Report from Chris Smith
Big Cat Body Puzzles Experts
By Andrew Kellock in the Aberdeen E vening Express 1 st May 2002
Experts are at odds over the discovery of the headless carcass of a big cat.
A farmer stumbled across the remains of the three-and-a-half foot feline at Boddam near Peterhead.
But the find has only deepened the mystery over the fabled Beast of Buchan.
There have been numerous sightings of large, cat-like animals in the North-east in the past few years.
Bill Duffus, of Newton Farm, near Boddam, found a cat the size of a fox or medium-sized dog near Peterhead Power Station. The striped creature had been decapitated.
Theories on the Beast of Buchan range from it being an over-sized wildcat to a leopard which was being kept illegally and escaped from its compound.
Martin Gorman, of Aberdeen University's biology department said it was possible it was a hybrid wildcat.
But he added: "I'm almost certain this is just a big domestic cat."
Do you have a cat as big as this? If so contact the Evening Express on (01224) 690222.
Press & Journal 1 st May 2002
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