Depicting Britain\u2019s Beasts: the art of British big cats<\/a> at the Nature in Art gallery near Gloucester from Tuesday, August 12 to Friday, August 22, will showcase various art forms depicting the black leopards, mountain lions and lynx reportedly seen across the country .\n<\/p>\n\n The event is being run in association with Rick\u2019s Big Cat Conversations podcast, which has heard about several close encounters from walkers in the Stroud and south Gloucestershire area.\n<\/p>\n
Creature was hunkered down and stalking\u00a0deer\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n \u201cEpisode 71 included a witness who unwittingly disturbed a black panther hunkered down watching roe deer just north of Stroud,\u201d said Rick.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHe noticed an orange hue to the animals\u2019 otherwise dark fur, suggesting it was a leopard in its black form, which most of the credible \u2018panther\u2019 sightings would seem to be.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cOne of the illustrations at the Nature in Art exhibition shows the orange highlights of a black leopard, which can sometimes be noticed when the animal is lit up in sunlight.\n<\/p>\n
Panther cornered fox\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n \u201cEpisode 41 features a dog walker near Tetbury who watched a black panther cornering a fox at dusk.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHer three big dogs were on leads but they rumbled the cat, which rushed away and the fox emerged from its trapped situation and left the area keeping close to the walker and her dogs, seemingly wanting their company for safe escort.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Rick believes that sightings and DNA evidence suggest that large cats such as leopards, panthers, pumas and lynx are breeding in Britain.\n<\/p>\n
\n Numerous sightings have been reported across the UK for decades.\n<\/p>\n
\n And recently tests from a sheep carcass found in Gloucestershire showed evidence of leopard DNA.\n<\/p>\n
\u2018Trophy pets\u2019 now breeding\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n Experts believe predators kept as \u2018trophy pets\u2019 were released from stately homes and following the 1976 Dangerous Wild Animals Act and have bred in the countryside.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Nature in Art exhibition will explore the existence of these large felines in the UK, supported by DNA findings and tooth impressions on bones.\n<\/p>\n
\n The collection will also display artwork, sculptures and poetry inspired by reported encounters with large cats.\n<\/p>\n
\n Visitors will have the opportunity to view different forms of artwork, including book illustrations, modern posters and food and beer brand images.\n<\/p>\n
Reconstructions sightings\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n The collection also includes people\u2019s own reconstructions of scenes they have witnessed.\n<\/p>\n
\n All artworks portray the big cats in British settings, such as woods or farmland, with other forms of art on show including wood and bronze sculptures plus poems and limericks celebrating these secretive predators.\n<\/p>\n
\n Each day, visitors will have the opportunity to speak with witnesses about their experiences.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt\u2019s splendid to see Nature in Art hosting this aspect of Britain\u2019s hidden wildlife,\u201d said Rick.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cLarge predators have always been represented in the art and culture of their lands, and now this is happening in Britain as well.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cArt can help our awareness of these stealthy large cats that are now culling deer.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cNo doubt they mainly originate from discarded trophy pets but they now seem to be playing their part as predators in the ecosystem, and moving some people to illustrate them.\n<\/p>\n
Bones show big cat tooth marks\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAmong other things the exhibition showcases the big cats\u2019 feeding habits on natural prey like deer with tooth marks on bones as evidence.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cSome of the samples of prey bones will be at the exhibition, along with artist illustrations showing how big cats consume prey and leave the distinct tooth marks.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Have you spotted a big cat or seen evidence such as a suspicious carcass?\n<\/p>\n
\n Email Rick at rick@bigcatconversations.com\n<\/p>\n
\n Depicting Britain\u2019s Beasts: the art of British big cats runs from Tuesday, August 12 to Friday, August 22.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n Nature in Art is at Wallsworth Hall off the A38 at Twigworth, Gloucester (GL2 9PA)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sighting in south Gloucestershire is being probed by big cat expert Rick Minter, who says a nearby…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-329902","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114997470442297209","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}