Prehistoric puma feces reveals oldest parasite DNA ever recorded

The oldest parasite DNA ever recorded has been found in the ancient, desiccated feces of a puma

Date: August 27, 2019

Source: Cambridge University Press

A team of Argentinian scientists from the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) made the discovery after studying a coprolite taken from a rock-shelter in the country's mountainous Catamarca Province, where the remains of now extinct megafauna have previously been recovered in stratigraphic excavations.

Radiocarbon dating revealed that the coprolite and thus the parasitic roundworm eggs preserved inside dated back to between 16,570 and 17,000 years ago, towards the end of the last Ice Age.

At that time, the area around the shelter at Peñas de las Trampas in the southern Andean Puna was thought to have been wetter than today, making it a suitable habitat for megafauna like giant ground sloths, and also smaller herbivores like American horses and South American camelids which the pumas may have preyed on.

Ancient mitochondrial DNA analysis was used to confirm the coprolite came from a Puma (Puma concolor) and that the eggs belonged to Toxascaris leonina, a species of roundworm still commonly found in the digestive systems of modern day cats, dogs and foxes.

The study, published in the journal Parasitology, explains that the extremely dry, cold and salty conditions which took hold at the Peñas de las Trampas site since the onset of the Holocene would have helped to reduce the breakdown of the DNA, allowing it to be preserved.

Read on 

‘She will have stories to tell’: Idaho preschooler saved from jaws of mountain lion in rare attack

By Ben Guarino August 15 

The first time the mountain lion pawed its way through the Idaho campsite Friday, the cat went unnoticed by everyone except for one woman. Kera Butt was camping with her family in Green Canyon Hot Springs, near Yellowstone National Park, when she caught a glimpse of the animal.

“As we were eating dinner, I turned my head and saw the back part of the cat,” Butt told East Idaho News. “I saw it move and I told everyone, ‘I just saw a cat.’”

Her family was skeptical. It must have been a different species of animal — perhaps she had mistaken a wolf for the larger predator, they said. Although mountain lions are native to the Yellowstone area, the cats are almost mythical in their ability to go unseen. They are stealthy hunters and usually shy around humans. No more than a few dozen live in the 3,000-square-mile park at a time.

Butt’s eyes did not deceive her. She had indeed spotted a mountain lion, an event the Idaho Department of Fish and Game called “highly unusual.” Stranger still, the big cat would return later that night — in a brief moment that, to the Butt family, unfolded in horror.

By about 9 p.m. Friday night the family had dispersed throughout the campground after dinner. A few cousins went down to the creek to play. Butt had taken one of her daughters to use the bathroom in the forest, said Jim Sevy, a relative, in an interview with East Idaho News. Just beforehand, she put her daughter Kelsi, 4, in the tent to take a nap.

But Kelsi emerged soon after to join her cousins in the stream. “She got out of the tent because she couldn’t find her shoe,” Sevy, Kelsi’s grandfather, said.

In that moment, the mountain lion struck. The adults in the family heard screaming — one of the 10-year-old cousins witnessed the ambush. And as they ran toward the sounds, they saw the cat holding Kelsi in its mouth.

 Read on

Is there a big cat on the loose in Wales? Puma blamed for mystery lamb death

BY HYWEL TREWYN

A lamb has been killed by 'unknown predator' while a radio crew are making a documentary about big cat sightings in the area

Farmers have expressed concerns that a puma is on the loose following the discovery of a dead lamb - in WALES.

Dafydd and Pam Parry claim to have seen pumas, a type of jungle cat, in the hills around their Snowdonia home.

They have taken plaster casts of paw prints which they believe have been left by the animals and graphic photographs of sheep and badgers which they believe were killed by large cats.

Pam, of Hafod y Llyn Isaf, claims to have seen "a big black puma" with "golden eyes and a long tail, curved up" sitting on rocks watching her feeding her horses.

A BBC radio crew have now followed up the Parrys claims, for documentary The Unexplainers led by John Rutledge, also know as Eggsy from rappers Goldie Lookin' Chain.

Producer Rhys Waters told the Daily Post: "We were looking at the big cat rumours that were in the area, and the night we did a stakeout a lamb was killed by an unknown predator."

Continued ...

Study of Pumas in Santa Cruz Mountains Documents Impact of Predator/Human Interaction

Apr. 17, 2013 — In the first published results of more than three years of tracking mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains, UC Santa Cruz researchers document how human development affects the predators' habits.

In findings published today (April 17) in the online journal PLOS ONE, UCSC associate professor of environmental studies Chris Wilmers and colleagues with the UC Santa Cruz Puma Project describe tracking 20 lions over 6,600 square miles for three years. Researchers are trying to understand how habitat fragmentation influences the physiology, behavior, ecology, and conservation of pumas in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

"Depending on their behavior, animals respond very differently to human development," Wilmers said. Lions are "totally willing to brave rural neighborhoods, but when it comes to reproductive behavior and denning they need more seclusion."

The large predators living relatively close to a metropolitan area require a buffer from human development at least four times larger for reproductive behaviors than for other activities such as moving and feeding.

7F, an approximately 7-year-old mother is treed by trailing

 hounds so researchers can replace her collar before the batteries 

fail. 7F lives in the mountains above Los Gatos

and has had three litters of kittens in the four years since

 she was first collared. (Credit: Photo by Paul Houghtaling)

"In addition, pumas give a wider berth to types of human development that provide a more consistent source of human interface," such as neighborhoods, than they do in places where human presence is more intermittent, as with major roads or highways, the authors write.

37 lions captured

Wilmers and his team, which includes graduate students, and a dog tracking team working with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, have captured 37 lions to date. Twenty-12 females and eight males-were closely followed between 2008 and 2011. Once captured and anesthetized, the lions' sex was determined, they were weighed, measured, fit with an ear tag and a collar with a GPS transmitter. The collars, developed, in part, by an interdisciplinary team at UCSC, including wildlife biologists and engineers, transmit location data every four hours.

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130418100124.htm

Remarkable camera trap photos of jaguars & other cats taken on Colombia ranch

Jaguars, ocelot, jaguarundi & puma all spotted - Scroll down or click here to see the images


May 2012. Reserva Natural La Aurora is nature reserve is located in Colombia 400 kms to the east of Bogota, in the department of Casanare. The 9000 hectare reserve has a tropical climate with temperatures averaging 30 degrees Celsius. Annually there is a 6 month long dry season, and a 6 month wet.

ALL THE IMAGES ARE COURTESY OF JORGE ARMANDO BARRAGAN

Mixed use - Ranching and conservation
Wildlife conservation has been conducted hand in hand with ranching here for many years, maintaining a balance of livestock and wildlife. These ranching methods were inherited from the Jesuits of the seventeenth century.

Wide variety of birds & wildlife
A wide variety of native and migrant birds of the Orinoco basin can be found here, as well as mammals such as the capybara (the world's largest rodent), and cats such as puma, jaguar, ocelot and jaguarundi. Reptiles such as iguanas and huge anacondas (5 to 7 m in length) are abundant too.

Declared as a nature reserve
As an initiative of the owners, and with the approval of the ministry of environment and regional conservation bodies, the Hato La Aurora ranch has been declared as a ‘Civil Nature Reserve' (which means that this area is an important hotspot for conservation but the government does not own it, and it can only be protected if the owner voluntarily agree to turn this property into a nature reserve).

The cameratrap pictures have helped to identify the population of cats in the reserve. As part of the conservation initiative, an eco-tourism project is now running within the nature reserve, and a new eco-lodge providing accommodation and activities on the ranch is now up and running - See more at Juan Solito Eco-lodge.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/juan-solito.html

Man pleads guilty to shooting a Florida panther

Panther shot with a bow and arrow

May 2012. 45 year old Todd Alan Benfield pled guilty to shooting and killing a Florida Panther, in violation of the US Endangered Species Act. Benfield faces a maximum penalty of one year in federal prison, a fine of up to $100,000, and forfeiture of weapons and other equipment used to kill the animal. 

Benfield was bow hunting in Collier County, using a tree stand to hunt for deer. From his tree stand, Benfield knowingly shot and killed a Florida Panther. The following day, Benfield and an associate moved the panther into the Woodland Grade area, in an attempt to conceal the animal. Benfield then removed his tree stand from the area in an effort to conceal the fact that he had killed the panther. A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer located the dead panther in a section of thick vegetation, in the Woodland Grade area. The officer determined that the dead panther had been dragged approximately 50 yards. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory conducted a genetics analysis of a tissue sample taken from the carcass and determined that it was a Florida Panther.

The Florida panther is the last subspecies of Puma still surviving in the eastern United States. Historically occurring throughout the south-eastern United States, the estimated 100 to 160 panthers are found in south Florida, in less than five percent of their historic range.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/panther-bow.html#cr

Michigan cougar sighting confirmed - but not in Ann Arbor

The Department of Natural Resources announced yesterday a confirmed cougar sighting in Baraga County in the Upper Peninsula.

Baraga County resident Fred Nault spotted the animal near Skanee on May 5 and was able to snap a picture. The confirmed sighting in the Upper Peninsula comes almost two months following the cougar sightings in Ann Arbor near the University of Michigan’s North Campus.

DNR Wildlife Division staff members were contacted by Nault and visited the property this Tuesday to verify the location.

The cougar was spotted crossing a road when Nault, who happened to have a camera, took a picture before the animal fled into the woods.

DNR Wildlife specialist Adam Bump said the department is beginning to see a few scattered cougars moving back into the state.

"I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we know cougars have established populations in the Dakotas, so we’re starting to see a lot of dispersal and for whatever reason they're heading east," Bump said. "We're starting to get more frequent cougar movement."

University of Michigan Police Lt. Bob Neumann said the university has not seen or heard anything since the end of March.

Continued:  http://www.annarbor.com/news/another-cougar-sighting-relax-this/

Photos: Mountain Lion checks out cat in Boulder Read more: Photos: Mountain Lion and Cat in Boulder | Denver Post Photos, Video http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2011/10/mountain-lion-checks-out-cat/22656/#ixzz1ukvqIgfZ Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse

Zeus, an 11-year-old Maine Coon cat, had a curious encounter with a young mountain lion in Boulder, with the pair safely separated by a sliding glass door.

The cats checked each other out at about 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the Pine Brook Hills area of Boulder. Gail Loveman, Zeus’s owner, said she was busy in the office of her home when she heard a noise and turned to see a young mountain lion on the porch.

Read more: Photos: Mountain Lion and Cat in Boulder | Denver Post Photos, Video http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2011/10/mountain-lion-checks-out-cat/22656/#ixzz1ukvw0WZe

Deadly Cat Disease: Effective Treatment for Bobcat Fever

ScienceDaily (Apr. 18, 2012) — Lone Star ticks, which are notorious carriers of many diseases including cytauxzoonosis, or "bobcat fever," have been spreading across the nation in recent years. As a result, cats across much of the country are now exposed to the deadly disease. University of Missouri veterinarian Leah Cohn, a small animal disease expert, and Adam Birkenheuer from North Carolina State University, have found an effective treatment for the dangerous disease.

"Previous treatment methods have only been able to save less than 25 percent of infected cats, but our method, which is now being used by veterinarians across the country, has been shown to save about 60 percent of infected cats," Cohn said. "While that number isn't as high as we'd like due to the deadly nature of the disease, our method is the first truly effective way to combat the disease."

Routinely carried by bobcats and mountain lions, Cohn and Birkenheuer also found that bobcat fever can even infect tigers. All types of cats, but only cats, can catch bobcat fever. Cohn calls the disease the "Ebola virus for cats," saying that it is a very quick and painful death for cats that succumb from the infection. Bobcat fever is easily spread between cats through tick bites, but Cohn and Birkenheuer found that the disease is not readily passed down through birth like malaria and many other protozoan diseases.

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120418162258.htm

Catbeast - Four new sightings

Published on Saturday 21 May 2011 13:00

THE catbeast of Calderdale has been spotted again – by four more witnesses.

One of them described the elusive cat – either a lynx or puma, like the one pictured – as “massive...absolutely huge.”

The four who claim to have had a brush with the beast have come forward since the Courier featured 19-year-old dog walker Sean McGeady’s encounter last Monday.

Kay Hall believes she spotted a lynx while out walking a dog from Croftmount Kennels in Lane Head Lane, Ogden, Halifax.

The 60-year-old, of Ogden, said: “There was this bird swooping down at it and it made a hissing noise, a weird noise. It was much too big to be a cat.

“I stopped and watched it and it kind of stalked away.

“It was dark in colour and had very big, pointy ears.

“There’s no way it was a fox. It was totally different. It really spooked me.”

Heather Scurrey, 28, of Elland, was out walking her dog Stig when she says she saw a huge black cat on a hill in Ainley Top.

She likened the beast to a puma and said it was about the size of a large German Shepherd dog.

“It was definitely a cat of some description and had a very large, long tail,” she said.

“I have a cat myself so recognised the gait as it was walking and it was not another animal.

“I know what I saw and that was a large puma-like black cat.”

Shannon Griffin, 37, was out hunting rabbits with his friend Gary Roberts, 44, in fields off Deanstones Lane, Queensbury, when he spotted what he thought was a fox at first.

But after taking a closer look through binoculars, the pair believe it was a cougar.

“It had a black-tipped tail and a big round head,” said Mr Griffin, of Bierley in Bradford.

“It saw us and then crouched down under the bushes. It was absolutely massive.

“I did feel a bit intimidated, I thought it could have been stalking us. I’ve been hunting down there for over 30 years and I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

And another man, who did not want to be named, said he and his neighbours spotted a large black cat in fields off Claremount Road in Boothtown, Halifax.

“It was big with a long curly tail,” he said. “The tail was about the same length as it’s body, about three foot long.

“I saw it from my flat window. I panicked a bit. My neighbours said they’d seen it and called the police.”

• The Calderdale catbeast - mammal or myth? Let us know what you think: email yoursay@halifaxcourier.co.uk*

http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/local/catbeast_four_new_sightings_1_3404430

Puma spotted close to house in Strathy

Published: 19/05/2011 23:59

A north Sutherland family have reported spotting a puma close to their home last Friday evening.

Young Courtney Mackay (14) and a friend, George Searce (12), were the first to see the Big Cat as it prowled round Steven Terrace in Strathy.

The youngster said: "It was sniffing around at a spot where fishing bait had been left the night before. "It was only three to four metres away and stared right at us before running away."

Courtney immediately ran to tell her grandparents, Fiona and Charlie Skinner, at 5 Steven Terrace.

The family then went out to see if they could spot it again.

They were accompanied by neighbour Margaret Mackay and her granddaughter, Faith Mackay.

Mrs Skinner said: "Courtney and Charlie came in screaming and shouting that they had seen a puma so we went down the field next to our house and shone a torch around.

"We saw the puma making its way across the field and it looked straight at us.

"We could see its big green eyes in the light of the torch.

"Our next door neighbour has a Newfoundland dog and the cat was at least as big as the dog.

"It didn't make any noise but just ran off again."

http://www.northern-times.co.uk/News/Puma-spotted-close-to-house-in-Strathy-6876700.htm

Cougar sighted in Victoria-area park

CBC News
Posted: Apr 21, 2011 8:49 PM PT

A full-grown cougar was spotted by staff Thursday at Goldstream Park near Victoria Thursday, just one hour before a kindergarten class was scheduled to visit.

The animal was caught on a video camera as it sauntered a few metres away from one of the main buildings in the park.

The sighting is not likely to be repeated and the animal likely will not be a threat, according to park operator Rick Carswell.

"It's when they're hurt or startled that maybe they would come back at you," said Carswell. "But usually they would just run away... We think this one just ran right through not knowing that we were around."

The kindergarten class was allowed to complete its visit and view some salmon fry as planned in the park, about 17 kilometres from downtown Victoria.

But the visit had an added brief lecture from park staff — on cougar safety.
Attacks rare

Cougar sightings are common, especially on Vancouver Island, but attacks, while often dramatic, are rare.

Five people have been killed by cougar attacks in the past 100 years in B.C., according to the provincial environment ministry website. Four of those deaths occurred on Vancouver Island.

During the same period, there were 29 non-fatal attacks in British Columbia, 20 of which occurred on Vancouver Island, the website said.

The majority of the attacks were on children under the age of 16.

See video at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/04/21/bc-goldstream-cougar.html

Big cat researchers take Santa Cruz sixth-graders to the mounts on research mission

By Nadia Drake - Santa Cruz Sentinel
Posted: 03/28/2011 07:39:49 PM PDT

SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS - While the skies unleashed torrents of water on Saturday morning, a group of enthusiastic sixth-graders squelched through mud, jumped into puddles and stopped to stare at poop in the hills above Santa Cruz.

They were on a field trip designed to teach them about the mountain lion, one of Santa Cruz County's most notorious and elusive inhabitants.

"I'm having fun," said Gabby White, 12. "We're learning about poo!"

Yes, among other facts, the group learned that carnivore poop contains fur and bones, but otherwise can look quite similar to doggy-doo. Often, poop and paw prints are the only signs anyone will ever see of the shy, nocturnal mountain lions.

"They live right next to us but keep themselves hidden," said UC Santa Cruz graduate student and biologist Yiwei Wang, one of the students' guides for the day.

Spotting scat along the trail became a source of shrieking amusement for the kids, who also listened closely to Wang and Yasaman Shakeri, both of whom work with UC Santa Cruz environmental scientist Chris Wilmers. Wilmers' group is tracking pumas in the Santa Cruz mountains using high-tech collars that allow scientists to learn not only about lion location, but lion activity.

"The collars let you see if the cat is doing stuff like flicking its tail or hunting prey or resting," said Craig Schroeder, public outreach manager for the Felidae Conservation Fund and organizer of Saturday's field trip.

Learning about the pumas' behavior will help scientists understand the role pumas play in the Santa Cruz Mountain ecosystem. As humans move into mountain lion habitat, encounters and sightings are becoming more frequent - and the mountains have become a habitat island, isolated by roads and water. Animal movement into and out of the mountains is limited.

"When you cut off a population, over time that contributes to extinctions," Schroeder said. "We're trying to mitigate that before it's too late."

The Felidae Conservation Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving populations of big cats worldwide, includes field trips as part of their new educational outreach program. Using funds from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, they designed a three-pronged lesson plan aimed toward teaching middle and high school students about pumas. The students learn through lectures, a predator-prey lab exercise, and a field trip led by researchers such as Wang and Shakeri.

"We'd like to get in front of every school we can," Schroeder said. "These kids can see amazing animals right here, and you can see their excitement when they're out in the field."

This group, from Branciforte Middle School, is the fourth class to follow classroom learning with field excursions.

"This is the way to tie together what they've seen in the classroom," said teacher Erin Petersen-Lindberg. "These opportunities are fantastic. The timing is perfect. We're just starting to learn about ecology now."

At the beginning of the field trip, Wang and Shakeri showed students how project biologists catch pumas using 6-foot long cages normally baited with deer legs. When the trap snaps shut, a radio transmitter on the cage emits a characteristic beeping sound that lets project scientists know an animal is inside.

"We sit about half a mile away and check to see if the transmitter is going off," Wang said. "We don't want to leave the cat in there."

Kids tested the cage trap by crawling in. Then they learned how scientists put radio-emitting collars on the cats that let them track animals and remotely download data.

Then they headed into the woods - swathed in ponchos and armed with umbrellas - while Wang and Shakeri spoke about how mountain lions move through natural habitats and stalk prey.

"A lot of times, mountain lions will just wait right off the trail for the opportunity to jump on a deer," said Wang.

That might sound alarming, but pumas rarely attack humans. Six people have been killed by mountain lions in California since 1890.

"You definitely want to treat the lions with respect because they're predators, but they're not something to be fearful of all the time," Wang said. "Hitting a deer in your car is a lot more dangerous."

Indeed, deer are the puma's preferred meal, and Wang and Shakeri led students to a grove of trees about 50 feet off the trail. There, they showed students an old deer-kill site - a months-old pile of bones in the brush beneath a tree - dragged there by a puma so it could dine undisturbed.

"Is that the head right there? I want to see the head!" said White, who appeared fascinated by the skeletal bits near her feet. She prodded the bones with a stick while asking non-stop questions of the researchers. Other kids took pictures.

Then it was time to head back, and students stopped along the way to learn how biologists set up motion-activated cameras to snap photos of pumas walking in the wild. They watched while Shakeri demonstrated how pumas mark territories by scraping leaves into piles with their back feet.

"I had fun, but my feet didn't. They're soaked," said Jessie Martines, 12, as she returned to the school bus. "But I would do this again. Just wear rain boots next time."

http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_17720989?nclick_check=1

Another big cat sighting in the Campsies

February 10, 2011 by Dave Hewitt

In May last year, The Caledonian Mercury reported on a big cat sighting in the Campsie Fells north of Glasgow.

Numerous incidents of this sort have occurred across the whole of the UK in recent years – there was, for example, “the best ever sighting of a big cat in Pembrokeshire” – just a few weeks ago.

The 2010 sighting in the Campsies was particularly interesting, given the trustworthiness of the person who reported it. He was Dr Bob Sharp, a retired departmental head at Strathclyde University and former leader of the Lomond mountain rescue team – not a man prone to fabrication or fantasy, and one well trained in on-hill observation.

Sharp is convinced he met a brown puma-type mountain lion on the northern slopes of Meikle Bin on 22 April, 2010 – and his claim has now received corroboration, as there has been a sighting of a similar-looking creature less than three miles away.

Valerie Currie, 45, is a social care worker. On the afternoon of Saturday, 19 January, she and her husband David – a joiner aged 49 – drove to the Campsies from their home in Balfron to take their dogs for a walk.

They parked in a layby a mile or so south of the summit of the B822 Crow Road, from where they walked up Holehead, the hill on the west side of the road that now has a weather-radar “golfball” on its summit.

Visibility was good and “it was just starting to go a bit dusky” as the Curries returned to their car – parked on the east side of the road – at 4:45pm. They got the dogs back in the car, then followed suit, and it was at this point that Valerie reports her husband having said something like: “Oh my God, what’s that?”

David at first thought it was “the double of a lioness”, whereas to Valerie it looked more like a puma or mountain lion – a likeness which she was later able to confirm from looking at pictures online. A fawn/beige colour, the creature was about 100 yards from their car, “just walking at the edge of the wood”.

The Curries could only see the upper part of its body – not its feet, just its head, back and tail, which was about two feet long, sticking out behind it and upturned at the end. Valerie is absolutely sure it wasn’t a fox, dog, domestic cat or deer.

“We were mesmerised,” she said. They weren’t scared – and the dogs didn’t show any signs of being bothered – as the creature walked away for about ten seconds before turning round to look at them. It then disappeared into the trees.

They drove back up the next day to look for tracks, “but the ground was too mossy”. A couple more return visits have been made, again with no further sightings or discoveries. “I wondered if it might have been something released after the Dangerous Animals Act came in,” Valerie said, “but that was back in 1976. It’s ideal country for it – it’s not an overpopulated area, you can get right through to Kilsyth without seeing anyone.”

The Curries have lived in Balfron for 20 years, and before that in Strathblane, so are familiar with this part of the country. But in all that time they had never previously seen anything like this, nor have any of their friends.

In trying to identify what it was they saw, Valerie Currie came across The Caledonian Mercury’s report of Bob Sharp’s sighting, and got in touch with him to compare notes. Although the recent sighting was a couple of hundred metres lower in altitude than Dr Sharp’s encounter, the linear distance involved is only between two and three miles across a mixture of commercial forestry plantation and open country.

It appears quite possible that the same creature was spotted both times, something which Dr Sharp believes could well be the case. “Her description matched my own to the letter,” he said, when asked about the recent incident.

Valerie Currie, like Bob Sharp before her, would be interested to hear of other sightings in the area or beyond. “I feel quite privileged to have seen it,” she said.

http://outdoors.caledonianmercury.com/2011/02/10/another-big-cat-sighting-in-the-campsies/001548

Ex-policeman in 'big cat' sighting

Sightings of a 'big cat' described
as similar to a puma are being
treated as authentic, a council said

pa.press.net, Updated: 28/01/2011 22:20

Council chiefs have hailed a big cat sighting as the best ever proof the so-called mythical beasts really exist.

A former policeman based in west Wales spotted a "puma or panther-like animal" as recently as Wednesday.

Michael Disney now works for Pembrokeshire County Council's Public Protection Division and his sighting is being treated as authentic. While he gathered no photographic or other evidence, his sighting appears to give greater credence to the so-called big cat myth.

Stories of feline beasts living in remote corners of the UK are so common there is barely a region of the country without one - from the Beast of Bodmin in Cornwall to sightings in Kent and all over the north of England, such stories are common rural legends.

The latest sighting comes days after the government environment watchdog for England dismissed the existence of big cats. Experts with Natural England said in a report that they were confident no breeding populations of big cats exist in Britain.

Pembrokeshire Council begs to differ and is so convinced by Mr Disney that it is urging the public to report any sightings. It published extracts of the statement made by their man, which has been passed to the police.

Mr Disney's encounter happened in broad daylight in countryside six miles north of Haverfordwest, near Treffgarne village. He was driving his council car on a single track road at 15mph when a large black "puma or panther" crossed five metres in front of him.

He said: "I immediately stopped my vehicle and stared at this animal. It had a large cat-like head, muscular build and was approximately three feet tall.

"It was bigger and more muscular than a German shepherd dog. The coat was smooth and looked like it had brown spots on it. I had a clear, unobstructed view of the animal and the visibility was excellent."

He added: "I am 100% certain that this was a puma or panther-like animal and was definitely not a dog, cat or any other domestic animal. It was not something I had seen before other than in a zoo."

http://news.uk.msn.com//uk/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=155993302

'Best-ever' big cat sighting reported in Wales

Rachael Misstear, WalesOnline
Jan 28 2011

A WELSH authority is investigating what it described as the ‘best ever’ sighting of an elusive big cat, after it was reported by one of its own officers.

The large puma-like animal crossed a road just feet in front of a vehicle driven by a county council officer.

Michael Disney, who works for the authority’s Public Protection Division, encountered the animal on Wednesday afternoon in countryside near the village of Treffgarne six miles north of Haverfordwest.

In a statement which has been passed to police, he said he was travelling at around 10 to 15 mph down a single-track lane when a large, black “puma or panther” crossed just five metres in front of his car.

Michael, a former police officer, said: “I immediately stopped my vehicle and stared at this animal. It had a large cat-like head, muscular build and was approximately three feet tall.

“It was bigger and more muscular than a German Shepherd dog. The coat was smooth and looked like it had brown spots on it.

“I had a clear, unobstructed view of the animal and the visibility was excellent

“The animal was in my view for fully five to six seconds, the time it took to cover the width of the road and then disappear into the undergrowth at the side.”

“I am 100% certain that this was a puma or panther-like animal and was definitely not a dog, cat or any other domestic animal. It was not something I had seen before other than in a zoo.”

Michael’s initial concern was for the safety of the public so he drove to a nearby farm and spoke to the owner who revealed she had seen a large puma-like animal near her farm a few weeks earlier.

Chief Inspector Steve Matchett of Dyfed Powys Police said: “We are aware of a possible big cat sighting in the Treffgarne area of north Pembrokeshire, which occurred on Wednesday ( January 26).

“We’re working with all relevant agencies including Pembrokeshire County Council and the Welsh Assembly Government’s Big Cat Sighting Unit has also been informed.

“While the public should not be alarmed by this latest possible sighting, we would urge anyone who does see what they think might be a big cat not to approach the animal, and to stay a safe distance away from it.”

Wednesday’s encounter is the latest in a line of big cat sightings in Pembrokeshire.

The last publicised incident was in November when the carcass of a sheep was reported to bear the hallmarks of a big cat kill.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s Head of Public Protection, Mark Elliott, said the latest sighting was the most definitive yet in the County.“We believe this is the closest anyone has been to a big cat in the wild and is further proof that there is a least one large animal roaming free in Pembrokeshire” he added.

If anyone has actual evidence of the presence of a big cat they should inform the Council’s Contact Centre on 01437 764551.

Experts believe that it is highly unlikely that such animals pose a threat to the public. However if anyone feels they are in immediate danger from a big cat then they should call 999 and ask for police assistance.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/01/28/puma-like-big-cat-reported-by-council-officer-91466-28072811
(Submitted by Jacqueline Wilson)

Mountain lion sighting confirmed in Chesterfield

This photo of a mountain lion was taken Jan. 12 by a
Chesterfield resident. Photo courtesy of Missouri
Department of Conservation.

Posted: Thursday, January 20, 2011 4:21 pm

CHESTERFIELD • The Missouri Department of Conservation has examined photos of a mountain lion taken Jan. 12 in a wooded area and says they are valid.

"While we did not find further evidence, such as tracks, we can confirm that the photos are of a mountain lion at the reported location," Jeff Beringer, a resource scientist with the department, said in a statement released this afternoon. "We don't know anything else about this cat other than it was here."

The photos were taken by Garrett Jensen of Chesterfield with a trail camera. The Department of Conservation did not release the exact location, saying it does not want people flocking to the site. It would say only that the site was near the Missouri River.

This is the 13th confirmed report of a mountain lion in Missouri since 1994, and the first in the St. Louis area in that time. But the Department of Conservation pointed out that it has no documented cases of mountain lions attacking livestock, pets or people. Mountain lions are nocturnal and tend to avoid humans.

The Department of Conservation gets hundreds of calls and e-mails from people claiming to have seen mountain lions. Most turn out to be bobcats, house cats or dogs.

Beringer said mountain lions seen in Missouri are probably young males roaming from surrounding states, searching for new territory, usually along a river.

Mountain lions are also called cougars, panthers and pumas.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_e08c1c9e-24e5-11e0-a8e6-0017a4a78c22.html

5ft puma on prowl at leisure complex

By RICHARD WHITE

 

Published: 09 Oct 2010
 
A PUMA is on the prowl... in Royal Tunbridge Wells, locals warned last night.
The five-foot beast was seen roaming near bins by two women at a leisure park in the Kent town.

 

Staff at the complex, near woods, also reported hearing terrifying growls.

 

Ashish Patel, manager of Frankie and Benny's restaurant, said: "I was locking up when I heard an almighty noise from behind the restaurant.

 

"I opened the door and realised it was coming from the woods.

 

"It sounded like two ferocious animals snarling at each other.

 

"The woodland is very dark and thick so it was pretty scary. It made me think of a lion.

 

"I know there have been sightings of big cats in this area before."

 

One Odeon cinema worker added: "We heard a growling then scraping like claws on a metal blind. We all left at the same time that night - there was no way any of us was going out alone."

 

Expert Neil Arnold said he had received several big cat reports from the area - including from the two women.

 

He said: "It was 200 yards in front of them.

 

"The women said it was enormous, about 4ft to 5ft with a very long tail.

 

"The animal was a puma, 100 per cent. The tail is what many people talk about - it is 3ft long and curls down and back like an 'S' shape.

 

"They were spooked, they didn't fancy going any further."

 

He said the beast would be living off rabbits and pheasants.

 

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3172528/5ft-puma-on-prowl-at-leisure-complex.html

Pair's puma sighting – is the beast back?

By mary harris mary.harris@courier.co.uk

THE big cat is back – and it could be roaming in a wood near you.

There have been new sightings in Tunbridge Wells of what is believed to be a puma, also known as a mountain lion or a cougar.

This time the larger, gingery-coloured animal appeared from the undergrowth in Knights Park in Longfield Road.

And staff at nearby Frankie and Benny's restaurant reported hearing a ferocious night-time fight between two animals last weekend.

The county's expert Neil Arnold was contacted by two women who were "unnerved" when 200 yards in front of them in woodland at Knights Park the big cat stopped, stared for about 20 seconds before slinking back amongst the trees

Mr Arnold said the pair were so worried during the incident 10 days ago, they backtracked.

The author of Mystery Animals of the British Isles: Kent, who has spent the past 20 years researching the wild cats, said he had received eight reports this year of evidence or sightings across Tunbridge Wells and surrounding villages including Rusthall and Penshurst.

Mr Arnold said: "People don't ring in about a domestic cat. She was adamant what she saw.

"She said it was enormous, about 4ft long, much larger than a domestic cat or fox and having a very long tail, which was curving.

"The animal was a puma, 100 per cent. They can reach 5ft in length and the tail is what many people talk about, it is 3ft long and curls down and back like an 's' shape.

"They were spooked, they didn't fancy going any further."

He said the cat would be living off rabbits, pigeons and pheasants but it could kill a sheep.

The kills are distinctive because of the abandoned carcasses which have the head left, fleece peeled back and the soft flesh 'rasped' away by the sharp tongue.

At Knights Park, restaurant Frankie and Benny's supervisor Ashish Patel told the Courier: "Behind the restaurant there is woods and last weekend it sounded exactly like animals fighting and screaming or an animal being killed.

"It was very strange, we were surprised."

But Mr Arnold said people should not be unduly nervous about walking in Knights Park woods.

"They're no threat to humans but they are wild animals. They say in the USA, if you are close enough, maintain eye contact with the cat, as it's about respect.

"Don't approach it. The concern is if it is cornered, provoked or injured. That's my concern, if one is injured by an idiot who decides to shoot one," he said.

It is not the first time the puma, which Mr Arnold said had no home unless the female was breeding and had a territory of up to 70sq miles, has been seen in these parts.

He said large cats have been recorded in the British Isles for several centuries, but most of the animals seen in local woodlands were offspring of many released from private collections of puma, black leopard and various other cats in the 1960s and 1970s.

http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/news/Pair-s-puma-sighting-8211-beast/article-2732939-detail/article.html

New fears over Sussex big cat killings

3:40pm Wednesday 16th June 2010

By Richard Gurner

Residents of a sleepy Sussex village have a startling new addition to their community.

For the past year villagers in Telscombe have had to contend with a big black cat living in their countryside and preying on farm livestock.

Sightings of the fabled beast are becoming more and more common - although not everyone has been lucky enough to spot it.

Farmer Ross Armour, 41, said he had lost about 50 to 60 lambs this year without a trace.

He said: “We see black cats all the time. They come along the road. We don't know if there is one or two.

“They're quite big - dog-sized - and they're nicking all our sheep we think."

Watchers at Sussex Big Cat Watch believe there are at least six pumas and six smaller big cats roaming the Sussex countryside.

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/8222493.New_fears_over_Sussex_big_cat_killings/