Shropshire has been no stranger to witness reports of ‘big cat’ sightings over the past year, but are they genuine cause for concern, or merely an optical illusion?
County opinion remains strongly divided on the subject.
Several cases have alarmed authorities enough to conduct searches of the area, even deploying a helicopter after one particular sighting in Shrewsbury after it was felt that public safety could be compromised if the animal was left to roam at large.
But many of the Shropshire Star’s online readers suggest that without verifiable photographic evidence to support witness claims, the sightings of “big cats” are nothing more than an urban myth.
Have a look at our big cat map below and click on the map pins to read about each sighting (this may take a few moments to load) then let us know your views in the comments forum.
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27 Comments
Blockley’s Brick factory ? I think it was called not even sure if its still there, but i am sure years ago they actually had footage on their cctv cam of a big cat on their site in Horton wood, does anyone else remember this?
above piture =Jack Russell
The majority fo the sightings came from around one area. This has changed due to the fact that the area concerned has been very heavily developed. If there was a creature there, he, she or they will have moved on.
jack russell?! er, mavis i think you’ll find that’s the back end of a melanistic leopard (which means ‘black’ leopard, through which you can still make out the spots) which is one of the more commonly sighted big cats in this country, along with lynx’s and puma’s.
yeah they came from around dawley/telford but as nearly all the sightings were over the last 12 months, how much development could have taken place?
i can comfirm a sighting earlier this year at jiggers bank roundabout at the top of the ironbridge bypass.it was in the early hours about 3.30am.believe me it was no domestic cat.
If there is a big cat roaming about, leave it be it hasnt harmed anyone and ok fair enough if it did then it would need to be put in a secure place but why waste all the money are time hunting for something that might not actually be real!
don’t think anyone’s saying anything about ‘hunting’ it are they?
it’s just useful and interesting to know where the sightings are.
What ever people think, the hard facts are that there aren’t any. Leopard or puma the phot may be, but funny how we can’t see the whole photo isn’t it! Probably by the animals head is a “welcome to Chester zoo sign!”
Big Cats in Pontesbury ? I don’t think so. Where are the savaged sheep and cattle, the dead pets ? Do these wild cats live on fresh air?
We are the most watched nation on earth, how come they have never been picked up on CCTV? especially in the built up areas such as Dawley! Lets not also forget, they are potentially dangerous, you wouldn’t get in a cage with one at a zoo? so how come no-one was ever hurt?
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE not the ‘big cat story’ again.
Summer 2005, Whilst walking my golden retriever on Haughmond Hill at 6am one morning, I definitely saw the back end of a large cat. Big, black with a long tail curled over slight;y forward at the top. I cannot say what type of cat as I only saw the back end, approximately 20 feet away. It disappeared into the undergrowth very quickly. The cats are out there but are they really such a concern. They don’t seem to cause too many problems - not as much as politicians anyway!
Autumn 2007.I have been told of big cat sightings in the Melverley area.I saw unusual paw prints in the snow near The Breiddens,Feb 2007.I have backpacked in Northern Califoria and Vancouver Island;Pumas and Cougars exist in this environment and could survive in Shropshire and Mid-Wales.
In summer this year i was out walking my dog with my sister and we stopped at our local park for a rest on the bench. i suddenly saw a black wild cat walking up the local pitmound on woodside,he went to the top of the pitmound and vanished. me being an animal lover i can confirm that 100% sure it was a black panther. it is said to roam round the rough park area of woodside too, but i have not seen him there yet.
There was a reported sighting of a black ‘Panther’ about three months ago in the Brockton area of Shifnal!
I saw a big black cat in the field at the back of my house today, Oh how I laughed when I realised that it was tiddles from nextdoor.
Nobody will ever believe that one exists until such times as it is knocked over and killed by a vehicle.
Women will weep uncontrollably and then their children are brainwashed that it is the thing to do after it is named The Peoples Big Black Mouser.
Crowds will throng the streets as the carcass is taken from lying in state to the final resting place (obviously in a Jaguar).
People will come from everywhere exclaiming their love for TPBBM even though none of them had actually met him/her before their demise.
Somebody will come up with the idea of a fancy water feature in memory of our dear departed…….let’s call it….The Severn!
Years later we’ll have a London shop owner spending loads of dosh trying to give credence to a conspiracy theory that it was murdered by ??? and placed there by ???…..
Oh by the way the driver was drunk … but that doesn’t make for a good story….
If these animals exist why are there no reports of prey animals? Cats, sheep, small dogs. Surely a large cat cannot live by rabbits and rats alone?
I haver no doubt that these animals exist in the wild in Britain but doubt that they can continue to exist in anonimity in built up areas such as Telford.
Lost… One big black cat. Answers to the name of Cfor if anyone finds it please contact me !!!!!!!
We live in the Clungunford area and are hearing so many reports of a large black cat being seen from Knighton to Hopton castle to Clungunford to Ludlow…this is very interesting as the deer move across these area’s.we have also just found a collection of large cat prints and also the local farmers have mentioned
sheep killings.
The mystery of the Marches cat is upon us…
To those who say a big cat could not exist in a built up area think again.
Leapards have been found living in the centre of Nairobi in Africa.
Numerous people have been killed and eaten by Leapards living on the outskirts of Bombay and various other towns and cities in India.
In America radio tracked pumas have been found to enter peoples gardens and eat kills feet away from developed areas and no-one has noticed them.
As for prey animals, nature is pretty tidy. You wont see many dead animals just lying around. The bodies are broken down and scatterd rather quickly by scavangers and decay. How many pets go missing and never get found? Farmers lose sheep and never find the bodies, and yes they can live on rabbits. theres plenty of them around, even in built up areas. I’ve seen wild rabbits in waste ground in the middle of London. Deer are venturing into gardens in London as well. Like it or not nature is quite happy to live in our towns and cities.
Theres plenty of places for big cats to hide weather in the town or country and plenty of food in both for them to live on. And we would’nt know they were there as they are very secretive creatures.
back in june 2002 my wife and i saw the back end of a very large black cat about 1 mile out of broseley on the “woodbridge road”when driving back from cosford air show. it was going into the undergrowth and had large hind legs and a slim but long tail.there is something out there thats for sure!
Has anyone seen my cat? Went missing some time ago - answers to the name of Pebbles, likes KiteKat and Thompson’s Gazelle.
I used too live at / near the Porthywaen side of Sweeney mountain, Nr. Oswestry for many years it became like clockwork for there to be at least one nearby sighting once every three years, I myself have personally starred into the eyes of an Adult black puma, I was firmly routed to the spot that I stood in, the cat and I locked eye contact for a few minutes, just starring at each other, then the cat turned and walked quickly away going back the way it had come. I have treasured that moment, ever since & I would dearly like to see it again. Yours truthfully Simon.
I can remember the CCTV footage at Blockleys brick yard in Hadley, Telford, I have a copy of the tape at home, it was deffinatly a big cat, and is possibly a melanistic leopard.
The number of “Big Cat” sightings will only increase due to it now being in peoples minds. Its the same as UFOs and Ghosts, a flash of something out of the corner of your eye and your mind will do the rest.