PODCAST · science
Big Cat Conversations
by Rick Minter
The People's Podcast on Big Cat encounters in Britain. In each episode Rick Minter discusses big cat sightings with different witnesses, finding out what they saw or sensed, how they felt, and how these cases fit a bigger picture.
Episodes
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BCC EP:144 The farm and the wildwood – tales from a Derbyshire sheep farmer
Jamie is a sheep and cattle farmer in Derbyshire. He’s experienced several big cat incidents, starting with seeing a black panther swat butterflies as a youngster while walking with his Grandmother. Jamie describes finding a cat’s lay-up spot with prey remains, being growled at, watching eyes…
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BCC: EP143 Hidden in the hillsides – from Cairngorms to South Wales
Our First guest John Kirk is an experienced sheep and cattle farmer in the Cairngorms. His recent sighting of a black panther in the area prompted many more local reports on Facebook and to him direct. John also heard a description of a black panther fleeing the Cairngorms wildfires a week before...
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BCC EP:142 The Dean big five & TV big cat review
Our first guest Robin Baker describes three big black cat sightings from the Forest of Dean and two pieces of his resulting artwork which include black leopards. Robin also explains his ‘Big Five’ creatures of the Dean which feature in his artwork. Robin also explains the scowles of the Forest of...
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BCC EP:141 Mountain lions in the mix – Wiltshire & Herefordshire
Our first guest Ellie watched two pumas in Wiltshire in April this year. Still fresh from the excitement she describes the incident, and the new sense of wildness it brings to the British landscape for her. She also explains how this experience influences her work as an artist. She has recently...
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BCC EP:140 Forest of Dean forum – the voice of young trackers
We hear from several big cat witnesses at the Dean Heritage Centre, recorded at the Art & Science of British Big Cats event in April-May 2026. Key guests include Will, a 16-year-old investigator who has had three big cat encounters in the Forest of Dean area, and 10-year-old George, who travelled...
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BCC EP:139 Suffolk born & bred – the people and the panthers
We hear from Paul, a retired woodsman from mid Suffolk. He has had three encounters with large cats, including one watching him through the bracken. He describes his own incidents and others he has heard. Paul explains his tree management work across the local countryside and considers how big…
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BCC EP:138 Predators in charge – Midlands leopards in focus
Ian encountered two black leopards in a midlands wood at dusk, watching them rush through the dry reeds by a dyke. Ian discusses his close observation of the playful large cats, and mentions other snippets on similar big cats he has heard from the area. Our second guest Damian also keeps watch…
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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 homes. Our 4 guests describe their own sightings of pumas wild in Britain, and compare them to the...
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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 cats nearby, including on a disused golf course. Some of Darren’s encounters have been close up…
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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 Heythrop private zoo in the Cotswolds. Tracey recounts other big cat reports from family and friends,...
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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 calves on the Somerset levels near Glastonbury. Sam and Rick then discuss their inputs to a recent…
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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 predator, and he describes the fear he felt at finding himself so close to the scene. John our...
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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 mentions rumours of canned hunting in the past as one of the origins of the large cats in Britain, and…
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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 police followed up and found footprints from which they took casts. Miriam was recruited as a...
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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 one stage she was lactating. Charlie regularly encountered the cat during spells when he escaped...
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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 Herefordshire. It rushed off, doing a long leap through a high gap in the hedge. Malcolm then asked around and...
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BCC EP:128 Secrets of the hoax – real & imagined beasts
Secrets of the hoax – real & imagined beasts Our 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 panther that was positioned in Charlbury in a large garden close to the station. The ‘panther’ was...
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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 the midlands and Mercia. As well as discussing his panther incident, Hugh mentions other big cat...
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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 helped shape her ideas for the big cat aspects of the plot. The book has already been optioned as…
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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 takes us through various lynx encounters, including two of his own, and describes his three experiences...
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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, there seemed no easy way out. John explains his thoughts and the subliminal messages he received at...
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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 re-lives the high emotions on the winter hillside as bright green eyeshine stared back. Rick and...
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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 to predate kangaroos, wallabies and rabbits. She looks after two pure dingoes, which have reacted…
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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 on the mother, as well as alarm calls from magpies harassing the cats. Liz and Rick discuss the...
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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 saga from Paul Macdonald of Scottish Big Cat Research. Andrew our first guest from County Durham recounts…
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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 Worcestershire, as a hotline for reports and discussion. Her own sighting was a close-up view of a black...
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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 recounts a local vicar’s sighting of a big black cat at the time, and he explains how local teenagers...
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BCC EP:117 The leopard, the cub & the farmyard strays – in the company of cats
Liz describes several encounters with a black leopard visiting the farmyard where she and her husband feed the farm cats. She has been watched and advanced on by the large cat and is now fully alert to its potential presence. On one occasion Liz noticed a small panther like cat dart out of cover…
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BCC EP:116 The clawed carcass - grappling with the evidence?
Craig our guest returns after episode 72 when he re-lived his Exmoor big cat encounters in the 1980s. Now based in Herefordshire, Craig explains the big cat reports and potential activity occurring in his own village, right where he walks his dogs. He has been followed by an animal with large...
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BCC EP:115 The leopard trail to Skye
Our first guest Graham recounts a close encounter with a large black cat on the Isle of Skye during one of his fishing trips. We discuss how a cat like a black leopard could have arrived on Skye and how well such a cat could go unnoticed in the island’s wild terrain. For our second guest we catch...
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BCC EP:114 Wye Valley pumas – the rescued & the wild
In this Summer edition we discuss pumas encountered in the wild on the England & Wales border in the Wye Valley, but we also visit a special sanctuary for re-homed exotic pets, also in the Wye Valley area. Our first guest Grant, explains how he and friends were advanced on by a puma when they…
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BCC EP:113 Daybreak with the Cheshire leopards
Steve our guest trains his working gun dog, a springer spaniel every morning at dawn. We hear of four occasions when he’s encountered a large black cat in his local Cheshire countryside. For one of the sightings the animal had a pronounced limp. On the BCC website (Refs & Links, Ep 113) Steve...
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BCC EP:112 The policeman, the prints & the calling leopard
Our first guest Richard recounts a sudden episode of big cat reports from his time as a local police officer in Wiltshire. One of the cases involved a threatened domestic cat. In the second part we catch up with tracker and wildlife guide Mark Graves who was first on ep 95. He explains why some...
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BCC EP:111 Cat at the campsite, panther at the portaloo
We hear from Andy and from Gail, the different witnesses mentioned by Nick on his farm in episode 109. Andy and Gail speak about their own various big cat incidents during their farm visits, and they have each had one close up account… Andy confronted a large black “panther-leopard” one evening…
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BCC EP:110 Panthera Cumbria - DNA developments
In this Cumbria update we discuss new DNA evidence with Sharon Larkin-Snowden following her input to episode 101. In October 2023 Sharon found a freshly consumed sheep carcass. Without realising, she also disturbed a big black cat at the scene. Later she swabbed the carcass for any saliva…
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BCC EP:109 The changing farm - new woods & new predators
Nick runs a farm in the English midlands which is now transforming to wildlife friendly woods and meadows. Amongst the farm’s wildlife are sightings and signs of big cats. Nick recounts people’s big cat encounters in the area and he describes the suspicious prints and the potential big cat lay-up...
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BCC EP:108 Dusk in the park – kids & the curious panther
Eliza and two of her Cubs group friends came close to a black panther “with ears like a teddy bear” in their local Country Park in Spring 2023. The location is a big greenspace, busy in the daytime with families and visitors on the edge of town, adding to the shock and surprise felt by Eliza and...
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BCC EP:107 Fishing fright – the lakeside leopard warning
Wayne is an angler in Essex. He describes 3 close encounters with big cats at fishing lakes. On one occasion he met with a leopard warning him off just meters away on a lakeside path. The nearby muntjac deer might owe its life to Wayne’s presence, as he stumbled upon the scene between the cat and...
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BCC EP:106 Forest echoes – Argyll’s big cat calls
Janet is based in a remote corner of Argyll. She was unaware of the area’s long history of big cat reports until events kicked off close to her house in 2023. She explains the warning calls and the sightings she experienced locally and coincidentally when visiting Aberdeenshire. Janet is a...
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BCC EP:105 Top corner cats – tracking the Caithness leopards
We hear from Paul, an investigator near John O’Groats in north-east Scotland. He re-tells several big cat sighting reports from recent years, and he explains his use of trail cams, night vision cameras, and lures. Last summer he followed up a local black leopard report, then found himself in a...
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BCC EP:104 Sherwood & Shropshire – glimpses in the Greenwood
Adam’s Grandfather’s once had a big cat sighting in Sherwood Forest and now, decades later, Adam has just experienced a large black cat in the same area - we hear the details in this episode. Adam also discusses several big cat encounters he’s heard of from friends and contacts in Nottinghamshire...
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BCC EP:103 The spectre at the stables – big cats bothering horses
We hear Sue’s experience after 10 years’ worth of big cat sightings and incidents around her stables in Essex. Her daughter and sons have had close sightings, and in one of Sue’s encounters she was next to a black panther in the stable yard at dusk. Sue describes some severe impacts on two of the...
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BCC EP:102 Fight or flight? Cumbria’s cornered cat
Charles reflects on his two encounters with a black panther or leopard, 21 years apart, both while caravanning and trekking in Cumbria. For the first incident Charles was in touching distance of the big cat as he entered his caravan awning and discovered it there – Charles recounts the moments he...
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BCC EP:101 Lake District leopards
We catch up with Cumbrian investigator Sharon Larkin at the end of the Westmorland Show where Rick and Sharon were meeting witnesses and visitors to the big cat stand. Sharon explains how she follows up reports on her Facebook page, Big Cats in Cumbria. She describes several of her own encounters...
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BCC EP:100 Where the wild things are
For our centenary show we met with 25 contacts in a Herefordshire pub, to talk big cats, sample the local cider, and eat celebration panther cakes. We heard sighting reports from Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Dorset – two of which were genuinely ‘close’ encounters. David, one of the…
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BCC EP:99 The dumping grounds – exploring the rogue wildlife
Phebe has been following-up big cat reports in different places for 30 years. She’s been trusted with local information on big cat incidents, and has witnessed a lynx in Hertfordshire and two black leopards together in SW Wales. We hear of her own cat encounters and some memorable information…
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BCC EP:98 Derbyshire dales – hidden homes of the big cats
Gareth is a reporter for local papers in Derbyshire and joins us as another journalist guest on the podcast, following Tristan in episode 94. Gareth has had a long-term interest in big cat encounters and has glimpsed one himself. He explains how big cat stories get high hit rates in the media, so...
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BCC EP:97 Crossing paths with a Glastonbury panther
In the first half we hear from Jayne – she caught sight of a black panther with several of her jogging friends one morning this year in Somerset. Other friends had previously told her of their alleged reports at the Glastonbury festival area. In the second half, Mark Graves returns after episode...
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BCC EP:96 Gamekeeper big cat diaries
George is a retired gamekeeper in Herefordshire. He recounts his sighting of a local black panther, and many years before, a puma in a forest near Bodmin in Cornwall. George also discusses his regrets at shooting an adult black panther as well as what appeared to be a young one, in recent years…
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BCC EP:95 Living with leopards - Africa & Britain compared
Former South African farmer & wilderness guide Mark Graves briefs us on living with leopards in South Africa, where he has guided Kruger National Park visitors and trained trackers on leopards and the Big 5. Mark takes us through some of his close observations of leopards and he explains the...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The People's Podcast on Big Cat encounters in Britain. In each episode Rick Minter discusses big cat sightings with different witnesses, finding out what they saw or sensed, how they felt, and how these cases fit a bigger picture.
HOSTED BY
Rick Minter
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Big Cat Conversations have?
Big Cat Conversations currently has 144 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Big Cat Conversations about?
The People's Podcast on Big Cat encounters in Britain. In each episode Rick Minter discusses big cat sightings with different witnesses, finding out what they saw or sensed, how they felt, and how these cases fit a bigger picture.
How often does Big Cat Conversations release new episodes?
Big Cat Conversations publishes regularly with 144 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Big Cat Conversations?
You can listen to Big Cat Conversations on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Big Cat Conversations?
Big Cat Conversations is created and hosted by Rick Minter.
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