A historical sighting of a ‘black panther or lynx’ has been reported to us, which occurred in fields near Guilden Sutton, Chester way back in July 2000.
Kate said both her and her Labrador froze in shock when the big cat strolled by – just 12 ft away from them.
She told Puma Watch: “I was walking my Labrador across the fields behind the barn conversion I lived at in Guilden Sutton, Chester years ago and I am convinced a black panther/lynx walked right in front of us no more than 12ft away.
“The reason I’m so sure about it is because my Labrador even stopped in his tracks when he saw it too, I just froze because I was so shocked.
“It sounds crazy but I have never forgot it and I truly believe it was a panther type animal due to its body shape, size and the way it walked.”
The historical sighting was reported just days after a big cat was spotted just a few miles away in Ellesmere Port and follows multiple encounters with a big cat on Chester Meadows.
And this month, Cheshire Live have shared a video of a suspected big cat filmed near the Chester branch of the Shropshire Union Canal in early January – again within a mile on the zoo but on the opposite side to the Upton sighting.
Also in recent weeks, a worker spotted a big cat in the same area, when a footprint was also found at Ince Marshes. And way back in 2011, someone called 999 after spotting a tiger roaming wild along the River Dee.
Last month, Cheshire Police announced they were investigating whether “a larger predator” was responsible for a series of sheep killings, saying that “a large, black-cat type animal” had been spotted nearby.
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.
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 month, Bellingcat exposed an international exotic pet trafficking operation, in which Instagram celebrities posted videos with animals including monkeys, sloths and a range of big cats, including baby tigers, cheetahs, lions and pumas. The animals were sold to buyers around the world from a base in Dubai.
Also this month, a London man was fined after neighbours spotted he was keeping an African wildcat at his home. He purchased the animal from an unlicensed Russian company. The man had previously been reported to authorities but had told them he didn’t own the animal before eventually being caught red-handed.
It’s likely that many illegal owners in similar situations would release such animals into the British countryside. This prevalent underground trade, now fuelled by Instagram and social media, could be big a big part of explaining why so many big cat sightings are now being reported.
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