Expert big cat tracker claims pumas, lynx and leopards ARE prowling the UK’s countryside
A TRACKER who honed her skills with an African tribe is sure Britain’s mysterious big cat population is breeding and booming.
Rhoda Watkins, 42, has spent 20 years on their trail.
She investigates changes in the natural environment caused by predators — a skill she learned with Namibia’s San bushmen, renowned as the best trackers in the world.
And she says all evidence points to pumas, lynx and a mixture of leopards prowling the UK.
Rhoda said: “I have studied the behaviour of animals, including prey species and big cats, and see things with a tracking mindset. There is just too much evidence out there that cannot be down to anything other than big cats.
“There is a lot of nonsense around sightings of domestic cats and dogs. But when you spend all your time outdoors, you find things that don’t fit with the native wildlife.
'A LOT OF CATS WERE RELEASED'
“This could be tracks or footprints. On a couple of occasions, I have seen kills with carcasses you could not attribute to anything other than a big cat.
“I have also spoken to so many credible witnesses who have seen similar things. I have been called on a few occasions to investigate and will always take a scientific approach to it all.”
Rhoda and her partner Jay Opie will appear in a feature-length documentary, Britain’s Big Cat Mystery, which producers hope to premiere at America’s famous Sundance Film Festival in the New Year.
South African-born Rhoda, of Redruth, Cornwall, said: “The guys who made it spoke to a lot of people who knew cats were released when the Dangerous Wild Animals Act was introduced in 1976.
“There were scrapyards that used to use pumas as guard animals. What happened to all of these?
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“They did not want to go for the licences or have them put down, so they just let them go. There are lots of people who know animals were released or escaped. We are now seeing their offspring.”
Rhoda grew up around big cats, bonding with lion cubs at a rescue centre. She moved to Cornwall aged nine and went on to study zoology at university. She added: “Around that time, I started training as a tracker. Later on, I spent time with the San bushmen.
“I apply what I learned in Africa about how to find these cats over here. I am always sceptical and I take the scientific approach. But there has got to be some substance behind myths and legends.”
SIGHTED ALL OVER
RECENT sightings include a large black cat prowling close to a decapitated lamb in Devon.
Photographer John Pearson spotted a beast at St Aidan’s nature reserve near Leeds.
Several people claim to have seen another in woods and fields near Ossett, West Yorks, and near Driffield, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, where mutilated livestock were reported as well.
A Labrador-sized cat was filmed near a Cotswolds pub and a panther-like animal was seen at Cornish hamlet.
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