It's The Wolf! (or the Jackal)

 

This first report is interesting. If you have read The Red Paper 2022: Canidae then you would have read of the well documented cases of wolves being encountered in the early 20th century. A "very large white animal" seen bounding off is nothing new and we have documented wolf cases from Wales, the North of England and even some areas of SE England.

The form of attack is consistent with a canid.

North Wales Weekly News - Thursday 13 January 1949

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Here is another seeming canid attacking sheep and during the early 1900s there were a number of well documented jackal cases -for which there is photographic record.

Illustrated Police Budget - Saturday 30 December 1905 Note how they dismiss one of the well documented 1904 jackal cases as "a dog". At times the Press almost act like they were covering up in local areas -wonder for whom?

We know, because it is well documented, that hunts had members trying to breed the "perfect" hunt canid. Attempts to cross jackals with foxes, jackals with wolves and wolf-coyote/wolf-jackal. It was all about getting an animal with the stamina for a long chase as well as one that would "put up a good show at the end" (fight back when cornered by hounds).

Escapes from travelling menageries and even private (static) menageries were not unusual. Big estates had their private collections. Animals getting too large and wild to keep were very likely dumped. Again, hunts released jackals and even set up dens for wolves to provide "better sport" -all fully documented.

The one thing that I have learnt from the work between 1976 to date is that for centuries wild canids (of various types) as well as large cats have lived and bred in the British countryside and the fascinating thing is that even when perfectly describing a black leopard the witness and others report it as a "Hell"/"Devil" hound of local lore-in one case it 'was' the spirit that escaped from a coffin that was dropped head first -hence the spirit escaping and being seen as a 'black hound'!

Equally fascinating is that none of these animals has had a negative impact on "native" wildlife and there have certainly never been any attacks on humans in the wild.