Alien big cats

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A phantom cat (ABC) (German: alien big cat, even phantom cat) is a so-called out-of-place -sorting of big cats , that is, they are allegedly spotted in a completely atypical for them areas. Since there is no solid evidence of their existence, they are assigned to the cryptids . The global appearance of ABCs has led to many national (including British Big Cats, Irish Big Cats, Australian Big Cats) and regional (including Surrey Puma, Beast of Bodmin Moor and Beast of Exmoor ) names.

British Big Cats

The most famous ABCs come from the United Kingdom . There are several theories as to why big cats could live there:

  • Before the Dangerous Wild Animals Act was introduced in 1976, the British were allowed to keep wild cats, which had become something of a fashion by the 1970s. The Dangerous Wild Animals Act made it much more difficult to keep such big cats as pets , which is why many owners had to come up with something to get rid of the big cats. The Dangerous Wild Animals Act prohibited keeping big cats but not exposing them to the wild. This maladministration was not corrected until 1982. Many keepers would have had enough time to release their animals, which could have developed populations .
  • Domestic cats would have mated with the well-known wildcats and new hybrid breeds could have emerged.
  • Big cats are said to have escaped from Roman amphitheaters and formed populations.
  • Another theory is based on the fact that there have been stories of big cats in Britain for centuries, in fables or ancient accounts. It is assumed here that big cats lived on the British Isles in prehistory . Some cryptozoologists believe that these populations never became completely extinct and are still alive in the country today.

None of these theories and claims have stood up to scrutiny and no large cat population has been identified in the UK.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ AJ Mitchell-Jones et al. a .: The Atlas of European Mammals. Poyser, London 1999, ISBN 0-85661-130-1 , pp. 54-55.

literature

  • Di Francis: The Beast of Exmoor and Other Mystery Predators of Britain. Cape, London 1993, ISBN 0-224-03665-3 .
  • Di Francis: Cat Country. The Quest for the British Big Cat. David & Charles, Newton Abbot 1983, ISBN 0-7153-8425-2 .
  • Marcus Matthews: Big Cats Loose in Britain. CFZ Press, Bideford 2007, ISBN 978-1-905723-12-6 .
  • Karl PN Shuker: Mystery Cats of the World. Hale, London, 1989, ISBN 0-7090-3706-6 .

Web links