The Lion of Dartmoor

Sparked by yesterday's post on "The Beast of Exmoor and Other Nonsense," Chas Clifton sent me a clip about two big cats which were reportedly caught on camera by rangers doing a deer population survey on Dartmoor in the U.K.

Skeptical, I noted that:

"My bet is that these are lurchers. Time will tell. You will note that no one seems to have reported a missing Big Cat, these animals were seen at night in a car while wearing Infrared or Low Light googgles, etc.

Known Big Cats that have escaped zoos in the U.S. or the U.K. before (a recent example can be found here) are typically located or shot deead within a week. A breeding population of such animals would require: 1) several animals escaped at once; 2) of the same species; 3) different sexes; 3) in the same area with no mortality or infecundity, and; 4) no reporting of the escape and no inquiry as to "whatever happened to your lions?"

A quick search turned up the video, shown above, of one of the supposed Big Cats running around Dartmoor.

Dartmoor, of course, is the location that supposedly inspired the original "Hound of the Baskervilles" story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

More than a hundred years have gone by since then, and no "Hell Hounds" or Big Cats have yet turned up, but perhaps this one is different.

And yet, one look at the video and more than a little skepticism rears its head. As always, the video is more than grainy and out of focus, and nothing can be seen other than an outline of something moving across an indistinct background.

And what is the outline of?

Not a Cheetah, not a Leopard, not a Mountain Lion, not a Tiger.

No, the outline (if we are to believe it is a large cat at all) is of an adult male African Lion with a full mane.

Or not.

Perhaps it's just a Leonberger dog.

Or a sheep dog with a strange hair cut.

Or a Wildebeest. Or a pony. Or a house cat shot with forced perspective.

It could be anything.

I would venture that the least likely explanation is that two full-grown African lions are patrolling Dartmoor, sight unseen for more than six weeks, and without any reports to officials about any escaped zoo animals.
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