Our first guest Martin describes seeing a black panther move towards his son who was cycling in front of him and unaware of the animal. In terms of public awareness, Martin is concerned at the fear that any big cat information signs could create.

Our second guest John had a lynx come close to him in a Surrey woodland – he explains how he remained calm and avoided a possible confrontation. Earlier this year, close to the first sighting location, he saw a smaller lynx which bounded off, keeping away. John compares the two cats’ different behaviours and in discussing his close encounter, he is keen to avoid any alarmism.   

Word of the week:   resilience

20 June 2022

Carole from Aberdeenshire was feeding farm feral cats in the 1990s when a sleek black panther turned up. In the following weeks she had four sightings of two different large black cats in the area, and took a photo which resulted in a distant blob. She has received many reports of similar cats in the region and has investigated carcasses of their suspected prey. She has also seen “Kellas cats” and thinks these could represent a mutant felis cat which roams parts of Britain.     

Word of the week:   ailurophilia

5 June 2022

Charlie Bones is a long-term investigator covering East and West Sussex – he guides us through big cat reports from this area of South East England, starting with his own encounter in 2000. 

Charlie explains how he thinks the cats use the Sussex landscape through the seasons, based on the trend of reports he receives and his knowledge of the area’s terrain. He also discusses the quirks of the large black cats reported, suggesting there is more than one type of extra-large black feline … 

Word of the week:   the Weald

2 May 2022

Craig encountered a black panther on Exmoor just before the main 1980s reports had begun in the area. He saw it when lamping foxes and later disturbed it in a sheep field eating a predated ewe. 15 years later he and his wife saw a similar big cat in the same area.  

Craig briefs us on farmers’ reactions to a big cat on Exmoor in the 1980s, and he reflects on the current big cat situation, from what he’s seen and heard about from his Herefordshire base today. 

Word of the week:   Shippon 

3 April 2022

Amanda watched a black panther rush into position, then pursue a deer in Somerset in December 2021. She describes filming the final moments of the chase, and explains how she and her partner checked for large cat tooth pits on the eaten-out deer carcass found a few days later.  

We also speak to Will who watched a big cat close up, stalking deer in Gloucestershire in 2002 – Rick describes other reports in the same location that Will was unaware of.  

 Words of the week:   landscape of fear

20 March 2022 

Leopard specialist Sanjay Gubbi describes his work tracking, monitoring and camera-trapping leopards in India, and helping people live alongside these stealthy predators. 

Sanjay gives us highlights from his new book, Leopard Diaries and re-lives the moment he was attacked by a fleeing leopard which got trapped at school buildings. 

 Word of the week:   dvipin

7 March 2022

Our first guest Rich explains his thermal camera view of a big cat during his military training on Dartmoor. Our second guests Gareth and Ray discuss a black panther sighting during their family break in France. Ray has unrivalled experience of French and British big cats – he also describes his view of a black panther from his motorhome in County Durham.    

Word of the week:   Fusca

18 February 2022

Jane and Ade are based at a chicken farm in Nottinghamshire – a black panther arrived on the scene in December 2021, witnessed several times so far, patrolling local fields and lanes. 

We hear from Jane and Ade about their encounters, the reactions of their huskies, and how Ade’s thermal camera helps survey the local fields at dawn and dusk. He explains how he has twice filmed what he believes to be the cat.  

Word of the week:   thermography  

2 February 2022