In case you weren't aware, Gloucestershire's history of rogue animals extends far beyond the Tamworth Two. The county has been an epicentre for ABC (Alien Big Cat to the uninitiated) activity for over a decade.  ...people had big cats like leopards as pets...
 | | Danny Nineham |
One theory is that they are the offspring of animals which were once kept as pets. Speaking to BBC News, Forest-based big cat enthusiast Danny Nineham said, "In the 1960s and 1970s, people had big cats like leopards as pets and they used to walk them like dogs. "But in 1976 when the Dangerous Wild Animals Act came into force, people released their cats because they did not want to pay for a licence, put them down, or take them to a zoo."
Increase In 2002, the British Big Cats Society said it had received more than 800 reports of animals including pumas, black panthers, leopards and so-called Fen tigers during a 12-month period. Gloucestershire, Devon, Kent and Leicestershire reported the most sightings.  | | Here be tygers...well, a leopard actually |
Sightings Local big cat sightings have been dramatic. In 1994 four teenagers camping out in Bisley reported a frightening close encounter, during which they were chased by an animal bigger than a labrador dog. Prowl In 2000 a big cat was reported as having spent a night on the prowl in a Gloucestershire village, during which it was believed to has attacked a dog and left claw marks on a villager's door. ...a lot of these reports turn out to be domestic cats or foxes.
| | Paul Westwood |
"During the night their was a hell of a commotion," said householder Derek Day, speaking to BBC News at the time. "When we got...we found the door was ripped. It couldn't have been anything but something with powerful jaws." Cats Paul Westwood, of website bigcatmonitors.co.uk, said that sightings nationally were rising fast. "It's increasing exponentially - personally I've had over 30 sightings reported to me over the past year," he said. "However, a lot of these reports turn out to be domestic cats or foxes." Despite this, he recently discovered paw prints which a vet confirmed as belonging to a big cat.  See also: Gloucestershire big cat hunter
Report Have you got a big cat story or picture? Do think dangerous animals are on the prowl in Gloucestershire, or are people just getting scared by big domestic moggies? Let us know... Click here to post a comment on this page or click here to see what's already been said...
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andy janik
today (11/2/2009 ) whilst walking on the edge of avening woods just outside nailsworth glos I spotted a large black cat like animal stalking 4 deer - it was about the size of a rottweiller with a vary long tail
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Over the past decade, Gloucestershire has been a hub of big cat activity - and this doesn't mean portly tabbies, but mysterious puma-like beasts which are thought to have preyed on sheep and dogs.
