Every year reports of big cats appear all across Britain, but could black panthers really be living alongside us?
The DNA of a big cat – likely a black panther – was found on a sheep in Cumbria last year, as confirmed by a University of Warwick laboratory.
This was the first instance of wild big cat DNA ever found on an animal in Britain.
But does this mean that old tales about the Beast of Exmoor or the Beast of Bodmin Moor could be true?
Journalist Ben Winship spoke to UK big cat investigators Rick Minter and Alex Bowler to try and separate the fact from the folklore.
On Christmas Eve in 1985 Alex Bowler first reported being stalked by a black panther in Somerset and has been investigating big cats ever since. He shares his findings on the site My Big Cat Sightings.
Rick Minter first reported a black panther in Cumbria around the year 2000, and now hosts the podcast Big Cat Conversations.
He estimates 1600 big cat sightings have been reported to him in Britain over the years.
Feature image by mana5280 on Unsplash.
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