Report from George Markie
Police big cat warning
From BBC News Wales 25 th August 2000
Gwent Police are warning the public to be on their guard after a black, "leopard-like" animal attacked an 11-year-old boy in Monmouthshire.
Josh Hopkins was with his brother searching for their pet cat near his home in Trellech when he said the animal attacked him in long grass.
"At the start I thought it was playing, but when it struck its paw at me and I saw the blood fly past, I thought I was going to die," said Josh.
The boy suffered five long claw marks to his left cheek which needed medical treatment.
A helicoptor with heat-seeking equipment on board was due to survey the area later on Friday.
Police have also called in a big cat expert, Danny Nineham, to investigate the incident. He believes the animal may be a young, "leopard-like" cat.
Offspring
The boy described the animal as "large black and slinky-looking" - much bigger than a domestic cat.
Gwent Police say there have been other sightings of a big cat in the Chepstow area and residents have said pet cats have gone missing.
But there have been no reports of any big cats having escaped from zoos.
Chief Inspector Nigel Russell of Gwent police said they were treating the incident very seriously.
"This is the first incident that I am aware of where anyone has been injured or attacked by a cat," he said.
Big cat experts believe there may be as many as 100 leopards and pumas roaming the British countryside.
They believe the animals are the offspring of beasts released by owners in the 1970s after the introduction of stringent new laws governing wild and dangerous animals.
But the RSPCA has urged people not to panic.
In January, a former lion-tamer admitted releasing a panther and a cougar into the English countryside in the 1970s.
Leslie Maiden, who once owned more than a dozen big cats, said he released the animals off the A57 Snake Pass in Derbyshire.
"I released a panther 26 years ago on to the moors on the Pennines at Snake Pass," said Mr Maiden, of Dudley in the West Midlands.
"It was miles from anywhere. It was a couple of days after releasing a cougar," he said.
Illegal
Fellow big cat-owner Lewis Foley, who kept the animals at a menagerie with Mr Maiden, disclosed that a friend of his in Coventry had also set a panther loose in the Nottinghamshire area in 1974.
An RSPCA spokeswoman said releasing wild animals into the countryside did not become illegal until the early 1980s.
She said: "The 1981 Countryside and Wildlife Act made it illegal to release into the wild in the United Kingdom any non-indigenous animal.
"It is definitely illegal now. Clearly, these species prey on animals lower down the chain and they may also be at risk themselves."
© BBC News Wales, 25 th August 2000
Beast Is Back.
Village is in fear as savage big cat returns
From The Mirror 14 th October 2000
A WILD panther which savaged a boy of 11 has been spotted again - just yards from the youngster's home.
Josh Hopkins, savaged by the beast as he played in fields, is now living in fear.Now police are investigating a new sighting in a neighbour's garden.
The black panther clawed the youngster's left cheek and bit him on top of the head before fleeing.
It happened in late August in the village of Trellech, near Monmouth on the English border.
Young Josh's shocked neighbour said yesterday: "I heard noises in my back garden, and thought it was an intruder.
"I peaked through the curtains and saw a fully-grown black panther. It was as big as the lions and cheetahs that you see on the television and I was absolutely terrified."
The pensioner called police and they alerted big cat experts who found paw prints believed to be from the animal.
Josh's dad Nick said he was concerned that the panther had been spotted so close to their home.
He said: "I heard that the woman saw the animal close up in her back garden which is opposite ours. It's worried us so we're double checking the doors to make sure they are locked".
"Josh is also very worried about the animal coming so close."
Gwent police launched a major search for the 5ft-long beast, thoughtto be a young black panther, after the first attack which happened in late August.
The force helicopter scoured the countryside using thermal-imaging cameras to hunt the animal. But despite a spate of sightings - including one by two policemen out on early morning patrol - they have so far failed to catch it.
© Mirror, 14 th October 2000
Don't Stalk Rampaging Killer Cats
From The Mirror 29 th January 2001
Armed bounty hunters are prowling the countryside looking to kill the big cats preying on Welsh livestock, it was claimed last night. And an expert warned they were "playing with fire" by trying to bag the predators.
University professor Alayne Perrott said: "The last thing we want is a wounded puma on the loose. It could turn on an adult or child. Pumas are generally harmless to man, but an animal which has been hunted and shot is a different proposition.
"It's time the government realised big cats are living - and probably breeding - in the British countryside.
"I know bounties for dead cats have been offered and hunters are active in west Wales."
Mother-of-one Alayne, 50, who teaches geography at Swansea University, became interested in big cats after husband Alan spotted one near their farm at Nantgaredig, near Carmarthen, four years ago.
But curiosity turned to horror when their horse was attacked and its foal killed.
"The mare had a huge bite on her neck," said Alayne.
"Our vet was aghast and after studying photos, zookeepers said the wound was caused by a big cat attack."
Alayne is going to Idaho in the United States to learn how to track and collar mountain lions
"I'm doing this for my own reassurance," she said. "It won't be long before we start seeing these types of animals all over Britain.
"The Dangerous Wild Animals Act of 1976 saw a lot of pet pumas turned loose into the wild and now they are breeding."
Last August, an 11-year-old boy cheated death after being mauled by a wild panther in Trellech, south Wales. Joshua Hopkins was attacked yards from his home. He was clawed in the face and bitten on the head by the 5ft-long beast.
© Mirror, 29 th January 2001
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