Well, it's official - there ARE big cats in Britain!

[Anonymouse]

As told here, there are big cats in Britain. At least one, anyway - and where there's one, there are likely to be others.

Having big cats as display animals used to be a big thing among the rich in Britain, until legislation was (rightly) passed banning it. But the cats didn't all go to labs or zoos, nor were they all trained for the wild where they belong and released there. It is believed instead that unscrupulous owners just released them in the wild, to fend for themselves.

There have been rumours and sightings for years of big cats in the UK. "But it's too cold," people protest. True. However...fur coats, anyone? Plus big cats are tough. There are none of their usual competitors here. Their preferred prey, sheep and cattle, are bred for domesticity - making them easy prey. Not even big dogs are powerful enough to tackle them. Certainly nothing else is - about the biggest animal we have here is the otter, which is mainly aquatic. Cows are big animals, but can you really imagine a cow, or even a bull, defending itself against a panther? Especially at night? Yeah, I'm so sure.

"Where do they hide?" Um, we do have bushes in the UK, and forests which aren't that different from the jungle. There are innumerable places for them to hide, and nothing can hide like a big cat - plus they have the advantage of unexpectedness, for the simple reason that they didn't evolve here and therefore do not belong here.

So I'd say they should do well in the UK. Not that I want to meet one, but I wish them all the best. We no longer have predators in the UK, since the wolves were wiped out. Maybe this will be good for us.