Alien Big Cats

Attempt to Photo WV “African Lion”

Animal control personnel have set up cameras in the area where the African Lion is reported to be roaming in West Virginia. They are using both game cameras as well as Motion-sensitive video cameras owned by the state Department of Environmental Protection and used to catch litterbugs. Officials want to confirm that they are dealing with a African Lion before proceeding with a plan to trap the lion in a bear trap used to capture troublesome bears.“Hopefully the Lion Is Not Camera Shy,” Moose Droppings, October 29, 2007. And Lewisburg, W.Va. (AP) – Using a video camera and raw chicken, [...]

Maneless Maneaters May Leave USA

During the fall, coming in and out of the news, has been the demand from Kenya that Chicago’s Field Museum return the remains of two lions that reportedly killed about 135 Indian railworkers (but probably actually only about 25) in the 1890s, before being shot by a famed British railway engineer. These lions are the infamous maneaters of Tsavo. Railway engineer Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson – whose adventures formed the basis of the Oscar-winning 1996 movie The Ghost and the Darkness, starring Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer, shot the strange cats in December 1898. Twenty-six years later Patterson sold the [...]

WV “African Lion” Updates

The fossil replica of the giant skull of Panthera atrox, the recently extinct American lion, the massive lion of the Pleistocene. It was probably maned. From Rancho La Brea Tar Pits. Photo: Baystatereplicas.com. On Friday, October 26, 2007, and the day before, the West Virginia Metro News, a radio service out of Charleston, broadcast followups to the recent reports of a “full-grown, male African lion.” Here are their two news items: Trout, W. Va. – Jim Shortridge has been hunting his entire life and says he knows what he saw. “A lot of people doesn’t believe it, but it doesn’t [...]

Maned Lion Prowls West Virginia

Reports of mystery cats appearing to be maned, looking like “African lions,” constitute an entire chapter in Mysterious America and much of my attention down through the years. The sightings are infrequent, but when they occcur they tend to be dramatic and clear. Historically, they go back further than the “circus train” wreck explanation is able to deal with them, and you will see today, continue to modern times. Big Roaring Creek, West Virginia – The king of the jungle just might be playing king of the mountain in a remote area of Greenbrier County. While bow hunting last Wednesday [...]

New “Lion” Sighting in Tennessee

Adult female lion at Big Cat Rescue in Florida. I have just been contacted by an eyewitness, DJCB, regarding a new mystery cat sighting. On Friday, October 19, 2007, the witness saw a “female lion” on the shoulder of the northbound side of I-65 approximately .5 miles north of exit 98 (10 miles north of Nashville, Tennessee). As DJCB drove south, the large cat stood watching cars zoom by on the highway. The eyewitness described what happened next: I debated on whether or not to call local authorities. Three hours later, I called the TN Wildlife office. As expected, the [...]