South Essex farmers have pledged to hunt for wild big cats roaming the countryside after recent sightings.
Nearly 1,000 farmers will now work with the British Big Cat Society to collect and study evidence of strange beasts in the UK.
Essex is considered by experts to be a likely county for big cat activity, with many parks and farmland areas.
New information has emerged of various sightings in 2002 of a large cat on the loose in Basildon's Wat Tyler Country Park.
During the summer a farmer, who lived near the park, discovered the carcasses of four or five calves which had been eaten down to the bones.
A council official is reported to have seen the beast and police were also monitoring the situation, but sightings ended.
In Suffolk, on the border of Essex, farmers shot a northern lynx after it killed nearly 15 sheep over a two-week period.
The Big Cat Society, organised three years ago, has now joined forces with the National Farmers Union to collect further evidence.
Published Friday January 23, 2004
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