This animal and her cubs if it is female will be hungry and perhaps injured. I cannot think of anything more sick than for it to be sport. I would contact South Lakes Animal Park in Ulverston and ask the ranger to come and catch it and give it a home where other feline wild cats are. I now know why I cannot search for Keith Bennett or ask the Oldham people to identify certain features and join me as too dangerous.

Any wildcat in the wilds has to live off the land. Shooting it inhumanely will mean her cubs die or she is injured, a very dangerous precedent. Also sport using firearms on open land as police know can lead to fatalities as walkers and other persons are about on the Moors. It would be wise to stop hunting parties as this is not America, or big game hunting. Sheep are more at risk from stray shots and from humans than a bobcat. Many wild animal parks take in unwanted exotic pets. A tranquilizer dart will subdue, but it is not sport. Therefore, it seems this report might lead bored amateur marksmen to go and hunt in packs or in isolation. Please use sense and call in the experts to catch this pride or single feline as it is not shown as a predator yet. Man is. Then we can get back to the Moors and do our job safely and ethically.