You are probably right that I last saw them in 2001, although my friend gave the jungle cats to them for rehoming. Where have they gone? I can confirm that Hamerton no longer keeps the species, with my knowledge.
I have seen credible photos of stuffed individuals in local museums. There are also a number of leopard cats that have also turned up, mostly during the 70s and 80s. It has been suspected that the frequency has increased due to the popularity of breeding Bengals.
Just a little word about ISIS , I know alot of zoo chatters often refer to ISIS when trying to find out about zoo stock , but it should be borne in mind that unfortunately ISIS is not as reliable as it should be. Bearing in mind that it is only as good as the information it is supplied with from the zoos who should input and update information regularly to it. This often does not happen , some zoos are much better at it than others of course but most of the time it is sadly , and frustratingly, out of date. It is usually the numbers of animals , rather than the species held , that could potentially be wrong.
ISIS is fairly good as the bad data seems to crop up with the same institutions. Now, I'm not for a second suggesting that the IT skills of some staff who send off information is lacking, but having worked some time ago in an institution which listed some pretty bizarre rarities when including their domestic rats or donkeys, among others...I think ISIS itself is not the problem. However, old data from Glasgow, Basildon etc still does show up consistently.
hmmm very interesting , i never knew such small cats were wild in the uk , here in Mexico we have ocelot , margay , jaguarundi and jaguars around the city roadkill is mostly coati ,skunk , or cacomixtle
There are supposedly many cat species wild in the UK. However, the need to study this for evidence attracts the kind of folk that would make any credible idea look ridiculous.
The only tangible evidence I have ever seen for the existence of 'Big Cats' in the British Isles is; 1. A Jungle Cat killed by a car somewhere in Hampshire(definately not an escapee from Marwell) some years ago. 2 A very tame and rather old Puma discovered somewhere in Scotland. I'm not including 'Kellas Cats' as this is a known hybridisation between two existing species(Scottish Wildcat x Domestic Cat).
I remember there used to be a sign about ABC's by Marwell's old snow leopard enclosure with a picture of that particular cat, I think they said it was near Portsmouth. These sort of things turn up very often, the most common being the Beasts of Exmoor, Dartmoor and Bodmin. My brother even said he saw a lynx in our adjacent wood once.
I think its worth noting that the Hampshire Jungle Cat was a proven animal. The existence of West Country 'Beasts' (and mystery cats elsewhere in UK too) has still not been proven- despite all the alleged sightings, footprints, photos, video footage etc. No dead or live 'big cat' has been produced to substantiate this evidence.
