Big Cat Could Be a Panther

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	Big Cat Could Be a Panther Greenock Telegraph: 28th December 2007

I WAS intrigued by the latest report of a big cat near Wemyss Bay — a phenomenon I have been interested in for several years.
However, your report on 15 December suggests the sighting by Dougie Henry resembled a puma. Pumas are a sandy-coloured native American big cat — the black colouring suggests a panther, the black variant of the leopard. This would match other reports from the area and, indeed, the dozens of reports recently from other areas of the country. Incidentally, people who spot these big cats are sometimes surprised they are relatively small compared to, for example, lions.
A fully-grown leopard or panther stands only two feet at the shoulder with a total length — including a surprisingly long tail — of around five feet. Nonetheless, they are very powerful animals, easily capable of killing a sheep. The kills are characteristic, death being caused by a bite through the vertebrae of the neck or strangulation with a throat bite, and the cat often eats vital organs such as the liver before eating the flesh. Instead of tearing roughly at the flesh like a dog, a big cat can ‘clean’ the bones of flesh with its extremely rough tongue. It will return to a carcass many times until it is consumed. Because big cats have retractable claws, the paw prints in soft ground show the pad and four toes, without claws showing, unlike dog tracks.
Anyone wishing to know more about sightings of big cats in the UK can log on to www.scottishbigcats.co.uk, where the news sections show just how many sightings there are every year.
MARK WILLIAMS

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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Big Cat Could Be a Panther

Greenock Telegraph: 28th December 2007