Comments on: ABCs and the Government

By: Hapa

Hapa — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:06:53 +0000

Kopite:

Thanks for the info. I had thought there was a total ban on gun ownership in Britain. This is encouraging, but as I said before, unless this is a new species we will have to have proof of a breeding population (if these are truly invasives), thus one individual specimen won’t do. Tracking devices and cameras put on several ones that are tranquilized first should be helpful in doing that.

If this is a new species (I’m skeptical about that), then just one specimen will do, either tranquilized captured or shot, but I would hate to risk shooting an exotic endangered Big cat: in this case, to prove a new species, tranquilizing or capturing a type specimen should be preferred.

By: Kopite

Kopite — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 08:46:08 +0000

Hapa,

Private gun ownership is not illegal in Britain. Hand guns are illegal privately as are semi automatics.

However, shotguns and rifles are allowed to be kept legally in private but the checks and laws are more stringent in Britain.

There are some 2 million shotguns/rifles legally kept privately in Britain. It mostly rural folks who own shotguns and rifles.

The fact is, most people in Britain have no interest in owning a gun and thankfully as a result there are on average only about 50 gun related deaths per year.

But out in the country (where these big cats are mostly sighted) a fair number of folks do have guns.

By: sonofthedestroyer

sonofthedestroyer — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 10:01:39 +0000

I have seen one. It looked like a large black leopard or jaguar.
No mistaking the big black cat. Could tell from the body structure that it was not a feral cat.
It was walking along the border of a field. I was travelling in a car on the motorway so i had no time to stop and see it for longer.
This sighting occured in 2006 near Reading, Berkshire, England.
I sent an email to the authorities but received no response.

By: Hapa

Hapa — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 01:33:09 +0000

I remember an article (I think it was in a National Geographic Magazine) dealing with Invasive species, and it mentioned that terrorists might choose to release a non-native species into the US as an act of Terrorism (giving the term Bio-warfare a whole new meaning). Britain is no stranger to terrorism…

How can we prove that ABCs are indeed roaming Great Britain? It would be hard: private gun ownership is illegal (Most of the time Policemen I’ve heard don’t carry them. They probably prefer those huge hats as bludgeoning weapons), so in order to get just one specimen, you would have to tranq or trap it. But remember, we have to prove a population of one, perhaps several known yet alien species, not a new species (Unless one argues that these are an unknown species of big cat roaming Britain, in which case a body, major parts of one, or a corpse will do. Maybe a car will eventually hit one, and if so, we should know whether it is an invasive or a new species.) If invasive, Perhaps tranq one, put a camera collar on it, let it go, and see what it comes across. Or perhaps tranquilize many and put tracking systems on them, until you get enough to make the UK government cry UNCLE! UNCLE!, and there you go. Either approach should be augmented by film of the creatures.

By: scaryeyes

scaryeyes — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:03:56 +0000

I have seen what I believe to be a big cat twice in the UK – once in West Sussex in 1994 and once in Staffordshire in 2008 – so there is no question in my mind the animals are out there, but to be honest, I don’t believe the British government is organised enough or competent enough to pull off any kind of conspiracy like this. Having dealt with DEFRA myself – on unrelated issues – I have no trouble believing lab samples went missing through genuine human and/or beaurocratic failings rather than being deliberately spirited away. I think the relevant government agencies are in the same boat as the rest of us in terms of the evidence being persuasive but not 100% conclusive. Even the physical evidence that does exist – bodies, hair samples, prints – doesn’t necessarily prove the existence of an established, breeding population rather than isolated escapees. It may feel frustratingly obtuse, but I think it’s natural DEFRA would use cautious language in these circumstances, and I don’t think that necessarily points to a conspiracy. If anything, if they were trying to cover something up, I’d expect more debunking and more vehement denial than I see in the communications linked here.

By: Hapa

Hapa — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:40:10 +0000

It amazes me what used to lurk in Great Britain: up until the Middle Ages Brown bears were found there. Wolves also lived there, and were likewise hunted to extinction. Only recently has Moose been reintroduced in Scotland, and I believe even Mammoths lived in Great Britain in the remote past. The Heidelberg humans were among, if not the very first, humans to live there.

Nowadays, Aside from possible ABCs, the largest carnivores you’ll find in British wilds are Badgers, Foxes, tiny wildcats and feral dogs. What a sad commentary on humanity’s intolerance for creatures God intended to be here with us…
Also sad that this type of overhunting history has occurred worldwide. In the US wolves have been taken off the protection list, and so far we have had hundreds, perhaps more, wolves being killed, often in gruesome, barbaric ways. Rhinos in Africa are being poached on a growing scale.