SOUTH SOMERSET NEWS: Black panther spotted at Ham Hill?

A WALKER out on a stroll at a countryside park is convinced he saw a big cat – like a black panther – on the prowl near Yeovil.

Tim Peters was out with his wife Patricia walking their dog at the Ham Hill Country Park area when he claims he saw, in the distance, what looked like a very big cat.

“At first I thought it was a dog,” said Tim. “But the more I looked the more I became convinced it was a large cat. It was jet black and it was prowling – just like you see on those TV wildlife programmes by David Attenborough.

“Patricia was walking a few yards behind with our dog and she didn’t see the animal. I was annoyed that I didn’t have my phone or camera with me so I couldn’t get a photo, although it was too far away to have got anything decent.

“But I’m pretty convinced by what I saw and NO – I hadn’t been drinking! When I got home I looked on the internet at some big cat photos and I reckon it resembled a panther.”

PHOTOS: Just to clarify - these are just general generic photos of black panthers. Unfortunately Mr Peters did not have a camera with him when he believes he may have spotted a "big cat" at the Ham Hill Country Park.

Tim, 58, added: “I looked round to make sure our dog hadn’t spotted it because I didn’t want him chasing after a panther, but when I looked up again the animal had gone.

“It was there one minute and gone the next – just annoyed I couldn’t have got a better look.”

Mr and Mrs Peters were down in the Yeovil area last week from their home in the Midlands while visiting friends and visited the Ham Hill Country Park on Tuesday (February 28, 2017).

“Our friends thought we’d been drinking when Tim told them what he thought he’d seen,” said Patricia. “I didn’t see anything.”

Although there will be a large chunk of scepticism about this apparent “big cat sighting” – it is nothing new for Somerset.

There have been plenty of “big cat sightings” across Somerset for years including the Yeovil, Chard, Crewkerne and Ilminster areas.

A few years ago there were a number of sightings in the North Newton and North Petherton area near Bridgwater of a puma-like creature.

Sir Benjamin Slade was reported as saying the creature – which he dubbed the Beast of North Newton - was going to kill somebody if it was not shot dead and put up signs around his 98-acre estate at Maunsel House warning people to be wary.

Statistics suggest that a “big cat sighting” is reported to police in Britain every week leading to fears the animals are now breeding in the countryside.

There were nearly 500 sightings logged by police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland between 2010 and 2015.

But a spokesman for South Somerset District Council, which manages the Ham Hill Countryside Park, said its countryside rangers had had no evidence to suggest a “big cat” was roaming the area.

“We will keep a lookout, however, for any big cats on Ham Hill,” he added.

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