Cat man: I'm convinced it was a lion (From Thurrock Gazette)
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Cat man: I'm convinced it was a lion
1:16pm Thursday 30th August 2012 in News By Lucy Kirby, Chief Reporter
Can you spot the "lion" in the picture?
THE man who reported a lion sighting to police in Grays on Tuesday remains convinced what he saw was not a domestic cat.
Graham Bowers, 61, was with five other men in Cherry Tree Close, when he made the call to police.
They all believe the cat they saw was a mountain lion or a cougar, and police, who Mr Bowers said arrived an hour after his call, did not catch a glimpse of it, and decided it must have been a
large domestic cat after finding one in Thameside Junior School’s grounds.
Mr Bowers said: “There were five grown men watching this cat, including my nephew and my brother.
“We’re not stupid, we were flabbergasted at the size of this cat.
“We believe it was a mountain lion or a cougar, it was too big to be a normal cat.
“It is dangerous, and could eat a small child.”
Mr Bowers said the container the cat in the picture was sitting on in the school’s grounds, was around 40ft long, which he believes demonstrates its size, he said it lay there for about an hour
enjoying sunning itself.
He added: “We were monitoring the cat for about an hour before the police came, we urged the officer to come upstairs in the house so he could see better, as there were bushes in the way from the
ground, but he wouldn’t, then there was noise from the scrapyard nearby and the cat jumped down out of view.
“After the first officer had gone, an armed police unit came down, and one of the officers said he had been involved in the search for the lion in Clacton.
“They showed us a picture of a normal domestic cat and said how big they can get.
“We’re not thick, it wasn’t what we saw.
“I thought the police were really inefficient, I was really angry.”
Mr Bowers said the picture was taken on his camera phone, and believes if he can get better camera with a zoom and find the cat again, it will reveal the truth.
We sent Mr Bowers’ picture to a cougar expert Christopher Spatz from the Eastern Cougar Foundation in New York, and he said he thought it was a domestic cat.
He said: “Based on the body proportions, it looks like a house cat.”
However, Tim Dunbar at the Mountain Lion Foundation in California said he couldn’t say for sure what type of cat the animal pictured is.
He said: “The quality of the photo makes it impossible to state that the animal displayed is or is not a mountain lion.”
Essex Police confirmed it did send an armed response unit to the scene.
A spokesman said: “An armed response unit was sent at the same time as the other officer, but was stood down when there was no sign of the cat.”
Comments(17)
A.N.Other
says...
1:33pm Thu 30 Aug 12
rogwj
says...
3:42pm Thu 30 Aug 12
truthseekeruk
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7:37pm Thu 30 Aug 12
d_2da_ougle
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11:40pm Thu 30 Aug 12
OckendonPaul
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9:53am Fri 31 Aug 12
Frankandstein2
says...
10:39am Fri 31 Aug 12
rogwj wrote:Bravo !!:-)!
I think that Mr Bowers saw an Essex cougar. There's been a rapid increase in numbers in recent years, and Grays has several preying on unsuspecting males (so I am told).
Thurrockbob
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12:59pm Fri 31 Aug 12
Thurrockbob
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12:59pm Fri 31 Aug 12
btahhhh
says...
1:25pm Fri 31 Aug 12
btahhhh
says...
1:25pm Fri 31 Aug 12
rocket1
says...
2:50pm Fri 31 Aug 12
rogwj
says...
7:53pm Sat 1 Sep 12
Thurrockbob
says...
8:02am Sun 2 Sep 12
rogwj wrote:Call me what you like mate, as long as it isn't late for dinner, and I am referring to the popular drunks beer! :o)
Interesting comment Thurrockbob (or should I call you Mr D?). Are you referring to the popular beer Stella or "something" of which older Grays residents would be aware?
rogwj
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8:36am Sun 2 Sep 12
Thurrockbob
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1:38pm Sun 2 Sep 12
rogwj wrote:No probs fella, am happy you agree with 'most' of my comments, means I may be doing something right. :o)
Thanks for clarifying that Thurrockbob. Apologies for the reference to "Mr D", but a long time ago on these pages (and I would add that I usually agree with your comments) you posted a comment that caused me to think that you might well be someone that I knew named Bob and whose surname began with D.
No apology necessary, we all make mistakes said the tortoise climbing off the german helmet. :o)
DannyButcher
says...
2:41pm Thu 6 Sep 12
The picture is clearly not a lion.
Mattster says...
1:23pm Thu 30 Aug 12