>True, but it carries strong connotations of 'more than one', and perhaps
>of 'breeding population'.
>Is that 'a population of big cats' in the sense of 'at least half a
>dozen panthers'?
We're probably talking Puma rather than Black Leopards.....
>If they did exist, there would certainly be issues with the population
>density, and hence the likelihood of them bumping into each other at
>'appropriate' times, due to the relative rarity of herds of wildebeest
>on british muirs.
Well Bodmin Moor is most certainly my neck of the woods. I've walked over most of it and neigbouring Dartmoor and Exmoor also. I've also worked on nature photo shoots with 'native' Cats professionaly. (trying to photograph WildCats in Scotland).
First off Hunting Cats live by stealth and as such are DAMN hard to locate, the only TV documentrys filming Scottish Wildcats I'm aware off 'cheated', the Cat's involved having been raised from birth by the film maker. True he lived with them out in the middle of nowhere for years to make the film but they came to him for food etc.
Second. The only largish scale realease of 'big' cats in the UK was over two decades ago when expensive liscenses were introduced on their ownership in the UK. The lifespan of these Cats isnt huge, and the number of sightings is on the increase. In time their GenePool will probably do them in but currently population numbers would seem to be on the way up....
Third. The RANGE of these Cats is huge. A hunting range of a few hundred miles isnt out of the question. Which means that yon beastie on Ex-moor, Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor is allmost certainly one and the same. Not to mention sightings in Mid Cornwall and the far West. All these areas are moorland or woodland dense and are linked by wide belts of sparse Human Habitation.
Fourth. Food. Rabbits, Mice, Voles, Pheasants, etc. If the Canadian Timber Wolf lives large chunks of its season on Lemmings then a Cat could certainly live on what it could hunt localy. Hell I could live well on what I could hunt localy if I werent a Vegetarian. Some of the carcess that local farmers turn up from time to time certainly show all the classic signs of Cat predation, and very few farmers are trying for compensation over it (The Goverment WONT pay so whats the point in trying) and just dispose of them localy.
As to the 'Beast of Bodmin' being a shadow cat.....well the best footage I've seen...shot by a Local Council Planning commite out videoing a building site.....certainly fits the description. And its certainly able to disapear whenever it needs too!
DomT
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