Three years ago, Blather told of the media frenzy about big cat reports – most of which were in Northern Ireland, in an article Big Cat Sightings in Ireland? Puma or some other big cat?
Here’s a story from the BBC, earlier this week:
For more than a month in the summer and autumn of 2003 the story dominated the headlines in Northern Ireland. Big cats – thought to be a panther and a puma – were on the loose on the north coast. Numerous sightings, paw prints and the mauled remains of livestock – including a 70kg ram – seemed to confirm their presence. The USPCA believes there are pumas living in the NI countryside
Since then the creatures have disappeared from view, but according to the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, others are living in the wild in Northern Ireland. “There are reported sightings from across the province that would suggest we still have a few of these animals in the wild,” USPCA chief executive Stephen Philpott said. “Probably pumas and lynx, smallish animals that could survive in our climate and live by scavenging or (feeding) on smaller native mammals.
BBC: Something wild in the countryside
