HOw and why are they here?

WHY ARE BIG CATS HERE?

That answers a good one, but not so simple. Buckle up! There are 3 main events in how.

So In the 60's and 70's it became the fashion for the rich to own exotic animals, you name it you could buy it! Harrods set up their own department selling rare animals in London. You could buy any number of cute little leopard kittens, puma kittens, lion cubs, elephants, bears, alligators, camels, cheetahs, monkeys all sorts of animals without a care in the world, all as long as you had the cash!

A lion cub would set you back £300 in today's money, with no checks, no license and no register of ownership, but other back street breeders would sell pumas for much less.

It was more common that you'd believe to see someone taking a leopard or cheetah for a walk on a leash in London. Was it a pet? Or was it a fashion accessory?

Things changed in 1976 when the government brought in the dangerous wild animals act. Meaning that you now had to by law apply for a licence, create suitable enclosures for the animals, be on a registry, ensure the animals are kept in safe and secure conditions.

The license alone was expensive Plus that animal who previously slept on the sofa now needs a cage, vet checks, spot checks by councils and health and safety warnings.

Most either couldn't afford it, or didn't want the council being allowed to come snooping unannounced and left owners with very few choices if you couldn't afford to keep them.

1. Euthanasia.

Have the cats put down but again at more cost to the owner. Also difficult to face as well if those pets become part of your family.

2. Get a zoo to take them.

The best options for the cats in terms of care, but sadly the zoos filled up pretty damn quick with everyone trying to get rid of their animals.

3. Release them.

Open the doors and shoo them out or drive into the countryside, let them loose and drive off. No paperwork, no cost and no difficulty.

As you can guess, it would seem that lots of people picked option 3! And thanks to a slight oversight from the government, it wasn't actually illegal to release non naïve UK species into the wild until 1981. So doing this in the late 70s wasn't even illegal.

I have heard of Several tales now of Big cats being released in Bucks in the 70s, and i have to guess there were at least a dozen more cases.

Interestingly the areas reported as sites of released cats are still hotspots for cat activity in the area. Most prominently High Wycombe, Ashridge and Wendover. 

Big cats like leopards, pumas and lynx are highly adaptive animals and would have no problems with the UK's environment. Leopards are found all over the planet in various environments and temperatures. The UK's a nice cool afternoon walk for them and full of easy unsuspecting prey!

Or they could just have escaped their owners? I mean how would you convince a leopard to get back into a tiny cramped flat if it tastes freedom? You couldn't exactly call the police to help find your dogeyly obtained Big cat that's just escaped you?

But that was 50 years ago? Do they live that long?

No they don't, they normally live 10-12 years in the wild, but our wildlife filled countryside would make a nice easy life for them so in theory they could live longer. This also means they must be breeding successfully, otherwise we wouldn't still be seeing them now. Also people have witnessed Big Cats with cubs! And given that most witnesses claim to see sleek and muscular looking cats it shows that there may be a stable population else if inbreeding was occurring we would be seeing more sickly looking unhealthy Cats.

Now that's event one! Well-done if you've made it this far! And now onto the older theorised event of cat releases, and here we have to go back even further to WW2 of all times!

Now cats where here as pets but more used are guarding animals. A chained up puma at the butchers or a leopard guarding the scrap metal yards. It does sound odd i know, but it did happen. Old timey folks didn't know anything about animal welfare yet, they just saw how they could be useful.

So when WW2 kicked off, rationing ended up coming in, and not much was more rare than meat! Suddenly how could you afford to keep a leopard full and happy? Again it was the kinder choice to release them instead.

Sightings of Big cats pre 1970 would help this theory.

Also after WW2 lots of soldiers and airmen had taken exotic animals as company of battalion mascots. One they were disbanded where did they go?

So in short, they are here because we brought them here! And sadly you can still buy them in other parts of the world......... Or here still..but that's a story for another time.... But trust me when I say it still goes on in the UK today!