Comments on: New evidence of big cats

By: Cow

Cow — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:59:56 +0000

I think your evidence is flimsy but there has been a lot of talk about it and I think it’s true.

By: Pyrrho

Pyrrho — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 03:24:54 +0000

I may be incorrect here, by I understood that a “black” panther or puma was caused by a recessive gene, and was uncommon in wild populations. Black is a recessive trait in leopards at least, so both parents have to carry at least one copy of the recessive gene for black in order for black offspring to occur.
If there actually is a feral population, (which personally find very unlikely, but not impossible) then this should make the occurrence of black cats very rare indeed.

By: Bradley Laing

Bradley Laing — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:01:23 +0000

Your article about “black panthers” fails to note that the term “Panther” is used in the U. S. to apply to brown-furred big cats, and the sightings you are talking about are of black-furred big cats.

Even assuming a breeding population of brown furred big cats were released into the wild in the 1940s, that would not explain black-furred big cats being seen by witnesses.

By: Pyrrho

Pyrrho — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:59:08 +0000

That’s what I was implying. Beat up.

By: Maybe

Maybe — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:37:49 +0000

Media interest? I think the only people interested at the journalists writing about it.… constantly.

By: Pyrrho

Pyrrho — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 01:09:02 +0000

I think the author of this article might need to step back for some perspective.
This is not evidence of a “big cat“
It is a dead sheep. It is evidence that a sheep was killed by something that made a mess of it.
Apply Occam’s razor (the most simple explanation being the most likely).
Dog/dogs are a far more likely solution, and foxes cannot be ruled out.
Even people intent on hoax.

The big cat theory is not impossible, however, but the evidence is flimsy at best, and if any of the influx of investigators and experts can bring any new evidence to the table, then we are all ears. I strongly suspect that the current interest in these alleged beasts is more to do with what is being a topic of media interest, and not so much any rise in mysterious events in the wilds of the South East, but I an open to information.