Recent sightings...

A majority of recent sightings will be posted on the FACEBOOK page BIG CATS IN KENT, the original research page from over thirty years of research into sightings and evidence of 'big cats' in the wilds of the South-East.

The last month has been extremely active with sightings at Walderslade (often dubbed 'the beast of Blue Bell Hill'), Ashford and Canterbury. All of these were reports of a melanistic leopard. The Walderslade report concerned a female dog walker who described seeing a large, black and sleek animal whilst at Canterbury sheep remains were found but the Ashford report as the most impressive and took place on Monday 17th September 2018 at 10:05 pm. It concerned a man walking home down an alleyway when he was alerted to the sound of something walking in nearby undergrowth. thinking it was a fox he continued until he came face to face with a big, black cat; he added, "It was not spooked and, strangely nor was I. If I saw one in its own habitat obviously I would have died of fright, but it seemed calm and at ease. Unthreatening. We stared at each other a few seconds and it turned and left. Have looked online and 100per cent sure it was a Black Leopard; The colour, size, faint markings, eyes, tail... All spot on."

Black leopard seen at Hollingbourne

A woman has reported seeing a black leopard at Hollingbourne, Maidstone. The sighting took place at 1:30am on June 19th as she was walking her dog with a friend. They reported being snarled out and then picking out bright eyes of a large black animal.

Many other reports have come in, you can find these at the BIG CATS IN KENT Facebook page.