Here kitty kitty….

fair play though that the wildlife park want to catch it alive rather than let TVP or some farmer put a cap in it…

with enough open space (not the old type of zoo cage) it will live happily in captivity.

Big cats are actually no different in behaviour to smaller ones and will do anything possible to minimise the effort involved in finding food! [1]

if it was being kept as a pet before, it would probably be perfectly happy getting food on a plate (usually stuff that isn’t quite good enough for human consumption ) rather than tearing some farmers sheep to pieces not to mention the risk to itself from road collisions and gung-ho types with 12-bores.

Hmm – anyone got a spare dart-gun? Would also be a good excuse for legitimately having a large stock of ketamine 😉

Reward offered to catch ‘beast’
A £5,000 reward has been offered for the capture of a “big cat” which has been terrorising a farming community. The so-called “Beast of Burford” has been spotted prowling near farms and has killed several sheep in west Oxfordshire, according to farmers.

Foxbury farmer Colin Dawes told the BBC he saw the “large black cat” running away after killing three of his sheep.

Cotswold Wildlife Park has now offered to pay £5,000 to anyone who can capture the creature alive.

We’ve had sightings of everything you could imagine – pink flamingos, lions, dingos, wolves and even a giant ant-eater in Pangbourne Pc Ray Hamilton

Mr Dawes told the BBC News website said: “The sheep were killed with the typical big cat hunting technique.

“It grabs them by the throat, strangles them and then rips out their throat before taking away the front shoulder.”

He said his neighbour saw the big cat on the Westwell to Burford Road two weeks ago.

Pc Ray Hamilton, wildlife crime officer at Thames Valley Police, admitted there had been several sightings – but said this was not unusual.

“We’ve had sightings of everything you could imagine – pink flamingos, lions, dingos, wolves and even a giant ant-eater in Pangbourne.

“I keep an open mind, I have to, but I do think people mis-identify things.

“Something is killing sheep. I don’t know what that is, but there is a possibility there’s something out there, an animal that shouldn’t be there, but I don’t have any proof.”

Antelope killed

Reggie Heyworth, director of Cotswold Wildlife Park, said the big cat definitely did not escape from the park.

He believes it is more likely the cat was released into the wild by someone who was keeping it illegally.

“In January an antelope at the park was killed and partially eaten,” he said.

“The keepers, who have lots of experience with such animals, were convinced it had been killed by a large wild cat.”

Mr Heyworth wants to put the creature in his wildlife park and has offered a reward for its capture.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/4358759.stm

Published: 2005/03/17 17:51:29 GMT

© BBC MMV

[1] African safari park rangers have noticed lions and tigers waiting until a jeep full of tourists has slowed down herds of antelope, wildebeest, to save the effort of running after their prey!