The Beast of Bodmin (or BOB for short) is a black panther-like creature that is believed to inhabit Bodmin Moor. There have been about 60 sightings recorded in the area since 1983 and experts believe there is a population of big cats in and around Bodmin Moor which became a nerve centre of these sightings and reports of inexplicably slain livestock.

All the talk of dangerous wild cats led Great Britain's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to conduct an official investigation in 1995. The study's findings, released on July 19, concluded that there was "no verifiable evidence" of exotic felines loose in Britain, and that the mauled farm animals could have been attacked by common indigenous species. The report did concede, though, that "the investigation could not prove that a 'big cat' is not present."

On July 24 1995, less than a week after the government report, a boy uncovered a startling piece of evidence in Bodmin Moor. Fourteen-year-old Barney Lanyon-Jones was walking with his brothers by the River Fowey at the southern edge of the Moor, when he saw a strange-looking object bobbing in the river's current. Barney thought it was an oddly-shaped rock until he pulled it out of the water, and discovered that it was a large cat skull. Measuring about four inches wide and seven inches long, the skull was missing its lower jaw but possessed two sharp, prominent incisors that suggested a leopard (as seen in the photos on this page). The story hit the national press on July 31, a well-timed counterpoint to the official denial of alien big cat evidence in Bodmin Moor.

The Lanyon-Jones family turned the skull over to London's British Museum of Natural History for verification. Dr. Ian Bishop, the museum's Assistant Keeper of Zoology, examined it and determined that it was a genuine skull from a young male leopard. But he also found that the cat had not died in Britain. Bishop concluded that the skull had been imported as part of a leopard-skin rug.

You can visit the Natural History Museum site and explore the skull by clicking here.

The back of the skull had been cleanly cut off in a way that is commonly used to mount the head on a rug, and there was an egg case inside the skull that had been laid by a tropical cockroach that could not possibly be found in Britain's climate. There were also fine cut marks on the skull indicating that the flesh had been removed with a knife, and the skull had slightly begun to decompose only after a recent submersion in water.

This was not the first time the skull from a mounted trophy had stirred confusion in the search for alien big cats ABCs). In 1988, two teenage boys found a skull on Dartmoor that was never turned over for official study, but the missing back of its skull made many experts suspect a rug-based origin. In 1993, the Natural History Museum had previously identified a large cat skull found in Exmoor as being part of a work of taxidermy. Doug Richardson, assistant curator of mammals at London Zoo, has suggested that a prankster may be planting these skulls on the moors in hopes of misleading their discoverers.

Sightings of the Beast of Bodmin Moor still continue. In October 1997, officials from Newquay Zoo claimed to identify pawprints left in mud to the south of Bodmin Moor as the fresh tracks of a puma. Soon after that discovery, an alleged photograph of the Bodmin Beast materialized, which seemed to show an adult female puma that was looked like it could be pregnant. The authenticity of this piece of evidence remains unconfirmed.

Perhaps the best supporting evidence yet for the beast's existence comes in the form of recent 20-second video footage shot in August 1998 which may show a species of wild cat previously thought to be extinct. Paul Tyler, MP for North Cornwall, is submitting a dossier of evidence to the government for examination by experts. "Farmers and others who had sighted the so-called 'Beast of Bodmin' did not take kindly to being portrayed as gullible yokels, deluded by a trick of the light," said Mr Tyler.

The armed forces also became involved in the search. RAF reserve volunteers spent a night camped in ditches and under hedges with the latest military night-vision equipment. But all attempts by members of 2625 County of Cornwall Squadron to spot a big cat were scuppered by low cloud and mist.

In an interview with the BBC, Squadron Leader Andrew McCombe said that several intruder detection devices were triggered during the night. "So something was moving along the tracks," he said, "but because of the cloud we could not get a good look. It was an interesting and useful training exercise."

Most experts believe that BOB is, most likely, a large cat or cats released into the wild following the introduction of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act in the 1970s, which imposed new restrictions on the keeping of exotic pets. Since then, the cats may have thrived and bred in remote areas and could now number as many as 20, according to wildlife expert Trevor Beer, who has spent many years studying them.

(Thanks to ParaScope, Paul Cropper and the BBC for this research.)