'Big cat' tests on second Gloucestershire deer carcass

A second roe deer carcass found in Gloucestershire is being DNA tested by scientists for "big cat activity".

The carcass was discovered "in the same region" as another was found last week. University of Warwick scientists have been commissioned to run tests on both.

A university spokesman said having two carcasses "doubles our opportunity for getting a conclusive result".

The National Trust contacted the scientists after the first carcass was found on land it owns near Stroud.

'Traces of cat'

A spokesman for the University of Warwick said he could not say where the second carcass was found "other than it was in the same region" or who had commissioned them to run tests on it.

A National Trust spokesman earlier said that the injuries and way the first carcass had been consumed were "thought to be highly indicative of big cat activity".

Dr Robin Allaby, from the university's School of Life Sciences, said: "If there are traces of cat there we stand a reasonable chance of finding it."

He added that they were looking for "putative cat DNA sequences" and once they had those they would know what species the predator could be.