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The Secret Bunker Video
See Puma-Like Creature Caught On Video Camera, Is This The Cougar Of Cupar?, Beast Of Fife, The Big Cat Of Cupar Is Finally Caught In The Frame, Video Clue in Big Cat Hunt, Cops close in on kitty and Puma sightings reinforces Highland reports for more information on this video.
This is a still from the first video of the mystery cat-like creature dubbed 'The Beast of Fife.' The animal was caught on film by a women at the Secret Bunker near Anstruther. The tape was handed to the police. The woman described the animal as black and about 4ft in length with a long tail.
I am certain there is a puma living in this area. It is possibly the result of being abandoned following the introduction of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act some ten years ago.
It is more than likely that some were abandoned in remote areas such as the Highlands of Scotland or the moors of Devon. There is the chance that it could be a large lynx, which do live in some numbers on the continent and were at one time native to Scotland.But its sheer body size, and, more importantly, the length of its tail, makes me lean towards it being a puma.
The lorry driver described the cat as being four feet long with a tail of almost the same length, and these have remained common factors with almost every subsequent sighting reported to me. Calls have been from North Fife in the main, but there are also others recorded as far West as Blairadam Forest near the M90 motorway. All of them, like me, are convinced that there is a big cat out there and it is only a matter of time before more positive proof is obtained.
The leaves falling from the trees could also uncover a scratching pole, which it will undoubtedly have, just like every domestic cat.
The truth is this creature would undoubtedly be more frightened of humans than we should be of it, although obviously it still would be a very risky thing to approach it, especially if it was cornered in anyway.
George Redpath, Fife Constabulary Wildlife Liason Officer
It could be a puma. I've seen pictures of other 'big cats' which turned out to be foxes. But this one is very interesting.
The best way to prove its existence would be to get a paw print and compare it with any of our big cats.
Richard O'Grady, Director of Glasgow Zoo
I am not saying it is not a puma, but it would be more likely to be a cross between a domestic cat and a wild cat, which can be very big.
What we really need is a pawprint. From that we would be able to exactly establish what kind of beast we are dealing with and whether the claws are showing or not.
Miranda Stevenson, Deputy Director of Edinburgh Zoo
The picture seems a bit distorted and flattened out, but it looks to me as
if the back and tail are too long in proportion to the legs for it to be a
domestic/wildcat hybrid. I'd probably go for young panther or dark puma,
but I wouldn't like to put any money on it. In its proportions it does
resemble the 2 young black cats Alayne and I saw. Pity one can't see much
of the head and ear profile.
Phebe Cooper
I think the strange outline may be due, not only to the lighting but also to the fact that it seems to be a still from a video.
Technical bit: Video consists of 25 images per second (that's the PAL system we have here - it's different in other countries) and each image consists of two interlaced fields. An image of a still object taken from video is usually OK but a moving object will be in a different position in each field causing a distorted appearance.
Added to that security video is often quite poor anyway, they have a habit of using the same tapes over and over again.
George Markie
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