Maine Coon mistaken for an African lion in Essex!

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NEWS ARCHIVE AND COMMENT-ESSEX, UK: This is one of those big cat sightings in Britain stories with a twist. A couple living in Essex, UK, were convinced that they saw a very large animal which looked like an African lion in an Essex field near Earl Hall Drive in St Osyth, near Clacton-on-Sea.

The lion in Essex that was a Maine Coon
The lion in Essex that was a Maine Coon. Pic as per credit.


Teddy Bear the Maine Coon mistaken for a lion in Essex
Teddy Bear the Maine Coon mistaken for a lion in Essex. Image: Screenshot from BBC video.

The couple, Mr and Mrs Atkin, were on holiday in the area. They reported their sighting to Dave Mark on BBC Essex.

Subsequently, Ginny Murphy, the owner of a Maine Coon cat called Teddy Bear came forward to say that she was convinced that she was the owner of the African lion! We know Maine Coons are big but this is ridiculous.

She said that Teddy Bear regularly went hunting in the fields around St Osyth.

The police were called to search for the African lion. They quickly called the search off. I wonder whether they called it off after they decided that Teddy Bear was the big cat. Probably. The police then advised people to get back to normal. It seems that they were asked to lock themselves inside their homes for the duration of the search for the mysterious African lion.

No trace of the big cat was found. In the meantime, Teddy Bear was back at home snoozing by the window oblivious to the mayhem he had caused.

RELATED: Something more serious: Regular cougar sighting in North Carolina.

The picture of the lion was, of course, very blurred and grainy. It could be Teddy Bear. It probably and almost certainly was him. Actually, I would go further and say that it definitely was him as he was regularly allowed outside in the area.

And that, of course, brings up another question which always interests me. Should Maine Coon cat owners allow them to go outside unsupervised? They are not often mistaken for African lions but they are an impressive domestic cat and they might attract the attention of unscrupulous people who want to possess one but can't afford to buy one. There is a far bit of domestic cat theft in the UK.

Location: St. Osyth, UK

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