Sighting by Phil Crosby
Puma or leopard seen near Cookney
10 th May 2001
A large dark (black/brown) cat, 7 -8 ft length including long tail and 2 - 3 feet high, believed to be either a puma or leopard, was seen crossing the road at 5.30 pm.
The distance was 30 m, and the cat was carrying rabbit in its mouth. Able to observe for over 1 minute clearly, crossed field slowly and jumped stone wall into scrubland.
The area was mixed - field on one side of road, scrub and woodland on other.
The cat appeared to be black but in the sunlight it had some brownish highlights
I have lived in Africa and spent much of my free time watching wildlife. This moved and walked like a big cat, certainly not a canid - I have observed leopards in the wild and this was similar in all but colour. Uncertain on size - I could hardly approach to use a tape meaure - but from height of all and visual comparison was c. 2'6" - 3' tall and 5 - 6' plus tail long. Fantastic!
Phil Crosby
10 th May 2001
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