Man describes moment he was 'stalked' by huge 'puma' while in countryside walk

05 June 2023 , 09:25

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Big cat sightings have been reported in the UK over the past few years (Image: BPM MEDIA)

A man has recalled the terrifying moment was stalked by a "puma" while enjoying a walk in the British countryside.

Johnathan filmed the big creature walking in the West Country while he was on a scenic hike in Dorset.

He said he first noticed he was being followed with "intent" by the large animal as he noticed it was just "hanging around" him.

To his horror, he realised it was a "big cat" who was watching him.

He described how he first saw movement in the tall grass ahead of him before making out fur and ears.

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In a stomach-dropping moment, he says he saw a "tail swish" and realised he was being watched by something massive.

Speaking about the terrifying moment, he told the Big Cat Conversations podcast: "Every time I moved a few metres along this track, there was also a movement ahead of me that was almost mirror imagining my movement.

"And then I realised that there must have been an animal in front of me that was keeping its distance. My first thought was there was a fox that's hanging around watching me.

"I wasn't until two or three times later that I saw this twitching in the grass. I actually thought well I'm going to check this animal out and then I saw fur then I saw ears, then I saw a tail swish.

A couple previously caught a 'panther' on a camera in Forest of Dean field by A40

"It sort of flicked over its back and back down again. I thought 'oh my goodness me', and at that moment I realised what it was, I realised it was a cat and I realised it was a puma and I realised that it had intent. There was a reason why it was hanging around just a few metres in front of me."

Jonathan said he mustered up the courage to go back to the same to exact location the next day.

He said he saw Sika deer about 300 years away and noticed one by itself.

Then he says an animal ran out from a bush which he says was a "puma cub".

He watched the "puma" try and pounce on the lone deer and chase it off.

Farmers, dog walkers and train conductors have all retold their accounts of the moment they claim to have spotted a big cat roaming the West Country.

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Some have seen the strange creature on more than one occasion, others have described the blood-curdling moment they were stalked by what they believe was a panther.

Recent DNA from a black hair sample, snagged on a fence at a Gloucestershire farm, was found to have 99 per cent chance it was a black leopard.

Milica Cosic