Report from George Markie
Another Big Cat Sighting In Fife
By Michael Alexander the Dundee Evening Telegraph 4 th November 2002
The long list of people who are absolutely convinced they have seen a
big cat roaming through countryside in north Fife in recent years
clocked up a new member today when a Dundee-based lorry driver
contacted the Evening Telegraph to say he had an encounter with such
an animal this morning, writes Michael Alexander.
The man, who asked not to be named, was driving south on the A92
Dundee to Kirkcaldy road shortly after 10 am when he noticed a "large
black creature" prowling along the edge of a field near Rathillet.
"It walked like a household cat but was about the size of a
fully-grown puma," said the man, who slowed his truck down and
watched the animal for a good 30 seconds.
"It wasn't very far from the road - it was maybe about 20 yards away
on the other side of a stone dyke - but it didn't seem scared at all
by the passing traffic. In fact, it looked to be very much in a world
of its own, like it was out for a morning stroll in the sunshine."
The man said he watched the animal for about half a minute before he
lost sight of it behind some bushes.
Having read various newspaper reports over the years, he said he had
always been sceptical about big cats' existence. He now had "no
doubt" that such creatures did exist.
The latest sighting comes just weeks after a Newport couple reported
a similar sighting in the same area, between Parbroath crossroads and
Dundee. Similar sightings in recent weeks have been reported in Angus.
Previous Fife sightings have been in the Rathillet, Cupar, Crail and
St Andrews areas.
There is a belief that the introduction of the Dangerous Animals Act
of 1976 encouraged people who kept such cats to release them into the
wild rather than have them destroyed.
Dundee Evening Telegraph, 4 th November 2002
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