People in a rural area in the UK have reported several sightings of a ‘panther-like’ big cat that some believe savaged a lamb and left huge paw prints.
An unnamed dog walker who spoke to Worcester News brought the issue back to light when, she claims, she encountered a large beast that scared her four-legged companions stiff.
The unnamed woman was walking in the ‘pitch black’ at Gorse Hill and Elbury Mount Local Nature Reserve in Worcester when she heard sticks snapping before a huge growl.
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She said she did not see the animal during the encounter six months ago. However, she added: “But I heard it and I know it was big because of the sound of the growl and how hollow and deep it was.
(Image: Courtesy Tim Whittard / SWNS)
“And when it ran off I could hear the branches breaking and sticks snapping but the biggest clue came from my dogs especially the one and how they reacted.”
As usual, details of the incident was shared to Evesham and Villages Big Cat Group, the meeting point of those who claim to have experienced encounters with some sort of large animal.
In June, Martin Burford was convinced he sighted a ‘panther’ on the border of Worcestershire and Gloucestershire.
He claimed there was a thriving population of these cats in the area and that this one had been attacking and killing lambs.
(Image: Courtesy Tim Whittard / SWNS)
However, BBC Wildlife showed Martin’s video to Dr Luke Hunter, executive director of the Big Cats Program at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and he said it was a common cat.
“It’s a moggy. The gait is very much a small cat’s, not a leopard or another big cat’s,” he said.
Sightings of big cats throughout the British countryside have been common over the past 30 years or so.
“It amazes me that these claims persist,” said Hunter. “If there were big cats in the UK countryside, it would be almost unavoidable that unequivocal evidence would emerge.”
However, in May the DNA of a cat in the Panthera genus was found on a swab taken from a sheep carcass in Cumbria. In 2022, a hair found on barbed wire in Gloucestershire was identified as belonging to a leopard.
In April, a motorist was stunned after spotting a ‘panther-like’ big cat in a field – then finding its prints.
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Geoff Thompson, 37, had pulled over in a layby on a country lane between Great Witley and Martley in Worcestershire.
The YouTuber and classic car enthusiast stopped to take photographs of his beloved classic Renault 10 – when he noticed something strange in the distance.
He then spotted a large feline shape lurking in the field behind the car on April 14 – and then investigated and found its prints.
Geoff, of Worcester, said: “I just went out for a sunny drive – I noticed it as I started photographing my car. I think it was a panther.”
In the 24 second video, filmed on his mobile phone, he can be heard exclaiming, “What the heck is that animal?!”
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