British big cats

British big cats, sometimes referred to as ABCs, short for Alien Big Cats or Anomalous Big Cats, phantom cats or mystery cats, are non native big cats, possibly predatory, said to be roaming the countryside of the British Isles. For many years their existence has been debated and many scientists have dismissed them as fake. To this day they are thought of as an exotic part of British wildlife by some and as an urban legend by others. Those sighted are often claimed to be "panthers", "pumas", or "black cats".

Hundreds of sightings of big cats are reported in Britain every year, many by unimpeachable witnesses, and some at close quarters. Annual statistics and reports are published by The Big Cats in Britain research network.[1] Approximately 85% of these animals are described as black, while most others are unpatterned brown. The only species of big cat which can be black are leopards and jaguars, whose melanistic forms are popularly known as black panthers.