Beast of Bodmin: still active or case closed?

I'm doing some research into the Beast of Bodmin for a project and I'm struck by how the reported sightings just... stopped. We had regular reports from the 1970s through to the 1990s, then basically nothing after about 2005. Either the animal died, left the area, or it was never actually real to begin with.

But here's what bothers me: genuine big cat sightings continue across Devon and Cornwall now, they're just not called the Beast anymore. Different name = different narrative = case 'closed' in public consciousness. Has anyone on here encountered what might be a Bodmin cat recently, but reported it differently because the name seems 'solved'?

Interested in recent accounts, not just the classic stories.

The Beast got absorbed into cryptozoology culture but the actual phenomenon probably continued under the radar. Once a case becomes 'solved' (or supposedly solved) in public discourse, people stop looking, even if the thing causing the sightings is still there. It's classic pattern-matching - we name it, we solve it narratively, we move on. Doesn't mean the animal stopped existing.

My uncle lives near Bodmin Moor and he swears blind he saw something big and cat-like in about 2014. Didn't report it as the Beast because he knew how that would sound. Just described it to family as 'probably an escaped exotic'. That's probably happening all over the place. The case isn't closed - it's just diffuse now.

Didn't the theory eventually settle on escapees from private collections or zoo breakouts? That seems more plausible than a cryptid population. Once you accept escaped big cats, the 'mystery' kind of evaporates. Not paranormal, just unfortunate animal husbandry.

The thing I find interesting is the consistency of descriptions across 40+ years. If it was just misidentifications and misreported livestock, you'd expect wildly different accounts. Instead you get repeated descriptions of a black or tawny cat, roughly 5-7 feet long, moving with feline grace. That level of consistency suggests either: (1) an actual animal, (2) a well-maintained hoax, or (3) cultural reinforcement creating false memories. I lean towards (1) or (3).

Has anyone tried contacting local wildlife organisations or farmers directly about recent sightings? Might get better ground-truth data than internet reports. Farmers notice predation patterns that researchers miss.