Image source, Getty Images
- Author, Jason Arunn Murugesu
- Paper, BBC News, North East and Cumbria
A recent report has given credence to the idea that leopards roam stealthily in rural areas.
The findings of Professor Robin Allaby, a biologist at the University of Warwick, suggest that the DNA of a large cat has been identified on the carcass of a sheep in Cumbria.
For years, there have been a few reported sightings in the region. But is this DNA discovery the definitive proof we need?
We spoke to Prof Allaby about his findings, the science involved and how confident he is in his results.
In October 2023, Sharon Larkin-Snowden, a big cat enthusiast, took a sample from a sheep carcass she found, according to Rick Minter, who produces a podcast about the animals.
Mr Minter then passed the sample to Prof Allaby.
He said the findings suggest the sheep were eaten by both a fox and a big cat such as a leopard.
‘Hard to fake’
Professor Allaby said he was relatively confident the sample was not falsified for two main reasons.
Minter has been sending him samples for a long time and is always disappointed by Prof Allaby’s analysis, which reveals that the DNA belongs to a fox or a dog.
Second, very little DNA was present in the sample, he said.
“If this were false, I would hope there was enough DNA for us to find it,” he said.
“It would be very difficult to plant just a few molecules with some subtlety – I don’t think I could do that, much less a layman.”
However, due to the small amount of DNA present, Professor Allaby said there was not enough information to determine what type of feline it came from.
He said more samples were needed before he could say for sure that a big cat roamed Cumbria.
“[However] On the balance of probabilities, I think it was a real success,” he said.
He added that he still didn’t believe there was enough data to publish a paper about his findings.
‘Sceptic’
But Dr Egil Droge, a researcher into predator-prey relationships at the University of Oxford, is more skeptical of the findings.
He said that if there really was a big cat in Cumbria, “where did it go?”
“There have been no good photos of big cats in the area, nor a number of reports of dead sheep.
“I would like to see more convincing and repeated evidence,” he said.
