SIGHTING: Child spots ‘large silver-black cat’ as tall as his neck near Holyhead

A family out walking at Penrhos Nature Reserve in Holyhead have reported an encounter with a “large, silver-black cat”, which happened around 12:30 PM on Friday 23rd July.

While their 5-year-old son was cycling ahead, they noticed him come to a stop at a small bridge over a stream. He turned and told them about the “four-legged animal” he had spotted further along the path, which he said was so big its head would have been level with his neck.

Paul, the father who reported the sighting to us, says his mother then looked ahead and saw the mystery cat leap into the woods.

None of the group was able to identify which specific species of big cat they had seen.

In his report, Paul said: “My son (5 yrs) was cycling ahead, along one of the internal paths, and he stopped by a bridge by a stream.

“He turned and said he saw a 4 legged animal in front.

“My mother looked and saw a large silver black cat-like animal jump or leap into the woods.

“My son said it was his neck height when seated on the bike.”

He then reported the sighting to us later that afternoon.

Earlier last month on Anglesey, multiple walkers spotted what they believed was a “puma” swinging from trees in The Dingle woodland at Llangefni. The animal was described as “light grey, similar to a mountain lion” with a “large, swinging tale” and was seen to “pounce” on a bird.

There have been previous sightings of big cats on the island of Anglesey. Around a year ago, a suspected puma was spotted near Cemlyn by a fisherman.

Another resident has reported a big cat has been turning their Rottweiler “into a big baby” for years while walking on the island.

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.

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.

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.

Photo © David Dixon (cc-by-sa/2.0)