Big cat enthusiasts claim to have photographic proof of a predator roaming the English countryside, with trail camera images.
Andy Rule, 53, and wife Claire, 50, have spent more than a decade tracking big cats.
They set up trail cameras in woodland near Nympsfield, England, years ago in the hope of snapping a beast.
And their work has now paid off, they say, as their cameras picked up images of a cat in the wild.
Andy, a former carer from Stroud, said: “We’ve had three cameras over half a mile that have picked up glimpses, in that area.
“What I believe [the cat] is doing is sniffing the ground.
“Between the first image of the tail and the side profile, there were 53 seconds.
“If it had been a video, it would have caught it moving more fluently.
“This cat we’ve seen now seems to be showing quite a bit of grey so I think it’s a bit older.
“Most of the images we’ve caught are pure luck because the cats are scooting around the edges of them.”
Andy and Claire took an interest in the ‘big cat’ phenomenon back in 2012 after the intriguing death of two deer.
He said: “Claire’s always been interested in it, since growing up.
“We’ve been catching odd images all the way through. 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019 were really good years.
Andy and Claire are not the only ones who believe the pictures show a sighting of the mystical ‘big cat.’
. One of them has said it’s maybe an older cat passing back through.”
The couples’ pictures follow reports that DNA from a black hair caught on a barbwire fence following a sheep attack has offered ‘definitive proof’ big cats are roaming the British countryside.
The strands were sent off for testing after being recovered from a farm in Gloucestershire where there had been some “unusual predatory” activity.
And documentary-makers, who had been investigating sightings across the UK, say the test has now come back ‘positive’ and confirmed the existence of black panthers and other big cats living in the UK.
A forensic laboratory took on the species identification task and used mitochondrial DNA analysis to ascertain a 99 percent match to a big cat species.
“People in Gloucestershire, Britain have described what appear to be black leopards for decades. So, a leopard DNA result from a black hair sample is unsurprising.
“This is not the first such DNA result and is unlikely to be the last.”
Produced in association with SWNS Talker
