predator<\/a> lurked nearby.<\/p>\nThe revelation comes after claims a driver claims to have seen a black panther by the M5 in May – sparked a debate about whether big cats are regularly prowling near our motorways.<\/p>\n
The sightings are being probed by big cat expert Rick Minter, who is curating a major exhibition inspired by big cats which is running in Gloucestershire.<\/p>\n
The event is being run in association with Rick\u2019s Big Cat Conversations podcast, which has heard about several close encounters from walkers including the Tetbury sighting.<\/p>\n
Environmental consultant Rick, author of Big Cats: Facing Britain\u2019s Wild Predators, outlined what happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cEpisode 41 features a dog walker near Tetbury who watched a black panther cornering a fox at dusk,” he explained.<\/p>\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<\/p>\n
There was another sighting near Stroud.<\/p>\n
\u201cEpisode 71 includes a witness who unwittingly disturbed a black panther hunkered down watching roe deer just north of Stroud,\u201d said Rick.<\/p>\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.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the illustrations at the exhibition shows the orange highlights of a black leopard, which can sometimes be noticed when the animal is lit up in sunlight.”<\/p>\n
![\"pexels-denishan-joseph-2535613-4137250\"](\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\")
<\/p>\n
Photo by Denishan Joseph via Pexels<\/p>\n
By Talker<\/p>\n
Rick has also been probing the M5 sighting and says a nearby farmer reported that cattle had been behaving nervously at the time for several days.<\/p>\n
A driver spotted the \u2018panther\u2019 on the western side of the M5\/M4 junction in May – leading to claims that our motorway verges may be a strangely attractive area for big cats believed to be living in the British countryside.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn May, a driver claimed to have seen a black panther lurking in the scrub by the M5 motorway verge in south Gloucestershire,\u201d said Rick<\/p>\n
\u201cIn following it up I found that the neighboring farm at that spot reported that its cattle had been on edge and were behaving nervously for a few days around the time of the sighting.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent years there have been two other \u2018credible\u2019 sightings by motorists who have seen beasts resting on the verge of the M5 between Gloucester and Thornbury, added Rick.<\/p>\n
Despite the noise and obvious disruption, he believes our motorway verges may actually attract big cats.<\/p>\n
\u201cA motorway verge may be noisy but for a large predator it could be an undisturbed zone with sun traps for resting,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe scrubby vegetation acts as a wildlife corridor, with rabbits and deer available as a ready food source.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo big cats may use motorway edges as routes and refuges at times, like other mammals do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rick revealed the M5 sighting ahead of an exhibition inspired by big cats which he is curating and which has just opened in Gloucestershire.<\/p>\n
Depicting Britain\u2019s Beasts: the art of British big cats runs at the Nature in Art gallery near Gloucester until Friday, August 22.<\/p>\n
It showcases various art forms depicting the black leopards, mountain lions and lynx reportedly seen across the country.<\/p>\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.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Angel Luciano<\/p>\n
By Talker<\/p>\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.<\/p>\n
There will also be art, sculptures and poetry inspired by reported encounters with large cats.<\/p>\n
Visitors will have the opportunity to view different forms of artwork, including book illustrations, modern posters and food and beer brand images.<\/p>\n
The collection also includes people\u2019s own reconstructions of scenes they have witnessed.<\/p>\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.<\/p>\n
Each day, visitors will have the opportunity to speak with witnesses about their experiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s splendid to see Nature in Art hosting this aspect of Britain\u2019s hidden wildlife,\u201d said Rick.<\/p>\n
\u201cLarge predators have always been represented in the art and culture of their lands, and now this is happening in Britain as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cArt can help our awareness of these stealthy large cats that are now culling deer.<\/p>\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.<\/p>\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.<\/p>\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<\/p>\n
Every Exponent article goes through checks for accuracy before publication. If you have a concern or questions about this article, please email editor@purdueexponent.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"King Charles’ estate Highgrove House. (SWNS) By James Felton Countryside near King Charles’ home is being stalked by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[7709,7730,7731,126057,1760,7710,519],"class_list":{"0":"post-358155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-british-royal-family","9":"tag-charles","10":"tag-charles-iii","11":"tag-james-felton","12":"tag-king-charles","13":"tag-royal-families","14":"tag-royal-family"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115058411105630643","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358155","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=358155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}