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Stoke & Staffordshire Features
Big cats on the prowl in Staffordshire? | |
|  | | A big cat on the prowl in Staffordshire? |
| | In one small village in Staffordshire, there have been more than numerous sightings of big cats on the loose. |
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:: Facts » | There were 1,082 sightings of big cats throughout the United Kingdom in 2002
Scotland has the most big cat sightings with a reported 209 in 2002
Staffordshire saw eighteen sightings in 2002
Cheshire has had seven sightings of big cats in 2002 |
:: Have your say » | Have you seen a big cat around Staffordshire? Send us your stories...
Have your say |
| | Witnesses in Walton near Tamworth are convinced a panther is roaming wild in the countryside around their homes. Resident Richard Meredith is sensible man, a pillar of the local community, but he’s convinced:
 There have been sixteen sightings of big cats within a mile or two of this village.
Sightings from people who were not drunk. They were not small pussy cats, they were sightings from just 50 yards. Undoubtedly, there have been panthers in this area.  | | Richard Meredith, Villager |
The big cat phenomenon always seems to crop up in Staffordshire as Robin Roberts can testify - he looks after the panthers at Drayton Manor Park:
| I saw a black leopard in the southern part of our area, one three miles down the road in Middleton and a puma when I was driving down the M42. | | Robin Roberts, Panther Keeper |
One Midlands man, Louis Foley freely admits setting big cats free in the seventies when new laws about dangerous pets were brought in. Louis remarks:
| These cats can live up to 30 or 40 years. Some of these original cats are still out there. | | Louis Foley, member of the public |
Louis may be quite correct... in 2002, there were some eighteen sightings of big cats in Staffordshire and The British Big Cats Society estimate that for every sighting another two to three go unreported.
So, have you seen any big cats in your area? Have you got any pictures of big cat sightings? Click here to send your Big Cat stories to us... | | | |
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