Big Cat Conversations

A panther and cubs next to a fishing tent, gamekeepers’ attitudes to big cats, a large cat carcass by the A9, admissions of lynx releases, and recent dashcam footage from West Highlands – we hear of these and other snippets as Paul MacDonald updates us on recent big cat highlights from Scotland.    We also hear some modern folklore, as The Black Beast of Bin, a poem from 1994, written following bi...

Andy and Claire explain why they are committed to tracking and learning about big cats in the Stroud area of Gloucestershire – we hear about their findings so far, from tree scratches, potential big cat calls, scat, carcasses of potential prey, and tantalising trail camera shots.  Words of the week :   AI poetry     24 January 2023

Louise describes three different large cat encounters in Scotland, including meeting a lynx in her local woodland in Angus. As it noticed her, she felt vulnerable and time became fixed at that heart-stopping moment. 11 years later a friend and neighbour of Louise had an encounter near the same location, on the edge of town – showing that such predators can be closer than we think…  Words of the we...

Lewis describes being confronted by a black panther in the Chilterns area back in 2006, on the edge of the Prime Minister’s Chequers estate. Lewis was with three friends messing about in the snow by moonlight, when the panther emerged. Lewis describes events as they fled from the hill.   Our second guest is the experienced investigator Paulo, who runs the Big Cats of the Chilterns FB page. He upda...

We hear from Bernard, an experienced stalker in the south of Ireland. He watched two adult black panthers resting in a field one evening in October 2022, as he walked his dog. There seemed to be a  third smaller cat with them.  Bernard takes us through the incident and tries to make sense of the remarkable scene.     We finish with news of the big cats poem & limerick competition. Words of the...

Rob explains his boyhood interest in the Exmoor Beast and roaming local woods for signs of big cats. Now living in British Canada, Rob encounters different wild animals on his regular mountain hikes. He describes his recent close observation of a dark coloured Canadian lynx, and his family’s confrontation with a growling stalking cougar.  Rob explains why he carries protective bear spray and knive...

Bob received big cat reports in the 1990s during his career with Warwickshire police – it became more real on duty one night when he saw a black panther himself.  John our second guest also served with Warwickshire police - he investigated a crashed car incident one night in 2003 when his police dog Russ let him know there was something about, as a panther emerged on the scene… John discusses his...

Don saw a black panther or leopard in Derbyshire in 1989 at a time when local farmers and police were reporting sightings of a big black cat in the Derbyshire press.   Don retained his interest in the topic and brought a thermal camera in 2022 to film local wildlife and hopefully a big cat. Within a few weeks he noticed one of the blobs on his thermal footage was cat shaped, and larger than any fo...

We join investigator Paul Ramsden for a visit to two big cat sighting spots in Gloucestershire. We look out along the edge of the Cotswold hills and then go deep into a hidden valley woodland.  Paul explains how mammals including big cats would use the woodland and he considers prime places for trail cameras for filming any large cats. Rick describes past panther, puma and lynx reports in the area...

Clare met a black leopard watching her from a ditch in a Somerset lane back in 1993. Her family’s dogs and horses had been spooked at the time, sensing a possible predator nearby. In a wide-ranging discussion including the wonders of the Zanzibar leopard and the search for the supposedly lost Thylacine, Clare discusses her experience working with leopards, puma and lynx at a zoo, and lessons she l...

Darren Millar the Welsh Parliament Member for Clwyd West believes the Welsh Government should be researching big cats – we hear from Darren at the Denbigh and Flint Show in August 2022. We then hear from Carla who witnessed a black cat as big as her labrador dog in mid Wales in early August – when she returned to the spot the next day she was hissed at and fled the scene.  Finally we hear from Mic...

Charlie watched a lynx sunning itself at the edge of his village in Kent, then two years later he had a close encounter with a puma on the other side of the village.  Charlie compares the wild Kent puma with one he witnessed in Alberta, Canada, and one he studied at a big cat sanctuary.  Charlie also discusses how he is naturally fearful of panthers due to the black colour, but he explains why the...

Kayleigh our first guest was driving when she and her dog both reacted to a large black panther in front of the car near forestry land in south west Wales in March 2022. Kayleigh feels that large black cats are now quietly accepted as part of the South Wales environment in some remote areas.   Our second guest Adam was walking in the Rhonda area in south Wales with a friend in winter 2022 – they n...

Chris is a metal detectorist in North Wiltshire – he has had 3 big cat encounters including a puma descending a tree and warning him. We hear from an experienced detectorists as he explains highlights of his recent finds, including close views of three different big cats, and deer carcasses which have been examined for tooth pits… Word of the week :    Cat-tecting 4 July 2022

Our first guest Martin describes seeing a black panther move towards his son who was cycling in front of him and unaware of the animal. In terms of public awareness, Martin is concerned at the fear that any big cat information signs could create. Our second guest John had a lynx come close to him in a Surrey woodland – he explains how he remained calm and avoided a possible confrontation. Earlier...

Carole from Aberdeenshire was feeding farm feral cats in the 1990s when a sleek black panther turned up. In the following weeks she had four sightings of two different large black cats in the area, and took a photo which resulted in a distant blob. She has received many reports of similar cats in the region and has investigated carcasses of their suspected prey. She has also seen “Kellas cats” and...

Mark our first guest watched a large black cat on his train journey in Cheshire, while Billy, our second guest, got a good view of a black panther from the front of his freight train in Yorkshire – he found other drivers had also seen such animals. Our guests describe both the close-up and the changing views they got from a moving train.   By coincidence, both guests are interested in the topic of...

Charlie Bones is a long-term investigator covering East and West Sussex – he guides us through big cat reports from this area of South East England, starting with his own encounter in 2000.  Charlie explains how he thinks the cats use the Sussex landscape through the seasons, based on the trend of reports he receives and his knowledge of the area’s terrain. He also discusses the quirks of the larg...

Jonathan is ex-special forces, retired from the police, and an expedition leader who has encountered large predators across different continents. In the first half of the episode he describes his experiences overseas in the wild and explains how to stay confident amongst large carnivores.   In the second half he re-lives his confrontation with a black panther outside his house in south Derbyshire...

Craig encountered a black panther on Exmoor just before the main 1980s reports had begun in the area. He saw it when lamping foxes and later disturbed it in a sheep field eating a predated ewe. 15 years later he and his wife saw a similar big cat in the same area.   Craig briefs us on farmers’ reactions to a big cat on Exmoor in the 1980s, and he reflects on the current big cat situation, from wha...

Amanda watched a black panther rush into position, then pursue a deer in Somerset in December 2021. She describes filming the final moments of the chase, and explains how she and her partner checked for large cat tooth pits on the eaten-out deer carcass found a few days later.   We also speak to Will who watched a big cat close up, stalking deer in Gloucestershire in 2002 – Rick describes other re...

Leopard specialist Sanjay Gubbi describes his work tracking, monitoring and camera-trapping leopards in India, and helping people live alongside these stealthy predators.  Sanjay gives us highlights from his new book, Leopard Diaries and re-lives the moment he was attacked by a fleeing leopard which got trapped at school buildings.   Word of the week :   dvipin 7 March 2022

Our first guest Rich explains his thermal camera view of a big cat during his military training on Dartmoor. Our second guests Gareth and Ray discuss a black panther sighting during their family break in France. Ray has unrivalled experience of French and British big cats – he also describes his view of a black panther from his motorhome in County Durham.     Word of the week :    Fusca 18 Februar...

Jane and Ade are based at a chicken farm in Nottinghamshire – a black panther arrived on the scene in December 2021, witnessed several times so far, patrolling local fields and lanes.  We hear from Jane and Ade about their encounters, the reactions of their huskies, and how Ade’s thermal camera helps survey the local fields at dawn and dusk. He explains how he has twice filmed what he believes to...

In part one David McEwan briefs us on key sightings from south Scotland in 2021, in part two Frank Tunbridge offers highlights from the 2021 big cat reports he received.  Both guests also reflect on Jim Corbett, the tracker, hunter and naturalist who wrote about man-eating tigers and leopards in north India in the middle of the 20th century, while Frank also discusses Kenneth Anderson’s experience...