For our centenary show we met with 25 contacts in a Herefordshire pub, to talk big cats, sample the local cider, and eat celebration panther cakes. 

We heard sighting reports from Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Dorset – two of which were genuinely ‘close’ encounters.  David, one of the witnesses, also described the perfect footage he’d been shown of a black leopard in Herefordshire.

Mark Graves led a discussion on tracking and ‘where next?’ for investigating big cats, and we heard different views on how best to use a sum of £5,000 for getting more evidence. 

When we discussed big cats in our culture, Fleur reminded us of Roman finds in Britain in which the Greek god of wine and dance Dionysus is accompanied by a panther… 

Look out for Youtube extracts of this episode 100 to be linked on the Big Cat Conversations website and YT Channel in late August 2023.  

Word of the week:   spoor

19 August 2023