Non native cat escapes, kills and captures in the UK

Scotland

Non native cat escapes, kills and captures in Scotland
Date	Species	Location	Description	Report
end of 18 th century	Tiger (Panthera tigris)	Glasgow	Escaped from its barred cage and attacked a small monkey. The tiger swallowed the monkey's collar and died a few days later.	Richard O'Grady, Calderpark Zoo, Glasgow
1926	Lynx (Lynx lynx)	Inverness-shire	3 large, fierce yellow animals of unknown species, later identified as lynx were shot or trapped after a spate of sheep killings
1949	Tiger (Panthera tigris)	Glasgow	A female Bengal tiger named Shiela escaped from her cage and was shot by the Zoo's Director Sydney Benson when she approached a group of Brownies	Richard O'Grady, Calderpark Zoo, Glasgow
1980	Puma (Puma concolor)	Cannich, nr Inverness, Highland	Tame, elderly arthritic female puma trapped after a series of sheep killings. This is Felicity who spent the rest of her days at the Highland Wildlife Park
about 1980	Lynx (Lynx lynx)	Kintyre, Argyll and Bute	Lynx shot on private estate and body disposed of
February 1988	Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis)	Minto Estate, nr Jedburgh, Borders	Shot when attacked pheasants. Had been loose for 8 months. Escaped from Cumbria, originally from Edinburgh Zoo
1989	Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis)	Berwickshire	Killed
2 nd March 1996	European Lynx (Lynx lynx)	Edinburgh	5 lynx escaped from their cage. All were recaptured the same day.
7 th January 2001	Leopard (Panthera pardus)	Peterhead	Lepoard reported to have escaped. No trace found of leopard or owners. Only solid evidence is a photograph
26 th November 2002	Caracal (Caracal caracal)	Kirkcudbright Wildlife Park, Dumfries and Galloway	Caracal escaped from wildlife park. It was recaptured on the 13 th December.

England

Non native cat escapes, kills and captures in England
Date	Species	Location	Description	Report
1816	Lioness (Panthera leo)	Nr Exeter	Escaped lioness from Ballard's menagerie mauled coach horse
1930s	Leopard (Panthera pardus)	Medway area, Kent	A small Black Leopard was killed in the Medway area. It wasn't on the loose for long but was seen by a group of teenagers. Local authorities shot the animal.	Neil Arnold, Kent Big Cat Research
1973	Serval (Leptailurus serval)	Isle of Wight	3 young servals escaped	Sunday Telegraph, January 1994
c. 1975	Jungle Cat (Felis chaus)	Wiltshire	Two jungle cats escaped and shot.
1977	Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa)	Canterbury, Kent	According to MAAF, this was loose for seven days. Kent Big Cat Research report that it was on the prowl for over 12 months, and ate local livestock before it was 'allegedly' killed.	Neil Arnold, Kent Big Cat Research
1980s	Snow Leopard (Uncia uncia)	Kent	Shot and killed
1987	Puma (Puma concolor)	Greenwich Observatory	Shot by police
1987	Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis)	near Brading, Isle of Wight	The cat was killed in 1987 but was only reported in the newspapers in January 1994. It was thought to be a fox and shot by torchlight.
summer 1988	Jungle Cat (Felis chaus)	Hayling Island, Hampshire	Knocked down and killed by a female driver. Described in national press as an Asian Jungle Cat, also known as a Swamp Cat. The Portsmouth Evening News is said to have pubished a photograph of the woman holding the animal. NB That the Western Morning News published a photo of Di Francis with a stuffed Kellas Cat - was this the same photo?) Not the only Jungle cat in area as sightings continued after its death.
April 1988	Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis)	Widecombe, Devon	Thought to have escaped from a travellers' camp on the moor. Shot by a farmer as it attacked his poultry. The cat was taken away by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) for rabies tests. Presumably destroyed.
1988	Jungle Cat (Felis chaus)	Ludlow, Shropshire	Found dead with back injiries
1990	Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis)	Rookley, Isle of Wight	Killed by two teenagers. Cat buried after being photographed. Initially believed to be ocelot but identified as Leopard Cat by Dr Karl Shuker.	Dr Karl Shuker
summer 1991	Lynx (Lynx lynx)	Beccles, East Anglia	Photograph of dead lynx. Believed to be a hoax by local police and hunting community.
1992	Tiger (Panthera tigris)	Canterbury, Kent	Two tigers escaped from Howlett's zoo. This followed the death of two keepers after tiger attacks in 1980 and a further death in 1994.
29 th November 1994	Snow Leopard (Uncia uncia)	Welwyn, Hertfordshire	Free for one day
Summer 1996	Jungle Cat (Felis chaus)	near Warminster, Wiltshire	Killed at Black Dog Crossroads, near Warminster. Identified by Paignton Zoo.
before Feb 1998	Lion (Panthera leo)	Grimsby, Humberside	Four lions were free for one day. One man was 'badly savaged'
date unknown	Lion (Panthera leo)	Cromer, Norfolk	Free for one day	MAAF via Operation Big Cat!
date unknown	Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) (Could it be a small, spotted, Eurasian lynx? C.S.)	Morvah, Cornwall	Found dead, Identified by Mike Thomas, owner of big cats and Newquay Zoo	Angela Boyd
October 2000	Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx)	Yorkshire	Two Euranian lynx confiscated from a garden shed. One died a few days later.
4 th May 2001	Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx)	Golders Green, London	Female Eurasian lynx about 18 months old, captured by Vet from London Zoo. Named Lara the Lynx
6 th December 2001	Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris)	Howletts Wild Animal Park, nr Canterbury, Kent	Four year old Bengal tiger shot dead after escaping from its compound.
September 2003	Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis)	Marwell Zoo, nr Winchester, Hants	Two-year-old Amur leopard escaped from cage. Tranquilised and died after a fall from a tree.
19 th October 2003	Cat of the genus Panthera.	Lincolnshire	Forensic (NB not DNA) examination of hair by DNA Bioscience, revealed scaling consistent with a member of the Panthera genus. Analysis confirmed by theRGJL lab in the USA.

Northern Ireland

Non native cat escapes, kills and captures in Northern Ireland
Date	Species	Location	Description	Report
12 th January 1994	Indian Tigress (Panthera tigris)	Bellvue Zoo, Belfast	Soldiers, police and a helicopter search for a tigress that disappeared from her enclosure. She was later found dead in the moat.
February 1996	European lynx (Lynx lynx) (Reported to be a Caracal (Caracal caracal))	Fintona, County Tyrone	Shot dead by RUC shot police marksman after it was seen prowling close to sheep As it was wearing a black collar it is presumed to be an escaped pet. It had been seen twice in the previous two days.
8 th February 1998	Tiger (Panthera tigris)	Bellvue Zoo, Belfast	Tiger escaped from cage and attacked keeper before being shot by police.
June 2003	black "panther" (leopard) (Panthera pardus)	Slieve Bearnaigh in the Mourne Mountains, Ulster	Black panther photographed by physician
August 2003	Puma (Puma concolor) and black "panther" (leopard) (Panthera pardus)	Bushmills, Antrim	Released by a private collector "to give them a better life". Prompted (ongoing) six week search.

Wales

Non native cat escapes, kills and captures in Wales
Date	Species	Location	Description	Report
date unknown	Jaguar (Panthera onca)	Colwyn Bay, Clwyd	Two jaguars were free for one day	MAAF via Operation Big Cat!

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