BIG CAT NEWS: Neil Arnold on a Kent Big Cat photo

With the recent video of an alleged 'big cat' appearing on The Sun website, I'd be interested to see what CFZ readers make of this image which I published in my MYSTERY ANIMALS OF...KENT book in 2009.



The photo was snapped in 1998 by a Kent man named Harry Matthews whilst he was working on marshes at Cooling, a few miles outside of Rochester.









At the time the story featured on the local news, and in no way did Mr Matthews say it was an enormous cat, but he felt it was more than just a feral. Interestingly, a story appeared on one of the major tabloid websites from elsewhere in the country and this photo was stolen and spoken of as 'the beast of Bodmin', but it isn't, it was photographed in Kent. It's one of the clearest photo's ever taken, and has led some to believe it's a Reed Cat (Jungle Cat), others believe it to be a domestic/Jungle cat hybrid. It certainly isn't much bigger than a fox, your opinions please.



Regards



Neil Arnold