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

Is a feral cat, or something larger attacking domestic cats in Bromley ?

Read all about it at the Newsshopper

Fox killed by large cat and other sightings

The image was sent by a man walking his dogs at the Isle of Grain. The dogs disturbed a large animal which speed off when disturbed leaving behind this kill. The predator had attempted to cover its kill by scraping dirt/grass over it - the hallmark of a puma. In the last four days there have been eleven sightings from across the south-east with three reports coming from Sussex - the most recent near Haywards Heath on 24th September involving a motorist travelling to work at 5am when a huge black cat ran across the road. Photo by J. Deane

New Romney 'big cat' sighting

On Tuesday 18th September a black leopard was observed by a woman who was feeding her donkey at New Romney. The sighting took place at 4pm, and the animal observed was described as three-feet in length, slim in the body and slowly loping along a hedgerow. The marshy areas of New Romney have featured heavily over the years in regards to 'big cat' sightings with sightings coming from Lydd, Ivychurch, Burmarsh and toward Dymchurch. A few years ago one researcher claimed there were "thirteen black leopards" in Romney Marsh which must qualify as one of the most ridiculous statements of all time and the sort of comment that could quite easily create a witch hunt. The marshy area is perfect habitat for large cats (but not thirteen of one species!), particularly lynx, but as a territory for any cat it would be viable as from this area a cat could easily travel into East Sussex - there have been reports at Rye, Hastings etc - and east Kent where there have been many sightings over the years at Ashford, Folkestone, Dover and Tenterden.

Kent 'big cat' updates

Over the past few weeks there have been more reports, mostly of black leopard in the Kent wilds and including the recent discovery of a deer carcass, photographed by James Mitson. The throat area of the animal sported several puncture marks. A black leopard has been reported from the Allington area of Maidstone by a female witness who observed the animal in her back garden. She reported the sighting to the police. There have also been a number of sightings from an undisclosed area of rural Gravesend where two black leopards have been sighted together.