Creatures, Myths & Legends

Deer carcass found after big cat sighting in Devon, England

By T.K. Randall
September 2, 2023

Image: Black Panther
Credit: Davidvraju / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) Sightings of large predatory cats have persisted across the British Isles for years. While it has long been suspected that a population of these animals has been roaming the countryside, conclusive evidence of their existence in the UK has been thin on the ground.

Some of the sightings are thought to be the result of big cat owners releasing their animals into the wild after the introduction of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act in 1976, but with reports of large cats continuing well in to the 21st Century, it seems unlikely that this could explain all of them.

Now another report of a large black cat in the British countryside has surfaced - this time in Dartmoor where a number of other sightings have occurred in the past.According to reports, Jon and his family had been enjoying a walk near the Fernworthy Reservoir on August 27th when they encountered a large black animal that looked suspiciously feline.

"It started walking around slowly then saw me, stood there and looked at me and then started casually walking away," he said. "I'm quite a calm character so I thought I was seeing things and remained calm as I had my dog and child with me and didn't want to panic them."

"We decided to walk back into the forest maybe a quarter of a mile further up and straight away my son said ‘what's that?'. There was a half-eaten deer carcass just off the path in the woods and in the path there were quite a few bones about four to six inches long with broken bones from a rib cage."

"We then had to walk through thick woodland to get back to the car and while we were walking, we heard a roar. We thought we were going mad."

Source: Devon Live

Tags: Big Cat