Article extract >>

A man has been attacked by a large cat-like animal which jumped out from bushes in his garden during the night.
Anthony Holder said a 6ft-long black animal pounced, knocked him to the ground, then mauled him with its claws for about 30 seconds.

He said "I am 6ft and weigh 15 stone and it was considerably stronger and bigger than me. This thing was huge."

Police were called to Park in south east London and one officer saw a cat "about the size of a Labrador dog".

'Teeth out'

Armed officers arrived soon after and a search of the nearby railway line and allotments was carried out.

Mr Holder was looking for his kitten at the bottom of his garden, which backs onto woodland, when the powerful creature attacked him.

He described how a "big black figure pounced" and he was "in its claws for about 30 seconds".

"Its teeth were out and I tried to defend myself and eventually I got the thing off my body."

He was scratched all over his body and suffered swelling and bruising to his hand and the back of his head.

Police warning

The animal, which Mr Holder is convinced was a panther, then went and sat in the garden next-door and he called the police

The Metropolitan Police have mounted extra patrols in the area, which is largely residential and backs on to a railway line.

They have warned people not to approach the animal and to keep pets inside.

The RSPCA and London Zoo are being consulted for specialist advice.

Inquiries are also being made to trace exactly where the animal may have come from.

End extract <<

For more info :: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4370893.stm

You hear of these incidents at least every couple of years and i and i guess most of you were probably convinced long ago that we share this island with some, "wild cats" just that bit larger than you tabby called Whiskas. ;)

This is the closest one to me for a few years, well one that hasn't ended up being mistaken for a pet cat anyway. Are there any "Beasts of xyz" near where you live??

Of course there are one or two "wild cats" native to the British Isles, like the Lynx but that's about it.

If the victim is right in saying that it was bigger than him and he weighs 15 stone, well it wouldn't appear to be a European Lynx or Wild Cat fot atht ype.

Opinions?? Comments??

Critic, :ukflag:

How much is 15 stone? Also what happen to the kitten :bawling: ? You should see the big cats in Montana, USA :eek: ......

15 stone = 210 pound

Sounds to me like a zoo animal got loose - nothing more.

While it could be an animal from a zoo there are a lot of sightings of big cats in the UK. There was actually a picture of another big cat in the Daily Mail today. There are apparently a number of puma roaming the country but not normally anywhere near people. It's normally farmers who have seen them and then found the bodies of livestock.

http://www.moosecreeklighting.com/mtlionext.jpg

We have these (and other big cats), but last year 2 houses down from me a guy killed a mountain lion that was around 150 pounds I think he said. It was trying to attack the dog so he had to kill it. Though it is very common to see mountain lions around here... as well for bears, tom cats, ect...

You hear of these incidents at least every couple of years and i and i guess most of you were probably convinced long ago that we share this island with some, "wild cats" just that bit larger than you tabby called Whiskas.

This is the closest one to me for a few years, well one that hasn't ended up being mistaken for a pet cat anyway. Are there any "Beasts of xyz" near where you live??


Interesting article Critic. If its so close to your house maybe you should cover yourself in meat and run down the street to help the police. :D

j/k ;)

It sounded to me like a panther that somebody probably imported to the country. I've heard of a few who have imported tigers and keeps them in cages, but some do get out sometimes. I recall somebody's pet panther was roaming the city limits a few years back.

Imagine the shock when you get such a creature right in front of you when making a walk.

Originally posted by Kerry Jones
Interesting article Critic. If its so close to your house maybe you should cover yourself in meat and run down the street to help the police. :D

j/k ;)

It sounded to me like a panther that somebody probably imported to the country. I've heard of a few who have imported tigers and keeps them in cages, but some do get out sometimes. I recall somebody's pet panther was roaming the city limits a few years back.

"Close" is a relative term you understand, i'm actually in NW London in leafy suburbia, so no need for me to be walking bait just yet. ;) :D

You are propbably quite clsoe to the truth in this case when you suggested that the animal was imported, the only difference being when and what generation. Conventional thinking these days is that in the 18th/19th centuries primarily, stately homes here in Britain used to have "big cats" brought back from overseas but were nearly all released before the turn of the last century. Some scientists believe that there could be up to 200 or more "buig cats" like Pumas or Panthas roaming around the country. That's what i reckon wer'e looking at here, one of those imported big cat's great great great great great....grandchildren that normally lives in Kent drifted too close to Greater London.

If it was an animal that had escaped from a Zoo, there would have been warnings out and reports on the news as well as the connection being made but you never know i guess.Theres's a remote chance that a small private sanctuary in the area has had a break out so to speak, i doubt it though.

It's a shame really, there aren't as many indigenous species native to Britain as you might think, and far too many have been either hunted to extinciton or their numbers have dwindled for other reasons. I gong a tad :topic: here but i just think it would be nice if more of the could be reintroduced into our nationla parks and kind of turn back the clock, there have been some successes when it comes to birds recently but....well never mind.

Oh and on the 15 stone thing, here in the UK and also Ireland i belive, a person's weight is not normally measured in kilos [metric] or pounds by itself [US Imperial]; we use Stone.

[i]Info courtesy of wikipedia >>

A stone is a unit of mass within the Imperial units system used in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and formerly in a number of Commonwealth countries. It is equal to 14 pounds avoirdupois, i.e. 6.35029 kilograms.

Though formerly used for some agricultural commodities, including at the retail or household level (potatoes, for example, were traditionally sold in 7 pound or 14 pound quantities), the stone is now used almost exclusively for expressing human body weight; a person would normally describe themselves as weighing, say, "11 stone 4", meaning 11 stone and four pounds. In that context, it is virtually universal in everyday use, though for medical or other technical purposes kilograms are used.

The use of stones to express body weight is as unknown in the United States as the use of pounds on their own is in Britain or Ireland.

Thanks :)

Critic, :ukflag:

Here in Minnesota, we are home to Lynx, Bobcats, and an occasional Mountain Lion. There was a mountain lion that was killing dogs/sheep in the Fergus Falls area a year or so ago.

Lynx and Bobcats are considered "Big Cats" but are really small compared to the mountain ilon (which is the largest cat native to north america). The lynx and bobcat are about the size of a laborador retreiver. While mountain lions are signifigantly bigger.

Mountain lions, Panthers, Tigers etc are all animals that have been known to attack/kill/eat humans. Panthers will wait in trees, and drop down upon their pray. Mountain lions will do similar, from rock ledges etc.

ahhh sounds like something from the zoo or something ill follow it up and see if they find it!

eek, i live in South East London (Surrey)..

Well also with mountain lions is you have to look up in the trees you are walking by or they will jump right on you. There have been many cases where people just did not look up, and got attacked. With a mountain lion as well is they do not make much noise at all. As well with mountain lions is that if you scare them off they usually will try to go around you and attack you from the back again.

We also have wolverines around here as well and they are known to chase off bears *shrugs*, but we do not see them around as much as everything else. Oh and you will always see reports in the newspaper of bears getting taken out of the park or by the court house. Usually when bears or mountain lions go in town they rarely attack though it seems.


Originally posted by amish_geek
Here in Minnesota, we are home to Lynx, Bobcats, and an occasional Mountain Lion. There was a mountain lion that was killing dogs/sheep in the Fergus Falls area a year or so ago.

Lynx and Bobcats are considered "Big Cats" but are really small compared to the mountain ilon (which is the largest cat native to north america). The lynx and bobcat are about the size of a laborador retreiver. While mountain lions are signifigantly bigger.

Mountain lions, Panthers, Tigers etc are all animals that have been known to attack/kill/eat humans. Panthers will wait in trees, and drop down upon their pray. Mountain lions will do similar, from rock ledges etc.

Originally posted by akashik
15 stone = 210 pound

Sounds to me like a zoo animal got loose - nothing more.

Err I doubt it. There is alot of evidence of large cats being in many areas around the UK. Most were released by private owners when laws changed, also it is believed (and has been stopped in some cases) that a fair few are released here from ireland where I thnik it was up until very recently or still is legal to own big cats.

EDIT: I live in the countryside and the region I live in has had many sightings over the years as well as other evidence like animal carcass in trees, footprints etc.

Originally posted by flush()
eek, i live in South East London (Surrey)..

Don't worry Mike, I'll protect you (I think).....If it comes near me, I'll just break out the KitNip and keep it to attack my chavistic neighbour.

We have wild boars and foxes still around here. Couple years ago a wild boar was running across 2 counties killing livestock (they are really deadly because they come out of nowhere and charge into their prey. Not a nice thought if you're a farmer/rancher with kids). It's not that uncommon that a fox is trapped, either.

Don't even want to think what lives in the swamp. :/

Chris

Hey,
Yes you do here if these tales every few years, we recently had a similar one at Cardiff. People had supposedly seen a baby kangaroo hopping down their street.So a big deal was made out of it and searchs were made until they found it.....it was a.... a fox, a fox that was so ill and frail it looked like a baby kangaroo!!
Matt

they originate from many years ago when people used to keep wild cats as pets, A law was then passed against the keeping of these animals, making sure that they would only be housed in zoos etc and it was cheaper for people to just let there pet loose