In our extended 50th edition, Gareth Patterson from South Africa offers highlights from his experience living with lions, tracking elusive elephants in the Knysna forest, and experiencing local leopards.

Also, Gareth discusses how the Fynbos ecosystem of Knysna still keeps some deeper secrets.

Website for our guest Gareth Patterson, containing links to his books and documentary clips on lions and elephants:  www.garethpatterson.com

Word of the week:  Otang

8 May 2021

Andy roams the creeks of mid Cornwall and fishes local lakes – in two of his three sightings he had close calls with a panther at night, and now he follows up reports of both black and brown big cats. Our second guest Mark was secretly hoping to snap a big cat on a trail camera in North Cornwall – we hear how he got on…  

Big Cat Mystery outro music by special permission from Drive.

Word of the week:   boilies

23 April 2021

Janet noticed the neon eyes and the shadow spots on a black leopard, highlighted in the sun, as it leapt away from her and her dogs in County Leitrim, while Donal watched a black panther lit in his headlights as he stopped in shock when driving in the Wicklow mountains.

Word of the week:   drumlin

9 April 2021

We hear from Rod who saw a big cat in 1986 during his former police work in Kent, but it wasn’t until Clare Balding’s testimony on BBC’s Ramblings in 2021 that he felt vindicated – our second guest Laura in Kent had a black panther arrive next to her in the garden at night in March 2021. She’s been advised to call 999 if it comes again… 

 Words of the week:   Iain Hunter tribute  

25 March 2021

Mat hid in the toilets after seeing a panther on a dawn walk in a country park near Nottingham, while Tom saw what he believes was a puma seizing a fox at dusk in a country park at Leicester – Mat and Tom explain their close encounters and both describe the response of their accompanying dog.  

Words of the week:   Occam’s razor

11 March 2021

Matt Salusbury selects some highlights from Suffolk big cat reports, then John a landowner describes his three different sightings of a puma, a black panther, and two lynxes at play. We are then joined by Chris, who also saw the two lynxes after doubting John’s account.   

Words of the week:   Black Shuck

26 February 2021

Cameron Nicoll explains the ideas that shaped his film Rare Creatures, on the big cat sightings of the Kintyre peninsula, and local resident George describes his close encounter with a black panther, which his dog detected first. George views big cats as a new part of Kintyre’s identity – adding to its sense of wildness.

Word of the week:   mystery

12 February 2021

John takes us through several big cat sightings around Epping Forest, an ancient forest now busy with visitors on the north edge of Greater London, and we also hear from Mike who collided with a black panther driving on the A13 near the M25 in Essex.

Words of the week:   wood pasture 

29 January 2021

Laura describes her three black panther encounters in north Hertfordshire, each of which seemed a different cat, while Lian our second guest runs the County’s big cats Facebook group, with ongoing reports of panthers, pumas and lynx.

Word of the week:  exotic

15 January 2021

Ann, her son and their dogs disturbed a stalking panther on their evening walk in November 2020 – it was poised for attack as they watched events unfold…

Rick and Ann discuss several other reported big cat encounters across Gloucestershire in recent years.

1 January 2021

Word of the week:  safari