A man was left shaken after encountering what he believes to be a large black puma while walking on a golf course in Old Colwyn. The sighting occurred around 8:00 PM on Saturday, 5th July.
Cassian told Puma Watch: “I was walking across the golf course in Old Colwyn, and I saw something over by one of the holes. It looked pretty big and black? I nearly passed out because of the size of it!”
This sighting is the latest in a series of similar reports in the Colwyn Bay area. The town is surrounded by a varied landscape of coastal paths, hills, and dense woodlands like the nearby Fairy Glen and Pwllycrochan Woods, which could provide ample cover for a large predator. A footbridge in the Nant-y-Glyn Valley, not far from Old Colwyn, is even known locally as ‘Puma Bridge’ due to historic sightings. Just a few years ago, multiple encounters were reported in the adjacent Colwyn Heights area.
This video shows footage of a suspected black panther in the Colwyn Bay area, adding to the many sightings that have been reported locally.
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.
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.
Any further sightings can be reported to us via our online form.
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.