News Panther on the prowl in Drax?
The Big Cats in Britain research group is urging any residents of the Goole and Selby districts to come forward with any news of big cats following a recent sighting in Drax village.
Mark Fraser of the Big Cats in Britain group told this newspaper that, on July 22, two witnesses, who wish to remain anonymous, saw a black beast with a long tail that started to curl at the end, in Drax village at around 6.30am.
The witnesses said that they saw the cat from around 150 metres away and it was the size of a Labrador dog, but looked like a black panther.
One of the witnesses said: "I was driving a car, and the cat jumped a hedgerow and entered a field."
Now Mark Fraser is appealing for anyone else in the local area to come forward with news of big cat sightings.
He said: "We will treat all witnesses' personal details with confidentiality. It matters not how long ago their sighting took place or how trivial they think it to be.
"We are especially interested in obtaining hard evidence, such as video footage, prints, photographs of livestock kills, tree scratches or faeces. Any photographs or video footage will be returned and will remain the property of the witness."
So far this year, there have been around 244 reported sightings of big cats across the UK, 31 of which have been in Yorkshire, the county with the most sightings.
There has been a spate of sightings in the area in recent years.
In 1999, a teenager spotted a big cat whilst out in the countryside near Gilberdyke, and a Howden woman came within yards of a big cat two years before that while driving along the A164 near Spaldington.
Just last year, a woman contacted police in Selby after she believed she saw a tiger on the road near Cawood as she was driving from Ulleskelf to Ryther.
An armed response vehicle was sent to the area but nothing was found.
If you have any information that would be of interest to the Big Cats in Britain research group, please contact Mark Fraser on 01563 551710 or 07940016972, or e-mail him at bigcatsinbritain@btinternet.com
Published on 9th August 2007 in News.
Add to: Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit
Comments
Posted by Dominic Kaye at 17:25:29 on 6 September 2007
After just turning off from Howden on to the M62, travelling eastwards, I glanced into the field on my left hand side and saw an animal roughly the size of a large great dane with a strong muscular tail, very similar to that of a large cat. It was roughly fifty yards away and was \'lolloping\' towards the west end of the field. I saw this at approximately 6.20pm on the 5th September 2007
Comments are closed for this article.