Search for lynx in wild cat sightings

Jan 14 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

HUNDREDS of big cat sightings in the North East will come under scrutiny at a special conference in the region.

The event aims to collate all the sightings and to build up a regionwide database of big cat activity.

One of the speakers, Durham police inspector Eddie Bell, has taken a personal interest in the issue.

He has gathered around 450 claimed sightings of big cats – puma and lynx – over the last 22 years, mainly in County Durham.

He said: “I think there are wild-born animals out there – enough to maintain a local population.

“We have had very good sightings from people who should know, like biologists, and also other evidence such as a footprint identified as a puma near Barnard Castle.”

Insp Bell estimates the North East big cat population as “more than two but fewer than 12.”

He said that big cats kept as pets were released after the Dangerous Wild Animals Act of 1976 made it illegal to keep them without a licence.

The Derwent Valley in County Durham has been a hot spot for sightings.

County Durham ecologist Ian Bond will also speak at the conference in March.

He has kept a wild cat diary for the Northumbria Mammal Group for the past eight years, which now numbers more than 100 sightings.

He said there have been clusters of sightings in Tynedale in Northumberland, in Weardale and Barnard Castle, and in the Hartlepool-Trimdon-Sedgefield area.

“The focus now seems to be in the Tynedale area with sightings in double figures in the last two years,” he said.

“I have no doubt whatsoever that there are some big cats out there, possibly of two or three different species.

“Sightings have been made by excellent naturalists who would not have got it wrong.”

It is considered that there is no danger to people from any big cats, with no instances of any attack or threat.

An estimated 20,000 roe deer in the North East means that there is abundant food supply.

“There is also no shortage of rabbits. Conditions are fine for big cats which are hardy animals, with bags of food and quite a lot of woodland to hide away,” said Mr Bond.