SIGHTING: ‘Border collie-sized’ black cat caught on camera at Dorothea Quarry

A dog walker has reported encountering a big cat while passing through Dorothea Quarry, at the edge of Snowdonia near the village of Talysarn in the Nantlle Valley.

Richard said he scared off the animal “to avoid a confrontation” while trying to control his two dogs, which had “picked up its scent”.

The encounter took place at around 7:15 AM on Tuesday 14th September. The black cat was around the size of a small Border Collie dog.

Richard told us: “Out walking my 2 dogs. Saw what looked to be a big cat.

“I was 80 or so meters away and it looked larger than it should have for a pet cat.

“I took a photo (50% zoom) whilst trying to control my dogs who by this time had picked up its scent.

“My dogs were now in searching mode so not wishing for a confrontation I clapped my hands to scare it off.

“It was at this point I got to see how big the cat was (roughly border collie size, maybe a little smaller) as it turned and ran down an embankment.

“I’ve tried to add as much info as possible. Will definitely be a bit more wary when out walking from now on.”

Big cats such as pumas are solitary with a hunting range of dozens of miles. They’re mostly spotted in Snowdonia and the Clwydian hills but reports of sightings in urban locations some distance from these areas are becoming more frequent.

This summer, there were multiple witnesses to a puma at The Dingle, Llangefni. We’ve also had recent reports from the Conwy Valley and Llandudno.

Previously, suspected big cat prints were found just a few miles from Penisarwaen at Rhiwlas, while last year, a man from Leeds came face-to-face with a puma while climbing Snowdon’s Crib Goch.

As seen with Llandundo’s now-famous goats, who have taken to roaming the town’s deserted streets during the coronavirus lockdowns, it’s likely that the reduced levels of human activity over the last year is encouraging big cats to roam further from the hills into more populated areas.

When big cats were banned as pets in the 1970s, it was legal to release them into the countryside to avoid expensive rehoming costs. Owners from across the UK travelled to areas like Wales to release their cats in the remote environment, where small but significant populations have thrived ever since.

Earlier this year, the Welsh Government responded to the recent spate of sightings and confirmed the steps they take to investigate any reported to them, including taking casts of paw prints.