Lynx Escapes From British Zoo On First Night

www.bbc.co.uk...

Police have launched an air and ground search for a lynx wild cat which has escaped from a zoo.
Officers have warned people not to approach the animal which escaped from Dartmoor Zoo in Devon.
Schoolchildren have been warned to stay inside after the Carpathian Lynx dug itself out of its enclosure.

. . .

The zoo took delivery of the animal on Wednesday but it escaped on Thursday morning, said the zoo.

There is talk of reintroducing lynx to Britain. Some experts hold the opinion that the lynx was never fully exterminated. The cleverest survived and bred a race of super-stealthy lynx. If this cat evades capture it may join the breeding pool of wild lynx.

Funny how it's supposed to be safe to have rewilded lynx but we get a helicopter out looking for the escapee.

I'm just wondering why the officials have to warn people not to approach a carnivore? LOL

Really? They seem to have a rather low opinion of the intelligence of their populace.

Interesting! I love lynx's. The closest I could get to owning one is my Highland Lynx. Wishing that big furball the best! Run boy run! Find your kind and make yourself a family buddy!

-Alee

a reply to: Kester

That's one quick Brexit! I doubt it'll attack any humans, but watch out poodles!

a reply to: Kester

Animal venues. Bah...

Wildlife should remain wild.

Ummm, children on lockdown. Don't worry the kiddies, depending on the kind of Lynx its not going to attack a child.

You won't even see it. They are elusive, masters of camouflage and stealth. But I would keep your pet dog or cat inside for a while.

a reply to: Kester

Always talk of "big black cats" circulating so this cat might not be alone, I'm sure Dartmoor has had sightings the last few year.

Personally I'd love an official wild breeding program the Scottish Bobcat or Wildcat is making a bit of a comeback too, as well as a few other critically endangered animals.

Deer and rabbits are a nuisance, we need some carnivores to keep em in check, the UK has huge deer numbers and a lot of them are not native. Tbh in my eyes the UK doesn't have much natural countryside, we've mutilated it that much that if you had a time machine and went back 1000 years you might think you are in Germany or Eastern Europe. So I see no teason why we shouldn't re-introduce the Lynx to the wild... What's the worst we could do?

If we did re-introduce them I dare say deer will still be responsible for more deaths, even if chavs went throwing bricks at them.

a reply to: Kester

I have seen two large cats in the wild in the UK.

Infact sightings are rather common in my area, even the police have seen them and made official reports so I think there is a wild cat species around.

As for dartmore zoo.....well this isnt the first time, they had a jagaur escape when the owner Benjamin Mee first brought the place in 2006.


This zoo what the matt Damon film "we brought a zoo" was based on.

a reply to: crazyewok

We may have discussed this before. Can you remind me what the cats you saw looked like?

I've seen:-

A black leopard type seen with a farmer in very unusual circumstances. When I mentioned it other sightings were related to me and other oddities made sense.

A very clear sighting of a black leopard alongside the motorway near Bridgewater.

Sighting of a huge black leopard, clearly annoyed at being flushed out of his sleeping place by torrential rain. Also found his scat nearby. Never has the sight of animal poop created such an emotional reaction as I mentally imaged the size of the cat that left it. Also a roe deer kill in the same area, slap bang in the middle of a well used long distance footpath. I nearly moved it, then I thought, 'What the hell. The bloody tourists might as well get used to it'.

I could go on and on and frequently do. Around 10 sightings of black leopards I believe. I don't fuss about cataloguing them. Some sightings were fleeting and uncertain, others couldn't be much clearer. Once experienced almost uncontrollable panic after chasing after a big cat in the dark. Understand now it was a really stupid thing to do.

I would appreciate hearing a description of your sightings.

In our area the coppers just yawn and say, 'Yeah. Black leopard mate. Tell us something new'.

a reply to: RAY1990

We have loved, lived with, and assisted the breeding of our big cats longtime.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Poor LYNX!

a reply to: Kester

They may not have read the instruction manual. A Lynx can jump 4 metres straight up. That's about 14 feet. Apparently they can just casually jump 16 metres from standing. That's about 50 feet.

You'll never see it going, because it'll never come near you. They are ridiculously shy.

a reply to: Kester

One a grayish/black leopard in the Medway area.

Kent police have also spotted it a few miles from were I saw it in some woodlands.
They even got a picture of its foot prints.

Again a grayish/black leopard up near Jodrell bank.

a reply to: Ericthedoubter

I'm hoping he'll stay free.

a reply to: crazyewok

Both times greyish. That's odd. Only seen one grey, that's the one I went after. Others saw it, but the really odd thing is it was reported in that area for years when you would have thought an old, grey, skinny big cat couldn't possibly have lived so long.

Used to go to Jodrell Bank as a kid. Nice to think they're around there.

a reply to: Kester

Pretty sure I saw a Lynx twenty years ago in Derbyshire. May not have been but it's paws were huge.

originally posted by: Kester
a reply to: crazyewok

Both times greyish. That's odd. Only seen one grey, that's the one I went after. Others saw it, but the really odd thing is it was reported in that area for years when you would have thought an old, grey, skinny big cat couldn't possibly have lived so long.

Used to go to Jodrell Bank as a kid. Nice to think they're around there.

They are likley breeding.

My theory is they originate from released private collections in the 70's.

due to the small gene pool there is likely only a few variations of coloring.

Though Leopards can live 20 years.

a reply to: Kester

Cheers for the link I thoroughly enjoyed reading that.

Thanks for your personal experiences in this thread too, a friend of mine's dad mentioned he knew someone who "had" a Lynx when one was frequenting the yorkshire moors. I knew exactly what he was hinting at.

He bought most of his pets of that guy if I remember, he was a breeder. He bought a cat that had the fur and near size of a Scottish Wildcat, thing was huge in length about 2 1/2 - 3 foot. Plenty of cats similar up here in the north.

a reply to: NerdGoddess

Clever boy. He's been feeding himself by pulling the dangling bait to the corner of the traps from outside. But he hasn't gone far and they're planning to drive him back towards the zoo if he won't enter a trap.

They don't think he'll learn to hunt for himself, but maybe he will?

originally posted by: Kester
a reply to: NerdGoddess


They don't think he'll learn to hunt for himself, but maybe he will?

Find that hard to believe when our so called "domesticated" house cats retain there hunting skills so well.

A wild one in Canada