Escaped Lynx Loose in Wales

At the end of October, it appears, a Eurasian lynx escaped from a zoo to roam freely in the Welsh countryside.

Lillith, the escaped lynx
(The Guardian/Borth Wild Animal Kingdom)

The Guardian reports (Nov. 1):

"Zookeepers with thermal imaging equipment, nets and cages step up search for Lillith, who escaped from zoo last week.

"The net appears to be closing in on a lynx that has been roaming free on a Welsh hillside after escaping from her zoo enclosure.

"Zookeepers have got within three metres of the lynx, which is called Lillith, and even managed to take a photo of her, but she has remained just out of their grasp.

"The young lynx was last seen in her enclosure at Borth Wild Animal Kingdom in west Wales on Thursday last week [Oct. 26]. At first, staff thought Lillith may have clashed with her mother, Dee, and was lying low in her enclosure.

"On Sunday morning, zoo owners Dean and Tracy Tweedy went to check on Lillith to find she had disappeared. They called the police, who scrambled a helicopter and warned the public not to approach the big cat.

"Zookeepers kitted out with thermal imaging equipment, nets and cages baited with rabbit have been scouring a craggy hillside and the gardens of the seaside town in search of the animal, which is about twice the size of a domestic cat. A team of trackers armed with tranquilizer darts was on standby.

"On Tuesday afternoon, Dean Tweedy came face to face with her in the gorse on a small hill just metres from the zoo's gate. Unfortunately the rest of the tracking team were on the other side of the zoo and he had no equipment or protective clothing.

"Tweedy said: 'I sat watching her for about 10 minutes. She sat washing herself not more than 10 metres away from me. She looked in good health and relaxed. It was a magical moment seeing her like the but the sooner we get her back now the better.'

"The Eurasian lynx is thought to have climbed a spindly sapling growing in the pen she shared with her mother and two siblings and dived over a four-metre fence and two electrified wires, possibly in pursuit of a bird."

While this article may not have a direct cryptozoological topic, escapes like this or releases from owners are probably how many of the British Alien Big Cats got to be where they are...