A family of three have reported seeing a large black cat they believe to be a panther while out near the quarry on Halkyn Mountain.
Mark, his partner, and his daughter had paused on their walk to use binoculars to look across towards Moel Famau when the encounter took place at around 2:15 PM on 23rd May 2026. On resuming their walk, Mark glanced to his right and spotted the animal approximately 200 metres away, in clear view for around 30 seconds before it disappeared into surrounding vegetation.
Mark told Puma Watch: “Me, my partner and my daughter were walking a loop walk up on Halkyn near the quarry, we’d stopped to look through binoculars across to Moel Famau, we packed our stuff away and were about to carry on with our walk when I glanced to my right and saw approximately 200 metres away a black cat, it was in view for approximately 30 seconds.
“From the distance away I realised that it was way too large to be a domestic cat, it was just sitting in the sun then it walked off into the bushes/bracken…all three of us are convinced it was panther like.”
This sighting has been added to our interactive map.
*Due to a technical issue, sightings between January 2023 and June 2026 are not displayed on the map. Going forward, all sightings will be recorded on this map system and we are working to import the missing sightings.
Halkyn sits in Flintshire on the edge of the Clwydian Range, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that stretches south towards Moel Famau, the highest peak in the range. The rugged upland terrain, with its mix of bracken, gorse and open grassland around the limestone quarry, provides ideal cover for a large solitary predator.
The area has previous form: in April 2016, another big cat sighting was reported near a quarry in nearby Pentre Halkyn, where a drone pilot happened to be filming at the time. And in October 2020, the owner of nearby Billy Jeans cafe had a big cat encounter. The wider Clwydian hills are one of the most frequently cited hotspots for big cat activity in North Wales.
Big cats in the UK are widely believed to be the descendants of animals released or that escaped following the passing of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, which made it illegal to keep many exotic species without a licence. Rather than pay for costly enclosures, some owners reportedly released their animals into the wild. A BBC study found more than 100 big cat sightings in just 18 months across North and Mid Wales alone, and a separate study recorded 123 Welsh sightings over two years — figures that point to an established and thriving population.
Have you spotted a big cat in North Wales or beyond? Report your sighting using our online form.