Gloucestershire big cat stays in the shadows

So, the results of the DNA tests on the deer carcass found in Woodchester Park in Gloucestershire came back with no evidence of big cat predation http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/research_into_possible/.

This is no great surprise to most wildlife experts and zoologists, I suspect. The only DNA found was that of the deer itself and foxes – the species you’d most expect to be feasting on a large dead animal in the middle of the English countryside.

I live in Woodchester, just half a mile or so from where the carcass was found, and what struck me at a meeting in the village on Wednesday night was the strength of emotion about the issue.

There were 80 or more people there, and there were two over-riding feelings expressed by locals: first, a sense of disappointment that scientists had been unable to prove that there was a beautiful, black panther out there, somewhere; and second, a contrary sense of relief – because, as someone put it, if the results had come back as positive, you’d have had “half the nutters in the country” descending on the area in a bid to find the elusive beast and take the first photos of it. And even shoot it.

Indeed, there was a strong sense that any leopards or pumas – the two big cats most usually alluded to whenever ‘evidence’ of an alien presence is detected – stalking our roe deer should be left to their own devices.

No need to trap them and cart them away. No need for any gung-ho researcher to come down and put a radiocollar on them. No need for any signs warning of their presence – they won’t cause us any trouble if we don’t aggravate them.

Indeed, I liked the suggestion of one local who said dog-walkers should all carry cotton wool buds and plastic bags to swab any potential ‘kills’ or collect any likely-looking scats – that the community should take on the job of looking for these animals. That’s citizen science for you, the Big Society goes wild.

And down the Royal Oak later that night, there was talk of video footage that’s up for sale to the highest bidder – perhaps, we haven’t heard the last of Woodchester’s big cat.