'Panther' spotted by man walking by River Stour in Dorset

[gareth_r]

Dorset Echo - 'Panther' spotted by man walking by River Stour

https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/26474092.panther...







If those photographs were taken when and where claimed, I'd say there's a black leopard on the loose in Dorset.

[mikeyr]

My fave part of this was "In 2021, Southbourne based-big cat expert Jonathan McGowan said: "There are around 30 leopards in Dorset alone because it has such a high deer population.'.

Yep, he sure seems like a big cat expert. None of that adds up, They don't turn up as road kill. Or indeed a deer carcass up a tree. And any decent sized predator would be all over the farmers fields taking endless sheep to the point it would be incredibly obvious. So whilst the occasional animal may escape from private collections the suggestion there is a big cat population lurking is sadly unlikely.

[gareth_r]

True, but that doesn't look like a domestic cat's head to me.

[mikeyr]

Not doubting the individual story, more that there are entire populations roaming the New Forest!

The actual picture, well, it looks big cat ish. Gotta take that guys word for it that he saw it, took a photo (although why only take two photos and no video if it was there for several minutes staring at him?). We've got both a Capybara and a wallaby currently on the loose in Hampshire so things do escape!

[Richard-390a0]

The same big cat was spotted across the pond lol

https://www.facebook.com/etherealearth1/posts/extr...

[mikeyr]

Oh reverse image search you clever blighter. Nicely done!!

The same guy was in the same newspaper a few years back having spotted two albino squirrels too...

[mikeyr]

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/24788130.ra...

[gareth_r]

There's always a big "if".

[Truckosaurus]

mikeyr said:

Oh reverse image search you clever blighter. Nicely done!!

The same guy was in the same newspaper a few years back having spotted two albino squirrels too...

Journalistic rigour seems to no longer be a thing down at the Ohec.

(My mother still buys it every day).

[pghstochaj]

Richard-390a0 said:

The same big cat was spotted across the pond lol

https://www.facebook.com/etherealearth1/posts/extr...

So impressive that it travelled.

[Sheets Tabuer]

The ultimate test is going pss, pss, pss, pss to a cat. if it's a Leopard it won't respond.

[WH16]

Sheets Tabuer said:

The ultimate test is going pss, pss, pss, pss to a cat. if it's a Leopard it won't respond.

My youngest (toddler) has learned to summon the cats. He thinks pss pss pss is a universal language and has unsuccessfully tried it on a hedgehog, an ant and a road-kill rabbit (but he did catch a grasshopper, so who knows?).

[mikeyr]

Crazy that anyone calling themselves a journalist didn't immediately do a reverse image search. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. And in this case could have been debunked in two minutes.

[Bill]

mikeyr said:

My fave part of this was "In 2021, Southbourne based-big cat expert Jonathan McGowan said: "There are around 30 leopards in Dorset alone because it has such a high deer population.'.

Yep, he sure seems like a big cat expert. None of that adds up, They don't turn up as road kill. Or indeed a deer carcass up a tree. And any decent sized predator would be all over the farmers fields taking endless sheep to the point it would be incredibly obvious. So whilst the occasional animal may escape from private collections the suggestion there is a big cat population lurking is sadly unlikely.

Also describes himself as a "ufologist"...

[WH16]

mikeyr said:

Crazy that anyone calling themselves a journalist didn't immediately do a reverse image search. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. And in this case could have been debunked in two minutes.

But then they wouldn't have had a story to write, nobody would have shared the link, and no traffic driven to their site.

[gareth_r]

pghstochaj said:

Richard-390a0 said:

The same big cat was spotted across the pond lol

https://www.facebook.com/etherealearth1/posts/extr...

So impressive that it travelled.

Via Wyoming

[catso]

I saw a big black cat in Market Bosworth, Leics. must be getting on for 20 years ago.

Was driving out of the village towards the A447 and a large black cat was running through the field on the left side, it was about the size of a labrador type dog but it was most definitely a cat.

[MrBogSmith]

I didn't believe it until I went to the same spot.

[mikeyr]

Well that's just perfect, well played!

[Gladers01]

pghstochaj said:

Richard-390a0 said:

The same big cat was spotted across the pond lol

https://www.facebook.com/etherealearth1/posts/extr...

So impressive that it travelled.

Probably came across on a Catamaran