BCC EP:98 Derbyshire dales – hidden homes of the big cats

Gareth is a reporter for local papers in Derbyshire and joins us
as another journalist guest on the podcast, following Tristan in
episode 94. 


Gareth has had a long-term interest in big cat encounters and has
glimpsed one himself. He explains how big cat stories get high
hit rates in the media, so local newspapers welcome news of
people’s sightings.  


Gareth describes some key big cat events in Derbyshire, including
the release of lynx at the former Riber Castle zoo, the
long-running Carsington Beast reports, and a farmer finding his
dogs confronting a lynx.  


Gareth also reflects on the time he received a hoax report and
photo, and Rick refers to some recent big cat cases in Derbyshire
and a TV show episode due in Summer 2023 which features
Derbyshire big cat cases. 


See our Refs and Links page at 
https://bigcatconversations.com/refs-links/  for details of
the May 2023 YouGuv survey on people’s belief in big cats living
wild in Britain. 


Words of the week:   media algorithm


7 July 2023