[Cosmore]

I wonder if anyone else has had similar experiences or sightings and if so in what part of the country?

This is a subject that years ago I had been very sceptical about and took with a 'pinch of salt' the reports in the press and some fuzzy film shown on TV. However, due to a personal experience I changed my mind and whilst the existence of these beasts is not proven beyond doubt yet,  I'm now convinced that some exist in the wild in parts of the UK, and definately North Dorset.
Briefly, some years ago I had a second job to earn some extra pennies as a vehicle recovery driver for a local company, my vehicle was a 12 tonne slidebed with a Lorry loader crane. I was responsible for the companies police contract attending accidents on 24 hour callout based at home.
One night I was called out at 2:30am to an incident some miles away in the countryside, there were no streetlights and just the occasional house or farm. I was progressing with as much speed as it was safe to do, there was no other traffic and I kept my headlights on full beam.  I was wide awake and fully focused as you are when driving an HGV. Halfway there on a narrowish road I rounded a gentle corner and about 20 feet in front of me fully illuminated by the headlights I could clearly see the rear body half, legs and tail of a very large 'cat', feline shaped, all black, as it 'melted' into the bushes on  the right side of the road and was gone. I would have loved to have stopped to investigate but the callout took priority - I did stop on the return journey about an hour later but there was nothing to be seen, it was summertime and the ground was dry so no prints or other evidence. It was definately not a domestic or feral pussycat, where it had gone into the bushes there was a large milestone, the creature stood above the level of that.
Later I compared what I had seen with photos and pictures of the back half of Panthers, it was an exact match down to the smooth black coat, shape of the body, the way the rear legs and feet were positioned and the slope and curl at the end of the round tail. I concluded that I had indeed witnessed a Panther, or rather the rear half of one.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

That is truly amazing! We have a family of them in wales, I've never seen them, but apparently they belonged to someone and when the laws changed they released them (back in the 70s I think). Why do people never understand that it imbalances things, its too late to remove them now though, as everything has balanced again.

[Porterlauren]

Posted on another thread but relevant to this one -

Ive no doubt that there are the odd escaped / released cat around. But I don't buy that there are breeding populations. Whats interesting is that pretty much every time one is seen, its always by someone on their own, and some 'civilian' (don't take offence). Ive spent many years and 1000's of hours, in the countryside both day and night, seeking to hunt out beasties from the woods, hedges, bracken, gorse, ditches, forests, moorland, you name it. Ive pretty much tracked down and often ultimately killed (when legal and for a purpose) pretty much every quarry in the British Isles, and many across Europe (the dogs have passports!). This includes all of the usual ones, fox, rabbit, hare, deer of every variety, wild boar, badgers in Europe where it is legal, and a few weird ones, like wallabies (they were not killed). And never in all of that time, have I treed or flushed or caught a large cat in the U.K. And never in all of the hours and hours, they I have spent walking / driving around fields at night with a lamp or night vision have I stumbled across one. And funnily enough neither has any other hunter in the whole country. . . . nor has any of the countless packs of hounds who hunt nearly every moor, wood and field in the U. K over the winter ever treed, flushed or killed one. No game keeper has seen one, no deer stalker sat in a high seat silently for hours. . . . .

It's always some random walker, or someone just having a potter about that 'bumps' into one quite by accident.

So why is that?

And please don't tell me that cats are too smart or cunning or any of that crap. As I have plenty of friends who live in countries where there are big cats (of varying types) who regularly hunt them, and successfully tree of catch them. And they don't seem to be smart enough to avoid the random walkers etc who see them.

[Steph Hen]

Hoping this link works. If I can find the other one I'll add that too.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O7356E91Q0w
(If it doesn't, YouTube for "big cat on train tracks".) it's difficult to argue with this one.

[nutterly_uts]

Hoping this link works. If I can find the other one I'll add that too.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O7356E91Q0w
(If it doesn't, YouTube for "big cat on train tracks".) it's difficult to argue with this one.

For me, I still don't think thats enough proof (and I DO think there are big cats in the UK)
It doesn't seem to have the right flow in its gait to be a big cat - it has too much swagger and not enough nonchelance! Its only when it leaps up at 16sec ish does it look like it could be, but overall it just looks far too domestic to me. Also, its behaviour is odd - why would it cross the tracks, go into cover then come back and walk along the tracks like it does?

Do we know where it was filmed? I'd be inclined to say its a large domestic mog (and I have a HUGE one - he is 11kg but "should be" around 9kg) and a kid sized railway...

[devonlad]

If I hadn't seen one I'd be as doubtful as anyone else. But i have  and I wasn't on my own. My brother and his wife were with me. It was about 10 years ago near bangor on dee where they lived at the time
 About 300 yards away walking down a hedge line. As it passed in front of a gate it was clear how tall it was. We tried to get closer but it disappeared. The 3 of us know it was a big cat and still talk about it. Like others I spend my life largely outdoors and am surprised I haven't seen one again. There may not be many but 10 years ago there was definitely one out there

[waterbuffalofarmer]

only one person sees them because somethimes they catch them when they're out hunting. Its all by chance really, I think there are small breeding populations in england/wales, but not on a big enough scale for people to notice.

[Me]

 I have a HUGE one

Oh yeah, enough showing off. Lets keep it serious That my friends, is a cat. A real danger if you are a mouse.

[Roxy]

Every now and again, round  here, there is a sighting of what is described as a huge cat, size of a panther.  On one occasion it went in someones cat flap.  A search with guns was organised, not sure why as no one was hurt, but it was not found.  These sightings have been going on for probably 30 years.  Then a few years back, a local farmer said he had seen a large black cat sunbathing on the rocks on the moor behind his field. 

One Sunday morning my husband and I were riding over the moor by this farmers land.  Very quiet, no one around.  I looked up to the rocks, and lying  there was ....yep .... a huge black sleek animal.  We sat and watched it for ages.  Much bigger than your domestic cat, definitely not a dog.  Did not report it, as whatever it was, I did not want it chased and shot

[Steph Hen]

My husband took a wobbly vid on his phone years ago of a beast of some sort walking along a field boundary on the farm. It looked about size of a lab, but with a really long, thick tail... He got close and closer to it until it became clear that it was in fact our neighbours fluffy black cat with its shadow projected closely on the boundary. But was quite convincing from a distance.

[Cosmore]

pretty much every time one is seen, its always by someone on their own

neither has any other hunter in the whole country

It's always some random walker, or someone just having a potter about that 'bumps' into one quite by accident

Sorry, I believe that these statements are not quite correct....There have been several reported incidents of where 2 or more people have witnessed a 'sighting'.
I likewise have hunted extensively in the SE/SW UK, both day and nightime and I have come across pretty much all forms of natural wildlife during those 'persuits' but admittedly no big cats - the one and only occasion which I stated was when I was driving.
I agree with WBF that 'sightings' by people are purely by chance, after all, if there are big cats I'm sure they would be shy, alert, careful and stealthy predators only going abroad to hunt (normally nocturnally) when they felt safe in their environment, if they percieved any threat they would 'go to ground' and hole up till they felt safe again.

[Marches Farmer]

I've posted on this subject on the "What's Killing My Sheep" link but I have no doubt that what both I and my neighbour saw was a black panther.  If you live in an area as heavily wooded as ours you would only come across such a creature by chance, if you were far away or downwind and out of sight.  I don't know how long big cats would live in the wild under optimum conditions, but there's plenty of shelter and plenty to eat around here.

I'm actually more worried about the possibility of a disease outbreak in the wild boar roaming the Forest of Dean - they've no idea how many - probably thousands.

[sabrina]

Not sure on this one but it could be possible. As for not seeing them, how many see the wildlife around them.

[Porterlauren]

Is anyone going to come up with a plausible answer as to why no hound pack, or anyone hunting with dogs or lamping / night vision shooting has seen one. I understand why someone having a little walk with their lab and shotgun isn't going to see them. . . . . .. but when hunting with proper dogs. . . . . . I just think it would be inevitable.

As to who really sees the wildlife around them. Very true! But i'd pretty much guarantee that if there was a big cat in any piece of woodland, forestry, valley, moorland etc etc that we drew with the dogs, looking for old charlie, or boar etc. . . . . . it would be found. Either because it was killed, treed, or because it killed a couple of dogs.

An example is the boar. . . . . very few people see them. Yet I could take you out now and with the right team pretty much guarantee that we would see some, and if you fancied, you could give it a stroke lol.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

panthers are creatures of stealth, they know if anyone is coming and can hide where they can't be found, no matter how good the dog can smell. They're fast and know their habitat like the back of their paw, hence why not very often they're seen. I have heard people, someone on here in fact, that they have come across them by complete surprise to both parties, I rather think that if you had dogs with you they would be able to smell them quite easily. Its by chance that you come across one now and again. I think there probably is a breeding population in the UK, but not very significant to notice at all (probably the odd one or two). Which reminds me does anyone remember the beast of boncath? Did they ever catch it?