Thursday 17 May 2007

Bexley Times 'big cat' article

http://www.bexleytimes.co.uk/search/story.aspx?brand=BXYonline&category=TimesDiary&itemid=WeED10%20May%202007%2017:24:15:827&tBrand=BXYonline&tCategory=search

Magazine feature on Bluewater 'big cat'.

Source unknown (possible free magazine), May 2007.
Posted by Richard Freeman (Centre For Fortean Zoology).

Chance to capture big cat on camera
I have always enjoyed going to Bluewater because it offers a great variety of shops. It also really comes into its own when the weather is bad as shoppers are protected from the elements. Now the shopping centre is offering something I would not expect to find there, which is even more thrilling than finding a bargain or bagging the latest fashion. This is the chance to see a big cat on the prowl. I understand this legendary animal has been named the Beast of Bexley. However, if it is now looking for food around the shopping centre, maybe it should now be called the Beast of Bluewater. You would think with all the technology we have these days, a big cat living in the south east would have been clearly caught on camera by now, and possibly even captured. Yet all we seem to get are glimpses of an animal seen from a distance, but you cannot blame the person taking the photograph for not wanting to get too close. If the beast is prowling around Bluewater, which is full of security cameras, the chances of it being filmed properly will increase. For once we might have something to thank shoplifters and car thieves for, as the security cameras were installed to help deal with them.

Tuesday 8 May 2007

Danny Robin's investigates...the 'beast' of Sydenham




In 2006 Channel 4 Radio looked into the 'beast' of Sydenham...presenter Danny Robin's met Neil Arnold and others to discuss as to whether a mystery big cat was roaming London's leafy suburbs.

Download the show here:

http://www.channel4radio.com/show/index.php?Id=379




Friday 4 May 2007

When tigers ran free...

19th October 1984 - The Sun reported on five tigers which escaped from Howlett's Zoo Park. Fortean Times magazine briefly covered the incident in Issue 43 as follows:

'The tigers were deliberately freed from Howlett's Zoo Park which belongs to John Aspinall. Two adult Indian tigers, Gelam and Putra, and three of their offspring were seen wandering about by a postman. Four were caught, but a three-year old female headed across fields towards Littlebourne. Mrs Maureen Taylor saw it stalking her goat. Keepers arrived and shot the tigress dead after 45 minutes of freedom.

Four years before two keepers at the zoo were mauled to death by one Siberian tigress, one after she leapt a ten-foot fence. '