Beast of Bodmin - still active? New sightings cluster in 2024

I've been monitoring reports on this board for years and there's been a noticeable uptick in Beast of Bodmin sightings in the past six months. Mostly along the B3267 corridor near Dozmary Pool, with one report from as recently as last month.

Most of these can be dismissed as misidentified dogs, but the description consistency is interesting. Large feline, dark coat, unusual gait. I'm wondering if what we're looking at is either: (a) a surviving population of big cats from the 1970s breeding program escapes, or (b) something that's never been formally classified.

Anyone done fieldwork in the area recently? I'm thinking about organizing a weekend expedition in May and would like to know current hotspots.

The Beast of Bodmin is almost certainly just feral dogs and overactive imaginations. Every moorland area has a 'big cat' legend. The Scottish Highlands have had them for decades. None of them have ever been conclusively documented despite thousands of reported sightings. That's pretty telling.

Actually there's decent evidence for large cat colonies in the UK. In 2012 they found actual paw prints from an unknown feline species in Devon. And the 1970s illegal pet trade was huge. I think there probably are escaped exotics running around, but whether that's what people are seeing is another question.

I'm thinking about organizing a weekend expedition in May and would like to know current hotspots.

The area around Blisland and Warleggan is where most reports cluster. Be prepared for nothing though - tracking is nearly impossible on moorland. You'll probably just find sheep. But worth doing. If you're going, I'd recommend contacting the Bodmin Moor Beast Research Society. They've got proper databases of sightings with GPS coordinates.

The consistency in descriptions might just be because people are reading previous reports and their imaginations are filling in the blanks. That's called priming. Once a narrative is established, every ambiguous sighting gets squeezed into that narrative. I'd be more impressed if someone got crystal clear photographs, or DNA evidence, or an actual body.

I grew up in Cornwall and knew someone who swore blind they saw it in 1989. Said it was definitely not a dog - proportions were all wrong. But this was before mobile phones with cameras so no evidence. What kills the Beast legend for me is the complete lack of roadkill or remains despite 50+ years of sightings. Large predators leave bodies.