Bamping says the new study suggests these animals may even be breeding in the wild.
"We've had sightings of big cats with cubs and places where we've found big paw prints and small paw prints together," he said. "We've also had incidents where sheep have been killed and mauled rather than eaten, which indicates that maybe the mother is trying to teach the young how to kill."
Reported sightings in May included a large black cat with cubs seen by two girls in Oxfordshire, England. "They said the cubs were the same size as their German shepherd dog," Bamping added.
And in southwest England a driver traveling with two passengers near the town of Taunton claimed he had to brake sharply to avoid a big, catlike creature.
Passenger Nick Mansfield told the Taunton Times: "I'm not the sort of person who believes in these sorts of things, but we all saw it, so I can't be going mad. It looked to be about waist height and was very dark in color, so all we could really make out was its large, bright yellow eyes. If it wasn't a cat, then it was the biggest dog I have ever seen."
The alleged sighting comes four months after a local farmer claimed he lost livestock to a huge cat.
Brief Encounter
Bamping's own big cat encounter occurred 12 years ago while on a train passing through rural Kent in southeast England. He believes he spotted a black leopard in a field as the train accelerated slowly from a station.
"I saw it for about ten seconds," he added. "It's a bit like a video clip in the memory. There's no doubt in my mind that what I saw that day was not a domestic cat."
Bamping, who has a keen interest in cryptozoology (the study of unverified animals) and a coelacanth (a fish presumed extinct until its rediscovery in 1938) tattooed on his arm, says the experience inspired him to set up the British Big Cats Society. The group's stated aim is to scientifically identify, quantify, and catalogue big cats living wild in Britain.
Members include Chris Moiser, a zoologist at Plymouth College of Further Education. While the deliberate release of exotic felines in Britain is a criminal offense, Moiser says it may not be a bad idea, because grazing animals such as deer currently have no natural predators to keep populations in check.
"The reintroduction of the lynx might, if handled correctly, help to balance this situation," he said.
As to the existence of wild big cats in Britain, the U.K. government is yet to be convinced. So far it has resisted BBCS calls for a U.K.-wide scientific study, saying existing evidence is not strong enough to justify this.
In the 1990s U.K. Ministry of Agriculture scientists did investigate the alleged presence of big cats on Bodmin Moor in the county of Cornwall. Numerous reported sightings, sheep kills, and blurred photographs and video images fueled speculation about the existence of a "Beast of Bodmin"—rumored to be one or more black leopards.
After their six-month study, however, the scientists concluded, "No verifiable evidence for the presence of a 'big cat' was found."
In the meantime, the hunt continues.
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