• Dubai Police and rescue teams are patrolling in The Springs and Meadows area. Authorities are looking for an exotic wild animal on the loose that was sighted in the residential community on Tuesday. Pawan Singh / The National
    Dubai Police and rescue teams are patrolling in The Springs and Meadows area. Authorities are looking for an exotic wild animal on the loose that was sighted in the residential community on Tuesday. Pawan Singh / The National
  • Police officers and Dubai Municipality officials were in Meadows 9 on Wednesday afternoon. Courtesy: Shuchita Gautam / The National
    Police officers and Dubai Municipality officials were in Meadows 9 on Wednesday afternoon. Courtesy: Shuchita Gautam / The National
  • A police official prepares to launch an aerial drone to scan the Springs district, south of Dubai Marina, following reports of a big cat on the loose. Authorities urged the public to call 999 if they spot a creature that resembles a large black cat. The National
    A police official prepares to launch an aerial drone to scan the Springs district, south of Dubai Marina, following reports of a big cat on the loose. Authorities urged the public to call 999 if they spot a creature that resembles a large black cat. The National
  • Dubai Municipality is looking into claims that an exotic black cat was spotted roaming around a neighbourhood in the emirate on Tuesday. Shuchita Gautam / The National
    Dubai Municipality is looking into claims that an exotic black cat was spotted roaming around a neighbourhood in the emirate on Tuesday. Shuchita Gautam / The National
  • Authorities advised members of the community to exercise caution around what was believed to be a wild cat and to call 999 if they spot it. Pawan Singh / The National
    Authorities advised members of the community to exercise caution around what was believed to be a wild cat and to call 999 if they spot it. Pawan Singh / The National
  • Police cars, a municipality car and an ambulance seen at the entrance of Springs 4. Authorities are looking for a big black cat that was sighted in the community on Tuesday. Shuchita Gautam / The National
    Police cars, a municipality car and an ambulance seen at the entrance of Springs 4. Authorities are looking for a big black cat that was sighted in the community on Tuesday. Shuchita Gautam / The National
  • A police car on patrol. Emaar security says the animal is still on the loose but an extensive search is underway. Pawan Singh/The National
    A police car on patrol. Emaar security says the animal is still on the loose but an extensive search is underway. Pawan Singh/The National

'Chiselled jaw, big shoulders and long tail' - Dubai resident tells of close encounter with big cat


Kelly Clarke
  • English
  • Arabic

Latest: Dubai 'panther' sighting just a domestic cat, police say

A Dubai resident told of how she spotted a big cat in her garden, sparking a full-scale search by the authorities.

Eilidh Shaw, 39, who lives in the Meadows, told The National she saw the creature prowling near her swimming pool on Saturday evening.

Ms Shaw, her husband and three young children – aged six, four and six months – watched as the animal strolled just metres away, before slipping out through the fence.

To me it just looked like a weird, oversized cat with a very strange body build

The cat, thought to be a young panther or jaguar, then reappeared in the garden the next evening, on Sunday, which is when Ms Shaw shot a video and reported it to Dubai Municipality.

“This very odd, large cat walked past the pool,” she said.

“To me it just looked like a weird, oversized cat with a very strange body build. It had a chiselled jaw, big shoulders and a slim back and long tail.

“It was big enough that it caught my attention but not big enough that I felt it was an exotic wild animal.

"It wasn’t fazed by us being there one bit.”

Less than an hour after reporting the sighting to Dubai Municipality on Sunday, she received a call saying the animal welfare officers were investigating the claim.

After forwarding the video clip to the municipality, the lead co-ordinator visited the site and said it was "unlikely to be a domestic cat" because of the size of the prints.

“They were on it straight away and alerted security in the area. They were very responsive and have taken the report very seriously,” she said.

"The police and municipality officers were very vigilant and they set a humane trap just outside the garden, on a path alongside the nearby lake, with food inside to try and catch the cat.

"The animal welfare officer said because it had passed through our garden several times, it was obviously using it as a path, so it could return."

For now, Ms Shaw said they were staying indoors and keeping the children out of the garden.

She said she sent the video on a small WhatsApp group, in good faith, to see if people could identify what breed the cat was, and unfortunately it caused a big stir and so much speculation.

On Wednesday morning, the trap was still empty but the family was being kept up to date with the search progress by the authorities.

Dubai Police officers used drones to scan the Springs and Meadows neighbourhood on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Officials advised residents to exercise caution and to call 999 if they spot the creature, but said there was no need for panic.

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The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest

Samar Honey

The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments

The Vile

Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah

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6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: AF Fakhama, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash

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Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

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Europe’s rearming plan
  • Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
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  • Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
  • Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”