Hi, There was an alleged sighting of a wild panther in the UK. We only have the word of the photo taker that it was actually taken in the UK, can anyone work out what type of grass is in the photo and what the other plant is, or is there not enough resolution to work it out? https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/23490946/clearest-photo-big-cat-sightings-countryside/
Sorry, but there's no way will I touch that fascist Murdoch rag website to give them the benefit of my website footfall...
I saw the image being discussed on a paranormal forum, I googled the image again and found a better new outlet:- https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...tish-countryside-really-teeming-with-big-cats But the quality is not as good, can I change the original post to just have the image and not the news link?
I think that would be violating a copyright, even if it were to be credited, will leave that for @Daniel Mosquin.
Excellent, thanks! I think it is OK to post the odd low quality photo like that under Fair Use law, particularly when it is published in multiple news sources. I'd agree, that's a Leopard Panthera pardus, a dark morph animal ('Black Panther'); the head shape is wrong for a domesticated cat. These are kept in captivity, both in zoos, and (rarely) in private collections; in UK, private owners are required to have them registered and monitored under the Dangerous Animals Act, which includes a requirement to notify police of any escape from confinement. Unfortunately, not everyone obeys laws like these, so a holder might fail to notify an embarrassing escapee. The plants in the photo (dead Common Broom, and unidentified grasses) could easily be UK, and don't match where dark morph Leopards usually occur in the wild (tropical rainforest), but could also be taken elsewhere in NW Europe. Whether this one is a genuine escape, or photograped in a large enclosure at a zoo and passed off as being in the wild as a hoax, will require investigation (including finding the right shape dead Broom shrubs to verify the location!). A hoax is probably the most likely: getting a photo of a large cat in a zoo with nothing in the background to show its captivity is easy. It is only the photographer's honesty saying this Tiger is at Blair Drummond Safari Park, rather than loose in a field anywhere they like to claim.
Fair use provisions in Canada include for Research, private study, etc. s.29 Fair dealing for the purpose of research, private study, education, parody or satire does not infringe copyright. Should be fine, the point of the enquiry is a question about the plants submitted to plant experts.
Ok, so it's Common Broom and the photo is likely to have been taken in a place the animal is not native. But yeah, chances are it's a zoo. My next step is to email every zoo and see if any of the keepers recognise the big cat. Thank you.
