Are some or all of the big cat sightings in England Lynx or cats of that description?
Most are mistaken identity. People see a cat in poor light or out the corner of their eye, can’t judge the distance easily and think it’s a big cat. A lot of the big cat sightings turn out to be domestic moggy. A lion reported near a railway track turned out to be a normal-sized ginger cat that someone got a fleeting glimpse of! Some sightings are docked-tailed dogs rather than cats. Black panthers and pumas are reported more often than lynx. but the people reporting them aren’t familiar with any of the big cat species (they’re not trackers or zoologists) and easily misidentify what they see. You can’t get legally purchase or import a lynx, puma, leopard or other big cat species in England without a Dangerous Wild Animals Licence and the premises have to conform to certain standards to prevent escape.
