Recent news has suggested that the question of 'beasts' on Dartmoor has been definitively answered in the negative. But not everyone agrees.
Posted in May 2008, this piece of video has caught the attention of an American TV production company, Base Productions.
They've put together a six-person team, led by former FBI special agent Ben Hansen who'll be visiting DZP to interview staff for opinions of this and other sightings. They'll also be gathering physical evidence such as big cat prints, faeces and fur, to take into the field to aid their investigations.
The team of investigators will be accompanied by Danny Bamping, founder of the British Big Cats Society.
The BBCS published the results of a survey in 2004 which collected data from The NFU, several police forces and wildlife organisations from across the country. It ranked the South West very highly for big cat sightings and stongly suggested that the government take the phenomenon more seriously.
The general opinion among those that know here at DZP is that there is little question that in the past, big cats of one kind or another have found their way into the wilds of Britain. However, whether they have been able to survive and, more importantly, breed healthy offspring is a much harder question to answer.
However slim the chances of a healthy population of big cats on the moor, it's worth taking these sightings seriously. If there are big cats out there today, then it's a population that's survived against incredible odds and therefore deserving of study and support.
In Ben's book 'We Bought A Zoo' (brilliant!) Ben says he and others saw a Puma, that's proof enough surely.
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