My Highland Kellas Cats by Di Francis
During her research into the possible existence of panther-size cats surviving throughout the British Isles, Di Francis discovered a ferocious balck 'wildcat' living in the Highlands of Scotland. At first the evidence was tantalizingly scarce - a few photographs of a mystery cat killed by a gamekeeper, a single taxidermist's specimen of an unidentified black cat killed at Kellas by the estate owner, tales told by farmers of strange, fierce black wildcats seen fleetingly in other Highland areas. The British Museum of Natural History dismissed it as a one-off hybrid, the result of a chance mating between a pure striped Scottish wildcat and a domestic feral cat. Di Francis was convinced that the animal was of scientific importance, and moved to Scotland to live in the area where the cats were said to be found. In time she persuaded scientists to investigate the origin of the mystery cats and succeeded in breeding from a pair in captivity. But the appearance of the kittens came as a complete surprise and suggested to Di Francis that she was seeing evolution in the making. Although her experiment ended in tragedy, the capture of another female Kellas promises a new family just as the world of science is becoming excited about this unique development in British Wildlife.
Di Francis grew up in London and attended the Italia Conti Drama School and later the Penzance School of Art. As a naturalist she first drew attemtion to the big cat mystery in her book Cat Country, which was published before the hunt for the beast of Exmoor in 1983. Recently she brought her investigation up to date with a new book, The Beast of Exmoor, in which she gives an account of the 1983 search as well as other police investigations of big cat sightings all over the country in the ten years since. She also explains why she believes there could have been at least one human victim of a big cat kill.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780224039611 |
| ISBN 10 | 022403961X |
| Title | My Highland Kellas Cats |
| Author | Di Francis |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Vintage Publishing |
| Year published | 1993-11-18 |
| Number of pages | 224 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |