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Does Big Cat Really Exist make your mind up on walk

Hartlepool Mail: 1st December 2006

Hartlepool Mail
   
Wildlife fanatics will have the chance to see whether the legendary Hartlepool “big cat” really does exist.
Sightings of pumas and panthers in and around Hartlepool and the North-East have been reported for decades.
But the issue has still not been resolved as to whether the elusive creatures really roam around the countryside fringes of the town.
Jonathan Pounder, of Tees Valley Wildlife Trust, and Hartlepool Borough Councils countryside wardens will be hosting the Path of the Panther walk this weekend.
And they will help people to make up their own mind about the wildlife mystery.
Jonathan said: “With all of the sightings and field evidence so far, it makes you wonder if there really is these wonderful creatures living out there with us.
“A testimony to their adaptability is the fact that we rarely see the and they leave very little evidence behind.
“This walk wil go through areas where sightings and evidence has been found in the past, as well as going through some of the wonderful countryside that makes up the fringe of Hartlepool.
“At the end of the day we will leave it up to each individual to make up their own minds to the existence of the Hartlepool Black Panther.”
The Mail has carried dozens of stories over the years of people claiming to have seen the big cats.
But their stories are almost always trashed by the experts who say the animals are extremely shy and would never get close to a man.
On one occasion, Durham Police’s wildlife liaison Inspector Eddie Bell, who believes the animals do live alongside us, said: “One of the dangers is when the people say ‘it looked a bit like a picture of a puma.’ It can’t be a puma if its only close to looking like a puma.” Eddie also said that since he started investigating sightings in 1986, people have made provable mistakes.
He said: “One man mistook his own Rottweiler for a puma and another man mistook his neighbour’s cat.”
The five mile circular walk will be held on Sunday from 10.30am - 1.30pm, taking in Pawton Gill. Walkers should meet at Hurworth Burn Reservoir car park, on the road to Trindon and bring a packed lunch, waterprofs, binoculars and a big cat field guide. To book a place contact the countryside wardens on (01429) 853325.

There have been numerous sightings of “big cats” in and around Hartlepool over the years. The Mail has printed articles on many of them, including:
In March 2006 two Northumbria University staff Judith Donaldson and colleague Hannah Turner believed they saw a puma at the rear of the Newcastle campus. The woman said the creature they saw had a long, brown, thin tail with a furry tip like a lion’s, was a light sandy colour, and had loose flesh around the top of its front legs.
Judith consulted the internet and said the closest image she came across was that of a puma.
Inspector Eddie Bell rubbished the puma claim and said it could have been an Abyssinian cat, which have been bred to resemble a “little puma”; a feral cat; a bull mastiff dog, which would have baggy loose skin, or even a Rhodesian Ridgeback, which would have a long, thin tapered tail.
In the summer of 2005, Hartlepool brothers Reece and Aaron Luckett, of Masefield Road, spotted a “gorilla shaped” animal in the Burn Valley and Eddie believed it was an Indian Muntjack deer.
In October 2004, Jack Smurthwaite, 78, and his neighbour’s children Liam Claughan, 11, and sister Emily, eight, all from Elwick, spotted a big cat and its cub while walking in the village’s woodland.
Eddie believed these animals to be large feral cats, which can grow to the size of Labradors.
The incidents are the latest in a 20-year series of sightings of mysterious creatures in Hartlepool, Trimdon, Wynyard, Hart and Castle Eden.

Do you have any information on the above reports. Were you the person involved, or are you aware of any more sightings in this area. We would appreciate any information that you could give us.

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