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History Of Big Cats in Britain
During the stylish 1960's and 1970's it was very fashionable and perfectly legal in the UK to keep exotic animals as household pets, these ranged from Leopards, Puma and panthers and Lynx.
Anybody could legally own and keep them as pets, take them out for walks and keep them in the house without a licence or any Special training or secure enclosure.
In 1976 the Government introduced the Dangerous Wild Animals Act to protect the public and ensure the animals we're looked after properly.
Many owners gave their pets up to local zoos and wildlife parks, but with the number of animals around the zoos and other establishments couldn't cope with the numbers, so some we're unfortunately put down. A minority of owners who couldn't stand to see their pet put down, set them free to fend for themselves in the wild and this is how the majority of Big Cats got into the UK countryside, obviously there is the possibility of zoo and circus escapees but being released from captivity is the most recognized source for most of the Big Cats roaming the UK.
Due to a loophole in the law, it was not illegal until 1981 to release a big cat into the UK countryside! So many owners despite
introducing a new non-native species didn't break the law, A legal owner of a Big Cat in the UK does not by law have to inform anyone if one of their animals escapes or dies, nor do they have to inform the Authorities if they breed in captivity, so the exact number of Big Cats in this country is very hard to say.
.A Canadian lynx shot in Devon in 1903 is now in the collection of the Bristol Museum. Analysis of its teeth suggests that prior to its death, it had spent a significant amount of time in captivity.
In 1980, a puma was captured in Inverness-shire, Scotland, and was subsequently put into the Highland Wildlife Park zoo, being given the name "Felicity". Zoo director Eddie Orbell concluded that the animal had been tamed and might not have been released for long, noting that it enjoyed being tickled.
On two separate occasions, jungle cats have been found dead after being hit by a car, with the most accepted theory being that these are individuals escaped from private ownership.
In a well-reported 2001 case ("the Beast of Barnet"), a young female Eurasian lynx was captured alive by police and vets in Cricklewood, North London, after a chase across school playing fields and into a block of flats. It was placed in London Zoo and given the name "Lara" before ultimately being transferred to a zoo in France to breed.The captured lynx was found to be only 18 months old, although considerably larger than an average domestic cat.
In 2006, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has published a list of predatory cats typically kept as exotic pets that they know to have escaped in the United Kingdom, although most of these have been recaptured.
On 9 January 2025 two lynx were captured after being sighted in the Drumguish area, near to Kingussie, Scotland. They were put in quarantine at Highland Wildlife Park with plans to transfer them to Edinburgh Zoo. The lynx are believed to have been illegally released, given their tameness and bedding was found in a nearby layby. The following day, two more lynx were spotted in the same area and believed to be linked to the first two.
Famous Big Cats in Britain
BEAST OF EXMOOR
While stories about the Beast of Exmoor originally surfaced in a similar fashion to other local "big cat stories", with sightings of the creature reported as early as 1970, the story came to national prominence in the United Kingdom in 1983 when a South Molton farmer named Eric Ley claimed to have lost over 100 sheep in the space of three months, all of them apparently killed by violent throat injuries. The claim that these livestock had been killed by a mysterious beast led to "nationwide interest", with the Daily Express offering a substantial financial reward for video footage of the creature, while the government took the unusual step of deploying a team of Royal Marine snipers to hunt down (and presumably kill) the creature.
Despite extensive media coverage and both professional and amateur hunting for the creature, which in one unfortunate case saw a cryptozoologist having to be rescued after spending two nights stuck in his own trap, no large cat has ever been positively identified to explain such incidents as the 1983 livestock slayings, with them now being attributed to other causes such as large dogs. Despite the lack of evidence, the Beast of Exmoor persists to some extent in the public imagination; alleged sightings continue to be reported occasionally around Exmoor long after an escaped exotic pet (such as a leopard or puma) would have died, while one national newspaper reported a found carcass alleged to be the Beast of Exmoor that was later identified as a dead seal.
BEAST OF BODMIN
Known as the Beast of Bodmin Moor, a large wild cat is reported to roam this rugged landscape. Purported sightings of the Beast began in 1978, along with numerous reports of mutilated livestock. There have been sightings in all of a black panther-like big cat, supposedly three to five feet long and sporting white-yellow eyes
The evidence was robust enough for the government to order an official investigation into the existence of such a beast in 1995. It finally concluded that there was no verifiable evidence, although it was careful to state that there was no evidence against it, either.
Just after the report was published, the possibility of the Beast's existence was given an unexpected boost when a small boy found a leopard skull lying on the banks of the River Fowey. There was great excitement until the Natural History Museum found the skull to have been imported into the country as part of a leopard skin rug.
In 1998, video footage was released that clearly showed a black animal, probably a big cat, around three and a half feet long. The video, described by curator of Newquay Zoo and wild cat expert as 'the best evidence yet', was part of another batch of information submitted to the government by local MP Paul Tyler.
Theories posit that the creature is a big cat that escaped a zoo or a private collection, and was unreported because it had been imported illegally. Some argue that the animal is a species of wild cat that was believed to have become extinct in Britain more than a hundred years ago.
One interesting theory emerged in 2016. Benjamin Mee, the owner of Dartmoor Zoo, claimed that back in 1978, circus owner Mary Chipperfield released her favourite breeding pair of lynx and another male into the wild after she was forced to close her zoo in Plymouth. She had agreed to transfer her five pumas to the Dartmoor Wildlife Park. But it was said that, when they arrived, there were only two pumas in the consignment but five tags in the cage, and that somehow three of the pumas had escaped en route.
Mee however believes that this family of pumas died out in the severe winter of 2010. However, multiple sightings were reported in 2016. So the mystery remains.
Reports received by Defra of escapes of non-native cats in the U.K.
1975 to present day
Leopard Panthera pardus 01/01/1975 01/04/1975 05/01/1975 Recapture Kent
Clouded leopard Neofelis nebulosa 01/08/1975 01/01/1986 01/01/1976 Shot Kent
Puma Felis concolor 01/01/1980 30/10/1980 01/01/1980 Recapture Inverness
Caracal Felis caracal 01/01/1980 22/11/1993 Unknown Shot Kent (not observed)
Ocelot Felis pardalis 01/11/1981 01/11/1981 01/11/1981 Shot Unknown Lancashire
Jaguar Panthera onca 01/09/1982 20/09/1982 01/09/1982 Shot North Wales
Lion Panthera leo 05/01/1984 06/01/1984 05/01/1984 Shot Norfolk Norfolk
Tiger Panthera tigris 01/10/1984 19/10/1984 01/10/1984 Shot and Recapture Kent
Leopard cat Felis bengalensis 01/01/1987 06/03/1988 Unknown Shot Cumbria Scottish Borders
Bengal leopard cat Felis bengalensis 01/10/1987 06/03/1988 06/03/1988 Shot Cumbria Scottish Borders
1Clouded leopard Neofelis nebulosa 22/10/1987 30/10/1987 29/10/1987 Recapture Kent
Puma Felis concolor 01/01/1988 05/03/1988 01/01/1988 Accidents Leicestershire
Bengal leopard cat Felis bengalensis 01/03/1988 22/04/1988 01/03/1988 Shot Devon
2Leopard Panthera pardus 01/06/1988 21/06/1988 21/06/1988 Shot Kent
Jungle cat Felis chaus 29/07/1988 28/05/1989 28/05/1989 Road Casualty Hampshire
Jungle cat Felis chaus 03/02/1989 03/02/1989 03/02/1989 Found dead, cause? Cheshire Shropshire
Lynx Lynx sp. 01/01/1991 01/02/1992 01/01/1950 Unknown Norfolk
Lion Panthera leo 01/01/1991 09/03/1991 01/01/1991 Recapture Humberside
Snow leopard (Ounce) Panthera uncia 29/11/1994 30/11/1994 29/11/1994 Recapture Hertfordshire
Lynx Lynx sp. 05/11/1996 13/11/1996 28/11/1996 Recapture Oxfordshire Oxford
Asiatic Golden Cat Felis temminckii 01/09/1997 15/05/1998 Somerset. (not observed)
Bengal leopard cat Felis bengalensis 01/01/1994 01/01/1987 Shot Unknown Isle of Wight
Leopard cat Felis bengalensis Unknown 01/01/1994 01/01/1987 Shot Isle of Wight
Eurasian Lynx Lynx lynx Unknown 09/05/2001 08/05/2001 Recapture London
Leopard cat Felis bengalensis Unknown 22/04/1988 Unknown Shot Devon
Leopard cat Felis bengalensis Unknown 01/01/1990 Unknown Found dead, cause? Scottish Borders
Jungle cat Felis chaus Unknown 22/11/1993 Shropshire
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