Report from Chris Smith
Note that this big cat was reported as a 'lynx' at the links. However, John Cathcart, a former detective with Northern Constabulary, who has researched big cat sightings in the Highlands for at least 21 years has commented 'When I asked the eyewitness to describe the animal, he said it had a long, thick, curled tail, which is classic puma.'
Lynx stops play on golf course
By Martin Murray in the Scottish Daily Record, September 6 th 2000
Police yesterday issued a warning after a lynx was spotted on a golf course. Car salesman Sandy Gall was playing a round when the wild cat ran across the fairway. Last night he said: "I've never believed these tales of big cats in the countryside before but I certainly do now.
Sandy and friends, father and son Ian and Keith Duncan, were on the seventh green of the Nairn Dunbar course beside the Moray Firth when they saw the beast.
Sandy, 57, of Inverness, said: "It was only 30 yards away so we had a good view of it. This was definitely a large male lynx I've always discounted big cat sightings as rubbish, in actual fact probably deer or dogs But I was in the company of my gamekeeper uncle often enough to have seen a lot of Scottish wild animals and I know what I saw. The beast was about two and a half feet tall with sandy colouring and black tipped ears and tail."
DANGER
He added: "At first I thought it might be a lurcher dog but I could tell by the way the tail was held and the spectacular way it bounded off it was a cat."
The lynx is a long-legged, large-pawed cat with tufted ears and a broad, short head. They can weigh up to 50 lbs and are normally found in the forests of Europe, Asia and North America.
A police spokesman said: "Because of the animals size, there is a potential danger, so the public should notify us or the SSPCA if they come across it and not approach it themselves." Until the introduction of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act in the mid 1980's, lynxes could be kept as pets. Experts believe that, when they were banned, many owners simply released them into the wild where they would have no trouble surviving and could easily be breeding.
Scottish Daily Record, September 6 th 2000
 |
 |
 |
|
| Return to index | Return to Scottish Big Cats | Return to the Highlands | Return to 2000 |