A member of the public has reported a large black cat they believe was a puma prowling the outskirts of St Asaph on Saturday morning.
At around 9:30 AM, Martin was walking away from the centre of St Asaph along Chester Street. After passing the ‘RN Williams & Sons’ yard, where the town changes to fields, they were spotted by the creature which began following them. Scared, they crossed the road, turned around and walked back towards the town centre.
Martin told us they were “very concerned” and immediately reported the “very scary experience” to North Wales Police, who allegedly said they were unable to respond unless and until someone is “attacked”.
He said: “We spotted a large cat in the driveway of [redacted], about the size of a Border Collie sheepdog. It was watching us walk past with our Jack Russel.
“We kept walking down the road towards the river. The large cat was following us in the land of [redacted], keeping parallel with us.
“We got very concerned so we crossed the road and walked back up Chester Street towards shops.
“We tried to report to North Wales Police, they told us can’t do anything unless attacked! They told us to contact the local council.
“Very scary experience.”
Puma Watch has contacted North Wales Police for comment on the incident and clarification of their procedures.
Another sighting occurred on the outskirts of St Asaph back in June when Stephanie spotted a “large black puma” jumping and running through long grass.
A suspected puma was also spotted few miles away at Rhuallt Hill back in January. Footprints were also found in Meliden over winter, with many other nearby sightings featured on our interactive map.
Big cats have also been spotted in Ellesmere Port’s Whitby Park and behind the nearby Costco store this year. A few miles away, Chester has become a big cat hotspot in its own right. This includes one occasion where an animal was caught on camera on Chester Meadows by a delivery driver.
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.
It’s very frustrating that PumaWatch stubbornly insists on referring to every possible big cat as a ‘puma’ whether or not it’s a puma.
Their work is interesting, but this recurrent inaccuracy is amateurish.
I know the area and their was guard dogs at a property there and I have felt scared walking down that road however was about 6 years ago