More September sightings

Monday 26th September 2011 - 5:00 am, in vicinity of Beaconsfield Rd, Canterbury. Female witness walking home from work heading towards a dimly lit alleyway, saw a hulking shape at end of alley which she at first took to be a human. Witness walked to within ten metres and noticed it was a black animal which reflected green in its eyes. The cat was spooked by the witness and sprang into the darkness. The woman continued her route past the area the cat had been seen but there was no sign of the animal. Black leopard also seen at Blean Wood.

Thursday 29th September 2011 - 4:30 pm
Angler spotted labrador-sized black cat whilst fishing at Paddlesworth Lakes, near Snodland. Animal was sitting on its haunches on a woodland pathway. Angler noted the length of the tail. Witness went back to fetch his camera but when he returned the animal had slinked off into the woods.

Friday 30th September 2011 - 8:00 am
Woman walking her dog on country lane at Cooling, near Strood, spotted large black animal fifty metres away. Woman thought the animal was a labrador until it turned to face her. The animal was a large cat which had a swagger to its walk, and a long, thick tail. The animal sprang up a bank and disappeared towards fields.

Deer kill at Tunbridge Wells

The following photo's were taken by James Mitson in 2011, who, whilst during a walk in forest area between Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells, stumbled across the eaten carcass of a deer. The deer shows all the hallmarks of a 'big cat' kill - puncture mark to throat, bones chewed away, and the almost surgical precision of the way the fur and flesh is rasped away. Scat was also found a few miles from this area as well as part of a deer up a tree. All photo's used with permission of James Mitson.

From the files: The Great Storm of 1987

Although popular belief is that the population of 'big cats' in the UK today are the result of animals released after the introduction of the 1976 Dangerous Wild Animals Act, there have been other incidents which may well have enabled exotic cats to roam the UK. In 1987 a severe storm ripped through Kent - wallabies, monkeys, wild boar, and large cats most certainly escaped into the wilds - some of these (wallaby and boar) establishing themselves. Two conflicting reports from the time claimed that a large cat had escaped from Howeletts Zoo, situated near Canterbury.

From 13/10/87: 'Leopard on loose' - A snow leopard which escaped on Friday from Howletts Zoo, near Canterbury, after a tree crushed its cage, was still at large last night. "So far the animal hasn't been spotted," a Kent police spokesman said.

On 22/10/87 - 'Leopard spotted' - The clouded leopard (?!) which escaped from Mr John Aspinall's zoo near Canterbury, Kent, when a tree crushed its cage during last Fridays storms, was still on the loose last night. Officers said there had been two possible sightings, but attempts to lure it into traps failed.'

It's also worth noting that sightings of a black leopard also seemed to hit the headlines around the time of the storm and for a few years afterwards. See clipping

September sightings

Although updates have only been occasional - too many sightings to list on the site - in the last month there have been some impressive reports. A lynx was observed in daylight by a motorist and his wife in the village of Sole Street, near Meopham. The animal crossed the road in front of the vehicle at a distance of 25-feet. A black leopard was seen at High Halstow in the vicinity of the RSPB area by a woman walking her Border Collie. The cat emerged from the undergrowth - the witness stated the cat was the same size as her dog. Also in September there was another daylight sighting, this time a black leopard report from Wormshill, a male witness walking his dog spooked a large, six-foot long cat which ran towards the meadow. An elderly woman had her domestic cat attacked by a large cat which left scratch marks on the hind quarters of the domestic cat and there have been further reports from Sevenoaks, Gravesend, and from Sussex.

Recent sightings

During the first week of September there have been varying clusters of reports from all over Kent. The most recent reports have come from Sheppey, Kennington, and Hythe - this involved scratch marks found high up a tree. Although a recent Daily Mirror article printed a photo of a domestic cat, which they called the 'beast of Burnham', after sightings elsewhere in the country, on Friday 2nd September a puma was observed at Kennington, Ashford. A male witness observed the four-and-a-half foot long animal from his bedroom at 11:30 pm whilst watching fireworks. Meanwhile, at Sheppey a male witness, whilst jogging observed a big black animal which ran down a track on the afternoon of 4th September. Other reports, currently under investigation have been received but will not be listed on here.

Is this the 'beast' of Essex ? Of course not...

On 22nd August the Daily Star described an encounter at Ongar, Essex with a 'big cat', accompanying the article was a photo of the 'mystery' animal. Kent Big Cat Research, along with several other researchers, vets, zoologists, naturalists, were also shown the image and all replied that the cat in the photo was nothing more than a large domestic. Sadly these type of stories still crop up in the UK press. Does anyone remember the cat caught on camera in Sussex a few years back ? The image clearly shows a domestic cat and yet the gent who took the photo is still adamant the animal is a 'black panther'.

Most recent, day-time 'big cat' sightings

Over the last month there has been a wave of reports from East Kent. There have also been two impressive daylight sightings, both concerning black leopard. On Monday 22nd August 2011 at 4:30 pm a Mr West and his wife were looking after their grandchildren and took them to The Glen, on the Isle of Sheppey. Whilst walking down a woodland path, Mr West, a retired scientist, with a zoology degree, observed a large, black animal sitting on the pathway 40 yards ahead. Like most 'big cat' witnesses, Mr West initially thought the animal must be a dog until he got a better view and realised it was a large cat - its tail was extremely long and the way it slinked off into the undergrowth was not the behaviour of a dog. The previous day at Dungeness, a woman named Patricia was walking her dog at 6:30 am. The area, full of overgrown pathways and woods, had previously spooked her large dog which had sniffed out some extremely large paw prints. As Patricia's dog sat in the back of her jeep she noticed it was staring at some bushes. Suddenly, from the undergrowth an enormous black cat emerged and slinked along the fence line. Patricia attempted to reach for her binoculars but her movement was sensed by the cat which looked at her then casually made its way out of sight.  In both instances the witnesses got a very clear view of the animal and a third daylight encounter took place on Tuesday 30th August 2011 at Etching Hill. A man jogging at 8:00 am on a bridle path was stunned to see a massive black cat sitting its haunches observing rabbit and sheep. The cat did not see the man, but the male witness hurried from the area, arriving home to his partner commenting that he looked as "white as a ghost". The witness stated categorically that the animal was an enormous cat measuring approximately six-feet in length.

Of course, when such reports appear in local newspapers, the witnesses, and those who investigate such reports are targeted by cowardly internet users who make it their days obsession to write insulting comments from the comfort of their armchairs. Those who cannot see any further than their noses really should get out more and study the wildlife around them. In all three instances neither witness thought about taking a photo - because the last thing they expected to see on a daily jaunt was a 'big cat' Even so, sceptics need to realise that whilst some reports are misinterpretation there is a strong core of reports every year, across the UK, which prove that large, exotic cats DO inhabit the UK. The biggest concern is the ignorance of those sceptics who not once are able to disprove. Whilst one can simply scoff at a report, it's time sceptics proved that a big cat did not kill a sheep, and understand that native animals in the UK do not kill the same way as a leopard. Sceptics need to look into the history of such sightings, and examine all the evidence put forward rather than stating that such animals do not exist simply because they haven't seen one. This naive attitude is laughable, but also extremely sad. When paw prints, hair samples, and scat are proven to belong to a large cat such as a leopard or puma, why do sceptics continue to debate it ? Does the fact they could be wrong mean that their sad existence no longer has worth ? The cats being seen in the wilds of the UK are not ghosts or aliens, they are simply out of place, but well established wild animals, and there's nothing that mysterious about it. The sad fact is that whatever evidence is produced, some sceptics refuse to accept it, despite their inability to disprove it.