Are there actually huge cats strolling the UK countryside?

Rumours of huge cats, such as leopards and mountain lions, living wild in the UK have actually been bubbling for years. Now, an image declared to reveal a black leopard in Staffordshire and DNA proof included in a documentary have renewed interest in the concept that big felines wander the country. Here is what we understand about these secret cats.

Where does the image originated from?

In August 2023, Dragonfly Films, the manufacturer of the documentary Panthera Britannia Declassified, launched an image obviously revealing a black panther (Panthera pardus) depending on long lawn. The image was apparently taken in Smallthorne, Staffordshire, and sent by an unidentified individual to the Centre for Fortean Zoology, an organisation that examines secret animals in the UK, over a years back, says Tim Whittard from Dragonfly Films.

“My feeling is that it is a real photo of a big cat,” says Whittard. But whether the image was taken of an easily strolling cat in the UK is unofficial.

“It looks like it was photographed in such a way that you couldn’t see the background, which makes me think it’s likely a captive cat. This is one of those mysteries that will probably never be solved.”

Are there actually huge cats strolling wild in the UK?

The term “big cat” generally describes types that come from the genus Panthera, such as lions, jaguars and leopards. However, cheetahs, lynxes and cougars – likewise called mountain lions – are frequently related to the expression.

There are a couple of cases of such animals being seen in the UK, such as a puma captured in 1980 and a lynx shot by a farmer in 1991, however, according to the UK’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), there has actually been no reputable proof of huge cats provided to Natural England, a public body accountable for the defense of England’s natural surroundings, in recent years.

“If we were presented with credible information to suggest there was a big cat living wild and posing a threat to public health and safety, we would report the matter to the local police and the Home Office,” a Defra representative informed New Scientist.

But a handful of individuals disagree with this main evaluation. This consists of Rick Minter, the host of the Big Cat Conversations podcast, who thinks the proof highly recommends the existence of big felines in the UK countryside.

Where are they and the number of exist?

Alleged sightings of huge cats have actually been reported throughout the UK. The British Big Cats Society says that it gets in between 500 to 600 reports a year, however these are primarily unproven and confidential. Freedom of information requests to UK police forces have actually likewise revealed a little number of reports over the previous years.

The bulk of the reports have actually been of black leopards, likewise called panthers, says Minter. Around 15 percent of sightings are of sandy-coloured cats, which might be mountain lions (Puma concolor), says Minter, and the staying 5 percent are of lynxes.

To keep a steady and healthy population, there would most likely require to be a minimum of 300 people of each types, says Minter. There is no proof of this though.

Is there any proof, beyond reported sightings?

Nothing firm, despite the number of people saying they have seen big cats. “There should be scientific evidence to back all of this up,” says Andrew Hemmings at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, UK.

One way to identify the presence of these cats is to look at the carcasses of animals such as foxes, deer and sheep; Hemmings and his colleagues have analysed over 100 carcasses. To date, only four exhibit tooth marks, also known as tooth pits, that suggest the involvement of a medium-to-large feral cat.

These analyses alone can’t provide definitive proof though. “The gold standard would be to combine what we’re seeing with our tooth-pit analysis with verified DNA evidence,” says Hemmings.

Do we have DNA evidence?

In their documentary, Dragonfly Films also claims to have found the first DNA evidence for a big cat in Gloucestershire. Hemmings and Minter are optimistic about the claim, but others are sceptical.

“Unless they actually recorded how that hair sample was captured and tested, [the claim] will have a grey cloud over it,” says Danny Bamping at the British Big Cats Society.

If the big cats do exist, are they dangerous?

There have been no confirmed incidences of wild big cats attacking individuals or their family pets in the UK.

“If given the choice, they would always avoid human contact,” says Hemmings. “In my opinion, they pose a negligible risk to people.”