The Beast of Bodmin Moor

Continuing on the monster theme, a more modern British legend says that a big cat – a black panther – roams Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. Said to terrorise livestock, there have been numerous sightings and even a leopard-like skull found. There are big cat legends in other parts of the country, too, and they may have some basis in fact. A few decades ago it was fashionable among the rich to keep big cats, and it’s thought that some animals may have escaped from (illegal) private collections – or even have been set free when they became too much to handle. But scientists have yet to capture one of these animals, with the result that they have taken on a mythical status because nobody really knows whether they’re out there or not.