Show Notes
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 moments when he once had to face and retreat from an advancing lioness. Now based in Britain, Mark discusses the large cats reportedly living here, and considers how we can live alongside them.&...
More from Big Cat Conversations
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 like car headlights through night vision, and firing a warning shot beside a cat to make it retreat. Jamie is keen to learn more and content to live with big cats if they stick to natural pre...
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 this recording. John recounts his two other sightings of large cats in the area in the past. He explains his concerns on lynx reintroduction ideas, after attending a field trip on lynx issues in Swit...
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 Dean, a landform which inspired Tolkein’s Lord of the Ring’s Middle-earth landscape. The scowles are gullies in the woods, produced by ancient iron ore mining and now used as eerie backdrops to Star ...
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 seen a darker shaded puma in a sanctuary in Georgia, USA, that matches the colour tone of the Wiltshire ones. Ellie has been invited to Wildside (ep 137 of our podcasts) to be an art...
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 from Somerset with his mun Louise to take part. George looks for evidence in southwest England, and with his dad he recently observed a big cat skulk away at dusk as they were watching beav...