Westwell leopard ?

Report received: Saturday October 20th 2012 - dusk. "I live in Westwell near Ashford. I have just driven into the village via Watery Lane, as I passed under the rail link bridge, I saw a large black cat walk across the road about 100 yards in front. It was roughly the size of a labrador. It was definitely a cat I am really interested in cats in general and can honestly say that just by the way it was walking and its stance that is what it was. It wasnt in any hurry so I got a good look at it. I am totally amazed and thought I would let you know asap."

Ulcombe feral cat

There have been two sightings recently of a large black cat in the Ulcombe area, where over the past few years there have been rumour of a black leopard prowling around. Even so, the recent sightings are not all they are cracked up to be. A lady named Mandy remember seeing a large black cat that crossed a road in the village on the night of October 13th. Her partner, who was in the car with her at the time, described the animal as an unusually large feral cat, and this was confirmed the following day when the same animal was photographed by a dog walker in fields at the back of the local school. The man, a keen naturalist had heard about the 'big cat' sightings and was in the fields hoping to get a glimpse of a white squirrel when he noticed a seemingly large animal prowling along a treeline. He took two photographs of the animal which were passed on to us, and confirmed as being a feral cat - albeit a large one. It's not that unusual for a feral cat to grow to a few feet in length, but whether this is the same animal others have seen in the area we may never know unless evidence comes forward, but until it does what is clear is that there are some big ferals roaming Kent.

Review of 'Mystery Animals Of...Kent' in the Journal Of Kent History