All the talks from this year's BCIB conference are now on YouTube for your viewing pleasure.
The theme of the conference was 'Big Cats: what is the evidence?' I went down for the day on Saturday, and for me, the speakers that day who most addressed the question were:-
- Jon McGowan talking about field signs of big cats in Dorset.
- Chris Hall talking about big cats in the north-east.
- Darren Naish who took us back to prehistoric times and showed us the evidence (in the bone and fossil record) of big cats that were native to Britain during the Pleistocene.
What the videos can't get across is the atmosphere of the day, which was friendly and enthusiastic. Over lunch (and no doubt even more so in the pub later) there was much discussion, sharing of tales, and comparing of notes. I heard several variants on the theme of 'My best big cat encounter ever'...
Hosts Chris Moiser and Jane Bassett made us very welcome at Tropiquaria and many of us enjoyed the opportunity to see the animals, which all looked happy in their various enclosures. My favourites? The wallaby with a joey in its pouch, and two comedy emus. Later Chris and Jane took us on a twilight walk through their tropical house. Not a big cat in sight, but at least I got to stroke an iguana.
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