Big Cat Conversations
Rick Minter
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BCC EP:137 Puma Central – puma witnesses meet at Wildside
We return to Wildside Exotic Rescue in Herefordshire, where owner Lindsay Mckenna now cares for 11 pumas, a lynx, a serval and many other animals which were exotic captives needing new and better…
BCC EP:136 North West safari - Cheshire leopards & the Cumbrian cub grows up…
Our first guest Darren describes his investigations on local marshes in Cheshire, where he’s seen a black leopard, chased by his dog. This happened after his previous encounters with similar looking…
BCC EP:135 Gaze of the cats - return visits to Glos & Herefordshire
Tracey had a prolonged and close view of a black panther outside her car at a forest edge in Gloucestershire in 2001. Two years later she was able to compare the cat with a black leopardess at…
BCC EP:134 The Panthers of Avalon
Our first guest Sam describes his late brother Jake’s sighting of a black panther when he was fishing in south Devon. Then Sam explains his own view of a black leopard watching cattle and their…
BCC EP:133 Watching, stalking & hiding - big cats at home in Britain
Lee our first guest describes his close observation of a puma stalking fallow deer in Buckinghamshire. He watched the circling deer behaviour as they responded as a protective group to the advancing …
BCC EP:132 Cats breaking out – tales from Hampshire & across the globe
Dave our guest had two big cat encounters in East Hampshire in the 1990s. We also hear some panther and puma incidents reported to him through his fishing and his zookeeper networks.Dave also…
BCC EP:131 Surrey hills & heathlands – perennial pumas & panthers
Our first guest Miriam had a close-up sighting of a puma back in 1968 in Surrey, while on an archaeological dig. She explains how she and her mother watched in silence before in slunk off. The local…
BCC EP:130 The Lactating Leopard - bonding with a black shadow
Charlie our guest recounts 6 months of his life at the age of 9 back in 1973-74. Around his house in Ayrshire his family lived alongside a female big black cat, seen active in fields and woods and at…
BCC EP:129 Hidden in Herefordshire - the leaping leopard & the hissing puma
Our first guest Malcolm was an arch sceptic on big cats being wild in Britain. Then one night driving home in 2011 he encountered a big black panther on the lane outside his property in…
BCC EP:128 Secrets of the hoax – real & imagined beasts
Secrets of the hoax – real & imagined beastsOur first guest Simon Lea had two close encounters with a large black panther at his farmholding in Oxfordshire. He later created the life-size metal…
BCC EP:127 Lurking at the margins – big cats of Mercia & Durham
Our first guest Hugh Williams recounts his close encounter with a big cat on a Worcestershire hillside. He also runs the Mysteries of Mercia website which explores quirks of history and folklore in…
BCC EP:126 Kent Cat Fight, Surrey double take
Cat Fight is the new novel from author Kit Conway which centres around big cat encounters in Kent, published in the UK in May and the US in June 2025. We speak to Kit about how Big Cat Conversations…
BCC EP:125 Scottish borderlands – unspoken leopards & lynx
John explores the wild forests and farmland of his local Scottish borders area. It’s a sparsely populated region where black panthers and lynx are quietly discussed by some of the locals. John…
BCC EP:124 Confronting a midlands panther - a five metre face-off
John met a “black panther” during his evening dog walks four times in 1996 in Staffordshire. On the first occasion he was confronted directly by the cat at close range. As the predator was poised,…
BCC EP:123 A shot in the dark – green eyes through the snow
Bonus feature - British wolverines?Our first guest Darren was asked to despatch a troublesome fox in south Wales in 1998. In the snowy conditions he actually saw a puma though his gun sights – he…
BCC EP:122 The puma paradox – Australia’s roo slayers
Andrea is a podcast listener in Victoria, Australia. She didn’t expect to experience big cats on her land. But she explains how events and sightings have indicated she has visiting pumas, which seem…
BCC EP:121 Cubs – from Cumbria to Devon…
We return to Cumbria for latest news of the mother and cub black leopards, being experienced by Liz on nearby land to her property. In autumn and winter sightings Liz has noticed longer fur develop…
BCC EP:120 British lynx & leopards – more police memoirs
Two retired police officers report their big cat encounters and incidents, including black leopards & lynx. We conclude the episode with comments on the January 2025 lynx release & capture…
BCC EP:119 Over the hedge – big cats of Hereford & Worcestershire
Our end-of-year extended episode features Mandy from Worcestershire and Jon from neighbouring Herefordshire.Mandy explains the events which led to her setting-up a big cats Facebook group in…
BCC EP:118 Mother & cub on the moors – son of the Exmoor Beast
Tommy had two sightings of black panthers in the north of Exmoor as a teenager in the 90s. His first viewing was of a mother guiding a small cub, which made a lasting impression on him. Tommy…
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Big Cat Conversations has published 137 episodes since August 2019, covering topics in Natural Sciences, Nature.
Big Cat Conversations is currently highly active with new episodes monthly. Average episode length is 1h 7m.
