A resident has reported a sighting of a large, slender black cat with distinctive leopard-like markings near the Stanney housing estate in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, around 9:45AM on the morning of Friday, 15th May 2026. The creature, which they believe may be a panther, was seen disappearing into overgrown bushes close to the Cheshire Oaks retail park.
Sharon told Puma Watch: “My sister had taken her granddaughter to nursery near Cheshire Oaks, Ellesmere Port. She was walking back through the Stanney housing estate and saw a large but thin panther-like creature going into overgrown bushes.
“It was black but she could see leopard-like patterns, it had a typical panther-like gait and large noticeable upturned tail. She was too frightened to investigate further.”
Ellesmere Port has become something of a hotspot for big cat reports in recent years. Previous sightings in the town include a close-up encounter with a large cat in Whitby Park, a sighting of a “large but slender” black big cat with a “long tail that it carried quite high” at nearby Ince Marshes, and multiple reports linked to the wider Chester and Wirral corridor. Stanney Woods, an ancient woodland of oak and silver birch located just off the A5117 very close to the Stanney estate, provides ideal dense cover for a large solitary predator moving between habitats.
Under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, it became illegal to keep big cats such as panthers and pumas without a licence in the UK. It is widely believed that some owners released their animals into the wild rather than comply with the legislation, and that a population of big cats has since established itself across parts of the British countryside.
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