All Gloucestershire's big cat sightings mapped - see the reports near you
Big cat sightings happen every now and then across Gloucestershire and each case generates a great deal of interest. With that in mind, we’ve been back through the archives to create a map of where all the creatures have been spotted in the county. The maps shows some interesting trends appearing of where the animals have been spotted.
They tend to be in more rural areas, which would be expected, but also that there seems to be a concentration of sightings around Stroud.
In addition, there have also been sightings around Gloucester, Newent, and Cirencester.
The map also shows a notable lack of sightings around Cheltenham and Tewkesbury.
For a full recap of the sightings, see the full list below the map.
Wildmoorway Lane, South Cerney
A ’black panther’ has been spotted roaming the countryside near Cirencester and Cotswold Water Park.
A ‘terrified’ woman was walking her dog along the lanes near the lakes in South Cerney when she spotted the big cat and ran to a nearby house.
The ‘panther’ was thought to be around three feet tall and was walking along Wildmoorway Lane when it was spotted on Thursday, June 4.
Ellie Haggart, 27, was walking her French Bulldog Oscar when they saw the animal, and said: “I stopped to take my jacket off and tie it around my waist. As I was doing this Oscar started quietly growling under his breath so I assumed there was another dog walker coming.
“Then I looked up to what initially I thought was a person crouching down either picking up after their dog or tying their shoe lace off the main footpath to the side in the bushes.
“Then the panther came out into full view of the footpath.”
For the full story, click here.