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Exotic Wildlife in every Corner of 'Warming' UK
By Amanda Brown
Big Cats in Britain
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Exotic Wildlife in every Corner of 'Warming' UK
By Amanda Brown
Birmingham Evening Post: 18th September 2006
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To those who scoff at tales of weird and wonderful wildlife stalking the British countryside, beware - there may actually be something lurking in the undergrowth.
The latest research suggests there have been more than 10,000 sightings of wild and exotic animals since 2000 and the figure is set to grow.
It seems there are more wild animals on the loose than ever before, including 5,931 big cats, 332 wild boars and 3,389 sharks in British waters.
The British Big Cat Society has reported a dramatic increase in big cat sightings in recent years, with 2004-5 figures already up 3.5 per cent on the previous year's study.
Hundreds of wild and exotic creatures usually found in the zoo or the jungle are sighted every week up and down the country, it found.
As a result of climate change, zoo thefts and animal escapes, it is no longer uncommon to see wild animals such as panthers, leopards, snakes and racoons in the UK, experts claim.
Animal sightings since 2000 also include 51 wallabies, 43 snakes, 15 owls, 13 dangerous spiders including a tarantula and a Black Widow, 13 racoons, 10 crocodiles, seven wolves, four eagles, three pandas, two scorpions and one penguin.
Chris Mullins, founder and co-ordinator of Beastwatch UK, who compiled the data, said: "Beastwatch UK was founded in 2001 and we now have many members as well as people with just an interest who report and look out for wild animals across the country.
"Since the start of our organisation the number of reports has increased at a rapid rate, including monkeys stolen from zoos and private collections to colonies of wallabies and wild boar and more unusual reports such as a chinchilla found in a postbox, to a piranha in the Thames.
"It is clear the UK contains far more exotic wild animals than the British public could ever imagine."
Climate change is one of the many reasons animals are able to live in the wild and, conversely, one of the reasons that these animals are in danger.
Changing winds can cause damage to animal enclosures that can lead to animals escaping into the wild, while changing temperatures allow the animals to survive in new areas for longer. It seems, though, that some areas of the country are more attractive to animals than others.
The south-west is the big cat hotspot, with Devon, Cornwall and Somerset among the top ten counties for sightings.
However, the West Midlands has also enjoyed its fair share of sightings in recent times.
Two years ago Shirley Lewis, who farms 400 acres near Highley, Shropshire, captured a large black cat on camera which was seen again earlier this year by one of her neighbours.
This summer a security guard at Unipart in Shinehill Lane, Evesham, Worcester-shire, said he spotted a lynx-like animal for the third time since he had worked at the plant.
More than one hundred wild boars can be found inhabiting Kent and East Sussex, while Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire have a large population of wallabies, with nearly 30 sighted in recent years.
Wild inhabitants of Leicestershire include numerous racoons and Oban in Scotland is home to several monkeys.
Beastwatch said that not only are these wild animals taking over the country, but they are also getting up to some crazy things.
Last year, a deer was seen swimming a mile and a half in Hampshire in search of pastures new, and this month a family of squirrels caused chaos when they shorted a power cable in Exeter.
Earlier this year an African tawny eagle escaped from her new home in Reading and flew 200 miles back to her original owner's home in North Yorkshire.
Around the same time a family fled their home in terror when they opened their new TV to find a hissing python in the box.
Then there is the story of Britain's two most famous pigs, the Tamworth Two, who broke free from an abattoir, making their escape across the fields of Wiltshire.
They were finally recaptured after a massive helicopter search.
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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