Month: October 2021

Since the extinction of bears in the medieval ages and wolves in the 1800s, no terrestrial predator poses any great danger to humans in Britain. So, there aren’t any man-eating beasts roaming the wilderness … or are there?

The allure of cats, big ones at that, has captivated mankind since they first met as prehistoric ancestors. 300,000 years ago, early humans Homo Heidelbergensis lived in tandem with sabre-toothed cats, competing for prey as apex predators.

The UK is not a nation renowned for its exotic wild animals. Deer, boar and otters are about as large, dangerous and beautiful, respectively, as it gets on the British Isles. The idea that there are big cats stalking the rural landscape dates back millennia and since the press began, stories of sightings have kept local newspaper columns ticking over nicely. Notable examples of ‘phantom cats’ to make news bulletins include the Beast of Bodmin/Exmoor/Dartmoor, Essex lion, Pershore panther and the wildcat of Warwickshire.

One species of wild cat is native to the UK. The Scottish Highlands are home to a small population of the European wildcat, though these are no bigger than domestic ones. What thousands of people claim to have spotted are big wild cats – leopards, pumas or lynx. The three largest big cats (tiger, lion and jaguar) are not included as possible species behind the phantom theory, they’re too distinct to go unnoticed and no potential evidence has ever surfaced. From all the (albeit lacklustre) video footage and witness accounts, theorists unanimously agree that if phantom cats do exist, they’re the smaller ‘big cats’. Still, leopards and pumas, similar in size, can reach 2 metres in length and weigh up to 90kg, while much smaller lynx are more than capable of killing deer and sheep.

The current consensus from scientists and the government is that there are not any ‘alien’ big cats running wild in the UK. At least not any more. During the first half of the 20^th century, keeping wild animals as pets was not uncommon. A lack of regulations and awareness for proper animal welfare meant exotic species could share receipt space with handbags and jewellery. Perhaps the most well documented high street animal sale is Christian, an African lion purchased from a Harrods window as a cub in 1969. Before outgrowing his owners, he’d spend a year living in a Chelsea flat, walking along the Thames and going to restaurants.

In 1976, the government introduced the Dangerous Wild Animals Act (DWA), prohibiting private owners keeping exotic species without an appropriate license. Obtaining one required owners to install costly adequate enclosures. Those not inclined to do so made one of three choices: rehome their animals to zoos, put them down or “mistakenly” release them. Thus from 1976 onwards, sightings of big cats surged followed by sensational press reports, accelerating public interest and fear. As of 2020, there are 200 wild cats (smaller species, of the genetic subfamily‘Felinae’) and 50 big cats (‘Pantherinae’) privately owned in Britain.

Several amateur organisations have emerged with the aim of documenting accounts of sightings. The British Big Cat Society “was set up to scientifically identify, quantify, catalogue and protect the Big Cats that freely roam the British countryside.”, as stated on its website. Mike Potts runs BeastWatch UK, “we will monitor & investigate reports of ‘out of place’ unrecorded non-native species which appear to be living wild in the UK.”

There’s a stark contrast in knowledge of phantom cat theories between urban and rural residents. It’s my guess that most people living in urban areas are completely unaware of the theory at all, let alone believing it. In certain rural areas though, it’s common knowledge these cats exist, or have at least existed in recent years.

A key character in the midst of Britain’s big cat myths is Mary Chipperfield. A notorious animal trainer, circus owner and co-owner of Plymouth Zoo, Ms Chipperfield was allegedly responsible for releasing three pumas on Dartmoor after Plymouth Zoo closed in 1978.

As the claim goes, one day in 1978, a woman loaded a van with five pumas at what was then Plymouth Zoo at the city’s Central Park. She was due to drive them around 10 miles to Dartmoor Wildlife Park, but by the time the van arrived, only two pumas were on board, with three spare animal tags in the back.

This unsubstantiated claim was made by Danny Bamping, founder of the British Big Cat Society. Since Ms. Chipperfield’s death in 2014, the allegations have been refuted by her husband Roger Crawley, who breeds white tigers in southern Spain. The pair were convicted of animal cruelty after a high-profile trial in 1999.

While it wasn’t illegal to release exotic animals until 1981, questions have still been raised over the ethical nature of releasing fauna into country where the species is not native. As it goes, big cats, especially pumas and leopards, are incredibly versatile in adapting to all kinds of habitats. Leopards have the largest range of the big cats. Across nine subspecies, they can be found from South Africa to the Russian Far East. While pumas inhabit the length of the Americas, from Patagonia to Canada.

Dartmoor zoo’s previous owner, Ellis Daw, was a local legend in the Plymouth area. He had long, impressive careers in various sectors, from the military to a timber contractor to stock car racing driver before utilising his farming background to found Dartmoor Wildife Park in 1968. By no means a ‘by-the-book’ man, Daw’s disregard for protocol landed him in hot water over the course of his tenure at the park. He faced sixteen claims against him, but was only charged with one – for breeding Siberian tigers outside of a captive breeding programme and poor husbandry. As a result, he was fined £200 and had his tigers confiscated. This lax attitude toward the animals’ welfare could potentially be the cause of the moor pumas.

Dartmoor Zoo’s current owner, Benjamin Mee, gives some clarity and a balanced assessment of the fabled three pumas in a 2019 interview. He recounts his own sighting shortly after taking ownership of the zoo in 2006. Driving down a narrow country lane at night, he spotted what, at first glance, he thought to be the head of a deer, peering over the brow of the roadside hedge. As he stopped the car to get a proper look, he said it transformed into a huge puma, broad-shouldered with a large, rounded head. “What we think we saw was a young male between 3 and 10, in its prime – the two girls that we had were much smaller. I just thought this is… Where have we? … I’ve brought two little children to this place and there’s wild pumas in the village, what’s going on?!” The following morning, he told the keepers, to which one replied “oh yeah there’s puma round ‘ere, granddad let ‘em out.”

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Mee says there’s two versions of one story behind the loose cats. The first; three pumas, irresponsibly housed in a farmhouse, suddenly escaped, unbeknown to Daw – who then set about looking for them on the moors with his rifle, to no avail. The second version of events is that of Ms. Chipperfield, as explained earlier, transferring the five pumas to Daw’s Dartmoor park.

Whether Chipperfield released three of the five on her own before reaching the park, if Daw’s negligence is the reason, or if the two owners colluded before releasing the cats, in a joint effort to re-wild them, remains unknown. “That’s not such a far-fetched idea and I’ve heard that story perhaps more than the other ones”, Mee says. The jury’s still out on each tale, but we can conclusively say there were at least three loose pumas around Dartmoor.

“All the farmers around will tell you, quietly off the record, ‘when Ellis had the place there were always cats out.’”

Mee had his own feline mishap in 2016. Flavieu, a Carpathian lynx escaped for a number of weeks before being returned safely. In the midst of the frantic find for Flavieu, Mee recalls how the local livestock behaved differently, detecting the presence of a potential predator. “My neighbour said all her horses gathered in one place in the middle of a field, ‘just like the old days’, she said, ‘when the puma was around.’” 

Another story Mee calls a “very strong, more or less confirmed sighting” came from the vet who worked at the zoo. A seemingly grouchy “old-school guy who didn’t suffer fools or explain things, one day, after several years, confided he’d seen a puma on the A38, jumping from some roadkill at 4.00am.” The cat apparently cleared the length of both lanes in one bound. “He clearly, as a vet, saw it in the air with its tail. And he said, ‘I haven’t told anybody because they’d assume I was part of the loony brigade.’ And I said, ‘I saw one David, in the village!’, and he looked at me like I was part of the loony brigade. It was really good – he had his failings in other ways but he was a credible observer of animals.”

Between 2010-15, 455 big cat sightings were logged by police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, according to The Sun, and thousands more are reported directly to amateur organisations annually. A good chunk of sightings consists of people claiming to see black cats. This immediately excludes pumas, as they only come in red, tawny-brown and tan coloured coats. What many are describing in their claims are ‘black panthers’.

A black panther is in fact just a melanistic variation of either a leopard or a jaguar with a rare recessive gene mutation, causing their coats to appear black. Furthermore, ‘black panthers’ aren’t completely black. Their coats are of a very dark brown hue, with an almost-opaque effect on the normal, rosette-patterned coats, which are clearly visible up close under bright light. Studies estimate only 11% (at most) of all leopard/jaguar populations constitute as black panthers. Among those claiming to have seen one, is broadcaster Clare Balding.

So, how come more than half of claimed sightings in the UK relate to an animal which is extremely rare even in its natural habitat? I wish I could provide a definite answer – I can’t. What is clear though, is that a substantial amount of reported sightings are simply false. “There’s this predisposition of people to think they’ve seen one”, Mee tells his interviewer. Much like when we see a piece of black thread and assume it’s a spider for a split second, our brains have evolved to fill in the blanks and assume the worst instinctively.

The inception of the DWA no doubt triggered a mini exodus of big cats into British countryside. “This is why the DWA caused releases, because of the expense of housing them properly. I’m sure lots of them did go to zoos but there would’ve been a limit.” On “current sightings based on [releases due to] DWA”, Mee says he’d be “amazed, personally” if there were any cats still around either released since 1976 or offspring descending from such specimens. 

On a random note, I once met Mr. Mee at his zoo in 2011 as he strolled around the park talking to visitors. If only I’d taken the opportunity to probe him further on the pumas, I may have been in with a decent scoop for this story.

Of the many grainy videos scattered on the internet, even the most convincing footage shows an above-average-sized tabby. Take a look at just some of the stories compiled below to make up your own mind.

express.co.uk/news/uk/855678/big-cat-sighting-UK-puma-pictured-London-garden

devonlive.com/news/devon-news/everyone-reporting-big-cats-sightings

cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/big-cat-size-alsatian-captured

cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/dog-attacked-panther-before-owner

plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/big-cats-theyre-real

plymouthherald.co.uk/news/local-news/multiple-beast-bodmin-big-cat

plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/plymouth-dad-claims-saw-big-cat

somersetlive.co.uk/news/local-news/big-cat-pictured-field-decapitated

thesun.co.uk/news/11637610/big-cat-decapitated-lamb-mauled-devon

thesun.co.uk/news/2162853/big-cat-uk-spotted-britain

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/drone-footage-show-large-cat

burytimes.co.uk/news/17186351.second-big-cat-sighting-sends-horses-frenzy

northdevongazette.co.uk/news/ilfracombe-big-cat

wired.co.uk/article/uk-big-cat-hunters-investigations

Featured image courtesy of Chirs Luxford, via Flickr.

*This article was first published in May 2021*

“Oh, alone, I’m alone, I’m alone, I’m alone … / And I never, never … oh … had no one ever”, swoons Morrissey, narrating his feelings as a 20-year-old Mancunian on edge when walking the streets of his own hometown. Poetic proof that mid-eighties’ youth angst existed in much the same entity as today’s.

For lack of a suitable term, ‘social prosperity’ refers to a person’s calibre for creating and maintaining solid relationships. The coming-of-age period is perhaps the most critical time in anyone’s life, when big decisions determine destinies. Social media, cultural pressures and differences in upbringing are some of the factors at play in dictating a person’s social prosperity. These pressures can take their toll, affecting a person’s ability to integrate.

In dissecting such a complex dilemma, it is essential to define loneliness. By contrast to the arbitrary feeling of just ‘being lonely’, something which everyone experiences in small daily doses like tides of patchy fog; loneliness, a psychological condition, is like an endless storm of dejection.

Feeling lonely is a temporary state of mind, coming and going in periodic stints. Not to undermine the similarly depressive effects being on your tod can cause, but the premise of poor social prosperity strictly concerns the substantially sorrowful state of mind attributed to loneliness.

It hits very differently. “Sometimes it’s so overwhelming, I have to drive to the nearest beach, which is half an hour away from my house. It’s really ridiculous. The journey to the beach and the walk is my haven. If I don’t go and stay within my four walls, I know from past experiences I’ll spiral out of control, break things and harm myself.” Those are the words of one respondent of a questionnaire I conducted through social media, which is unpacked below over a funky graphic.

Forming over a good chunk of time, usually in tandem with a handful of mental health problems, symptoms include feelings of social exclusion, low self-esteem, anxiety and depression. In general, we subconsciously associate loneliness with certain social groups. Introverts, the elderly, those with physical and mental impairments are typically more likely to suffer, but loneliness is by no means confined in this way.

Widespread adolescent loneliness certainly predates the Covid era. In 2019, a YouGov report found that young people feel more lonely than older generations. Of the 2,000+ adults in the UK surveyed, 31 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds said they felt lonely often or all the time, compared to 17 per cent of over 55s.

With that in mind however, the issue has no doubt been exasperated by the pandemic.

In order to gauge how loneliness has recently affected some young people in more depth, I conducted a questionnaire.

Posing an initial question, ‘do you suffer from loneliness?’, to an Instagram story, over 60 people were surveyed. In the interest of transparency, the sample was reduced to 48 people; consisting of close and distant friends, loose acquaintances and followers I’d never met. Respondents were followed up with eight questions, as laid out below.

As a result, respondents demonstrated how using one brush to paint all sufferers of loneliness is redundant, for it’s multi-faceted and affects people in a number of different ways.

It’s not all doom and gloom.

On the flip side, loneliness can prove beneficial in some cases. It’s always possible to be surrounded by too many people. If, like Natalie and Michael, someone has a load of heads on hand to turn to, they may find only a handful are bona fide friends who’re genuinely prepared to offer support.

Bethany illustrates how she plays her reverse card on loneliness. “I also find that my loneliness and the anxiety that comes with interacting with others means that I tend to do things by myself that others would do with friends or family. For example, I would take myself out to the seaside and have lunch, but wouldn’t invite someone else because that loneliness to me now feels ordinary and I like being able to control my activities and time.”

Thereby, using loneliness as a means of social detox can be profoundly proactive. Although, it remains essential to maintain a healthy balance between time spent alone and socialising; prioritising tasks and ensuring to reconnect with people after isolating.

Changes in interaction

When was the last time, if ever at all, you made a tube journey without unlocking your phone or being isolated by headphones? Prior to this writing, I’d never done so. Like most, I much prefer the sound of my own music taste over the howling screeches of locomotive heavy metal echoing around the underground.

But one day, I had a natter with other passengers. Between Brixton and Paddington, I’d made fifteen-or-so new acquaintances. The patter was flowing and I had some sentimental exchanges, while those who aired my greeting (there were plenty) shrugged and shook their heads.

London is of course colloquially famed for its ratty or reserved residents. Yuppies barge around as if they’re on a literal high horse, or some commuters are so intent on ignoring everybody else, they seem utterly lifeless inside. So, this is not wholly representative of British society – the rest of the UK, the Welsh especially, are favourably pragmatic and polite people. Still, you’d think one of the world’s most culturally-diverse places would be a tad more embracive.

Why did I feel as if I’d just devised a strange social experiment? All I did was greet people and ask how their day had been. Most were taken aback when spoken to, and herein lies the fundamental problem.

Humanity’s reliance on technology for communication is now second nature. Not that the internet is solely to blame, but its inception of the information age and subsequent impact is too profound to be overlooked. Now, A-Level B grades aside, I am by no means a sociologist. So, the basis of this argument rests solely on my personal experience growing up as a ‘mature Gen Z/young Millennial’ and recognising subtle but substantial changes in communication.

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The gradual divergence in societal norms from traditional, organic dialogue to 21^st-century touch-typing has abundantly altered how we communicate. The digitally native generations naturally have less practice in talking, thanks to the ease of access to communication modern technology provides.

Perhaps the notion that ‘people are less friendly than before the smartphone days because they’re too engrossed in their online realm’ holds some truth, but it would be a sweeping statement, to say the least.

To conclude with a dose of optimism then, battling loneliness can be a display of defiance. Whether new to the game or a seasoned loner, do not sit in silence and do nothing. FaceTime someone, breathe fresh air, turn some pages, spin a record, write stuff down and get stuff done! Loneliness is sure to be spreading to more people of all ages by the day during the remaining months of desolation, like another new strain. Never before has it been so important to take advantage of these digital days by using the black mirrors for keeping up with people who matter, completing tasks and, ultimately, enhancing your profile in the real world. Make sure that the user in our rocky relationship with technology is always you.

Featured image by Engin Akyurt via Pixabay

Original article photographs by Rajiv Arjan

*This article was first published in February 2021*