A WILDLIFE enthusiast says that he believes big cats and other exotic wildlife live amongst us in the Forest of Dean and beyond.

Frank Tunbridge has been a wildlife enthusiast for decades, and has studied big cats and other exotic wildlife, and learned how to successfully track animals. 

He first became fascinated by the subject growing up in London in the post-war era, when his sister would take him around wildlife parks and zoos, furthered by the mysterious ‘Surrey puma’ sightings in the 1960s. 

Mr Tunbridge believes animals like this started to grow in numbers around this time and have bred across the UK, impacted by how easy they were to obtain, and celebrities who kept them - citing musician Mike Oldfield, who he says kept a menagerie of big cats.

He said: “During the ‘60s, a lot of people started getting these big cats. You could buy them from the Exchange and Mart, and in the ‘animals for sale’, you could buy a puma from a pet shop in a big city - no questions asked. 

“So lots of people had these animals, unregistered of course, and what happened was, one of the theories at least, in 1976, the government brought in the Dangerous Animals Act. Just like the Dangerous Dogs Act, there has to be something dangerous to have happened. 

“There was a carnival procession down in Brighton and two guys went along with a young tiger and suddenly a woman called her son from the other side of the road and it leapt on him.

“So, the government brought in this Act and it meant these animals had to be licensed, you had to pay a fee and prove to the council you had secure accommodation - but people just couldn’t afford it in those days. So, they just let them go into the wild.” 

Frank added that it was not just big cats that were released during this time, but other exotic animals such as monkeys and wolves, and said that once released, many stayed in the area. 

However, while Frank said there have been various sightings reported locally, droppings and scratch marks found, and some long-distanced photographs, he acknowledged that there are always going to be sceptics. 

He said: “There’s a saying; ‘seeing is believing’. Many people are sceptics, I’d say about 85 per cent of the British public scoff at the idea that we’ve got big predatory cats similar to leopards and pumas out there.

“I think a lot of these since that time have bred amongst themselves, and you have hybrid cats.

“The thing is, until we get a body and do an analysis on it, we don’t know - but they are out there. Many are in the Forest of Dean of course - that is one of the biggest areas locally for big cat sightings. 

Frank also believes that there aren’t many close-up photographs from those who spot these animals for a few reasons; including the cats sensing a camera’s infrared technology and the spotter being frozen in shock - by the time they have got their camera out, the animal has gone.

In 50 years, Frank said he has personally seen four big cats, as you have to be in the right place at the right time, and these animals are highly elusive.

However, he said in many ways he would not want this subject to be ‘proven’. He is fascinated by it and likened it to “a murder mystery without the body”. 

If you spot a big cat in the area, you can contact Frank via email at [email protected].