A lynx that was found preserved in a museum has been identified as the βBeast of Bodminβ from its time period.
The British countryside has long been rumored to be home to big cats, such as the Beast of Bodmin and the Essex lion. While these claims have often been dismissed, researchers from several UK universities have uncovered evidence that a large predatory feline was on the prowl over 100 years ago. A stuffed Canadian lynx, twice the size of a domestic cat, was found in the vaults of the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. The lynx had been shot by a Devon landowner after killing two dogs, and analysis suggests it had been kept in captivity before being released. The findings challenge the idea that all big cats in the UK were released after the 1976 Wild Animals Act, and suggest that exotic felids have occasionally been part of British fauna for over a century. While there is no evidence that big cats can breed in the wild in Britain, sightings of them remain commonplace.
