my mind it was a black panther or something similar.
"It was one of those experiences that you do not know how to describe -it was a 'wow' moment."
Mr Sykes has reported the sighting to police, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and the Big Cat Society.
A spokesman for the park authority said the report of a big cat roaming the park was the first received.
He said: "Our rangers will keep their eyes open."
Tony Lidgate, from North Yorkshire Police, urged anyone who saw a big cat to call the police as soon as possible.
He said: "Whenever we can, we get out and have a look.
"There are several sightings every year in the county, but we have not yet found any concrete evidence."
Have you seen the panther? Call The Northern Echo's newsdesk on 01325-505068.
On prowl: A black panther similar to the one reported by David Sykes
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Mark, East Yorkshire says...
4:46pm Wed 14 Mar 07
March 2007
(BCIB) Big Cats in Britain 1st Annual Big Cat Conference
Hull East Yorkshire 23rd 24th 25th March 2007
Leopards? Hybrids? or a relic, indigenous species that we never knew existed alongside us, ever since the Ice Age?
Veteran British big cat researcher Di Francis has decided to reveal photographic evidence showing a body of a large unknown cat found on a river estuary in Scotland.
Di said: We have gone a long torturous route in identifying the reality of British big cats but now in the 21st century, the question is not are they here, but what are they?
An elderly couple while walking along a beach near the river estuary in Oban, Scotland, found the body of a puma-sized silver grey female cat with a faint ginger stripe across its face and a white or cream chest; washed up on the beach.
Di Francis will be revealing the photographs for the first time at the Annual Big Cats in Britain Conference held in Hull at the Dorchester Hotel on the weekend of the 24th March. Her new book Cat Country Revisited is soon to be published.
Conference organiser and Big Cats in Britain founder Mark Fraser said: I have been aware of these photographs for several years but have not yet seen them, I am as eager as everyone else.
Controversy is sure to arise at the conference which is attracting delegates from all over the country. Other speakers will include zoologist Chris Moiser, CFZ Director Jonathan Downes, police officers, researchers, authors, South African trackers, scientists, witnesses; all with one common aim which is to discover just exactly what large felines are roaming the British Isles.
BCIB Argyllshire representative Shaun Stevens will also be presenting results of a year long study into exotic animals in the British Isles using data he received through the Freedom of Information Act. Shaun said: "There are many researchers out there desperate to view this ground breaking evidence. It could be a catalyst in changing the perception of the big cat phenomena in the UK for ever"
Tickets for the full weekend are £20 - day tickets £14
For more information visit the www.bigcatsinbritain.org website or contact Mark Fraser on 01563 551710 07940 016972 Email: Bigcatsinbritain@btinternet.com
The event has a packed itinerary which also includes debates, film shows, a raffle, quiz, displays, stands and book stall.
A copy of the full itinerary can be sent out on request.
A lady found a Labrador sized cat dead on the roadside, heaved the body into her car, took it home and phoned the local vet who examined the animal. When no one came forward to claim an escaped exotic pet, the body was disposed of.
A lorry driver spotted a brown puma sized cat on the roadside in Scotland, he notified a local vet but by the time the vet received the message and reached the site, the driver of a white van had been observed removing an animal carcass from the roadside. Neither the driver nor the cats body has ever been traced.
A couple of men driving along a woodland road found a collie sized black and white cat lying dead on the roadside. They left it there as they did not want to put a bloody carcass in their car. They returned the next morning with plastic bags but the body was gone.
A black Alsatian sized cat was seen for hours lying injured on a main road verge in Central Scotland. A number of motorists reported the animal to the police but nothing was done. Finally the animal recovered enough to crawl away, either to recover or die.
Over four decades, the Surrey Puma of the 1960s has been joined by the Exmoor Beast, the Beast of Bodmin, the Fen Tiger, the Beast of Ongar, the Pedmore Panther, the Beast of Gloucester, the Thing from the Ling, the Beast of Borehamwood, the Wrangaton Lion, the Beast of Shap, the Beast of Brentwood, the Lindsey Leopard, the Lincolnshire Lynx, the Wildcat of the Wolds, the Beast of Roslin, the Kilmacolm Big Cat, the Beast of Burford, the Chilterns Lion, the Beast of Castor, the Beast of Sydenham, the Shooters Hill Cheetah, the Beast of Bucks, the Plumstead Panther, the Beast of Bexley, the Beast of Barnet, the Nottingham Lion, the Durham Puma, the Horndon Panther, the Beast of Cricklewood, the Beast of Bont, the Beast of Gobowen ... and many more.