Further reading

If you are keen to learn more about the subject we can recommend the following titles:

Big cats in Britain

• Big Cats - Facing Britain's Wild Predators   Rick Minter. 2011. Whittles Publishing
  

The most recent and easily the most accessible book on the subject. Available from Amazon 

• Roaring Dorset! - Encounters with Big cats   Merrily Harper. 2008. Roving Press
  

An interesting compilation of big cat sightings from across Dorset. Available from Amazon

• Mystery Cats of The World - From Blue Tigers to Exmoor Beasts   Karl Shuker.1989. Robert Hale
  

Long out of print and harder to find these days, but was amongst the first objective information available and remains an important reference. Try AbeBooks.co.uk

Big cats in Australia

It seems Britain is not the only country that has a population of large non-native cats. These two fascinating books tell the story.

• Australian Big Cats -  An Unatural History of Panthers   Mike Williams & Rebecca Lang. 2010. Strange Nation Publishing.
  

Carefully researched and packed full of eye-witness reports and evidence. Available from Amazon

• Savage Shadow - The Search for the Australian Cougar   David O'Reilly. 1981. Re-published 2011. Strange Nation Publishing.
  

This classic well-written book reads like a novel, documenting the real-life struggle of a group of livestock farmers against the depredations of a population of large puma-like cats. Available from Amazon

Leopards
There aren't a great many good books about leopards - here are four we particularly like

• The African Leopard - Ecology and Behaviour of a Solitary Felid   Theodore N Bailey. 1993. Columbia University Press
  

Based on two years of intensive field study in Kruger National Park - what do you want to know? it's most probably in here. Fantastic. Yep, Amazon has got it (£42)

• The Leopard in India: A Natural History  J C Daniel. 2009. Natraj Publishers
  

Detailed account of the biology, distribution, behaviour of leopard in the Sub-Continent. Includes a section on interactions with man and man-eating leopards. Available from The Book Depository.co.uk for only twelve quid.

• Leopard   Gerald Hinde. 1992. Harper Collins
  

Account of a top wildlife photographer's observations of leopards in Mala Mala game reserve in the Eastern Transvaal. Hard to think of a better collection of images of leopards being leopards. Out of print, try AbeBooks.co.uk

• The Man-eating Leopard of Rudrapryag   Jim Corbett.1947. Re-published and reprinted many times - currently by Oxford India Paperbacks.
  

When cats were cats and men were scared. Leopards don't as a rule eat people very often - but when they do develop a taste for man-flesh, then their stealth, cunning and intelligence makes for a truly terrifying pestilence. Jim Corbett gives a carefully-detailed account of his hunt for the notorious male leopard that held sway over 200 square miles of hill country in the Colonial United Provinces of India for nine years from 1918 to 1926 accounting for 125 souls. All other previous attempts to trap, poison or shoot the animal had failed, but after pursuing it - and it pursuing him - for over ten weeks, Corbett at last managed to shoot it dead on 2nd May 1926. A small moument marks the spot today.  Surely one the greatest wildlife adventure stories of all time, every word of which is true. 

A bloody good read and one of my favourite books. Available from Amazon for just four pounds and worth every single penny.

Pumas
Four books on pumas we have found to be of interest

• Desert Puma: Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation of an Enduring Carnivore   Kenneth A Logan & Linda L Sweanor.2001. Island Press
  

''This is a scholarly monograph that presents the results of a 10-year field study of the ecology of the desert puma in the Chihuahua Desert of New Mexico. With the increasing recognition of the importance of top carnivores to the health and functioning of ecosystems. This book presents findings from one of the most comprehensive long-term studies of a top carnivore ever conducted''. Available from the Book Depository.co.uk.

• Stalked by a Mountain Lion - Fear, Fact and the Uncertain Future of Cougars in America   Jo Deurbrouck. 2007. Falcon Guide.
  

Examining the myths and realities of puma and human interactions. Yes, pumas do on occasion eat people!  Available from the Book Depository.co.uk.

• Shadow Cat - Encountering the American Mountain Lion   Susan Ewing & Elizabeth Grossman (Eds) 1999. Sasquatch Books
  

A collection of twenty essays about pumas, people and the wilderness they inhabit. Out of print, try AbeBooks.co.uk

• Beast of Never Cat of God - The Search for the Eastern Puma   Bob Butz. 2005. The Lyons Press
  

One man's account of his quest to prove that pumas had returned to the Eastern United States after an abscence of over a century. Has some parallels to the situation in the UK. Available from the Natural History Book Society (nhbs.com)

Cat biology

• Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids   David.W Macdonald & Andrew. J Loveridge (Eds). 2010.Oxford University Press
  

Excellent reference book covering a wide range of subjects relevant to felid conservation and biology. Includes descriptions of all thirty-six cat species.
Available from Amazon

• Wild cats of the World - The Ultimate Guide to Every Species Worldwide   Mel Sunquist and Fiona Sunquist. 2002. University of Chicago Press.
  

The clue's in the title; near comprehensive for the time and very well written and presented. Available from Amazon and of course a range of more expensive sellers.

• The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives - An Illustrated Guide to Their Evolution and Natural History  A. Turner & M. Anton. 1997. Columbia University Press
  

''Whether your interest is scientific or you merely wonder what a giant cat whose teeth inspired the name 'he who brings devastation' looked  like, this book is not to be missed''  Couldn't have put it better myself - just superb and beautifully illustrated too!  Available from that small online seller.