Three friends who went night fishing claimed that they spotted a very large cat "as big as a golden retriever" on a shore in the United Kingdom. It was believed to be a puma stalking them and sitting on grassy dunes just meters away from where they parked their cars.
Sightings of pumas and other big cats in the UK are important to monitor their population. However, not much is reported since people's first thought would be to run for their safety and not take a photo. Most of the sightings reported occurred at night or midnight and big cats usually hide when humans start to approach them.
Rare Sighting of Puma on UK Shore
Paul Wilson, Paul Owen, and Patrick Owen reported coming face-to-face with what they believe to be a puma while parking cars at Gimblet Rock in Pwllheli, North Wales. According to Daily Star, the trio noticed the brown animal near the rocky outcrop at the end of the beach.
They reported the incident to the Puma Watch North Wales after two days, who said that was the first-ever reported sighting of a puma on the Llyn Peninsula. They believe that the reduced levels of human activity during the pandemic might have encouraged the puma and other big cats to roam further from the hills to a more populated area.
Paul Wilson told Puma Watch that he and his two friends were there for a night fishing and had just parked their cars when they noticed what they initially believed was a large dog sitting upright and watching them at approximately 20 meters.
He walked towards it while one of his friends turned on the headlights to illuminate it more. By then, they realized that it was not a dog but a very large cat. The puma then stood up, turned, and walked away from the trio while turning its head to look back before completely vanishing.
Pumas are carnivores and they are known to attack humans making their close encounter with one terrifying. These large feline predators reportedly attack humans as prey and not as a defense. So, people are warned going into areas where pumas are common, Life in the Fastlane reported.
Pumas are mostly seen in Snowdonia and the Clwydian Hills, but some reports suggest that they are being seen in more urban areas lately. Meanwhile, Puma Watch had multiple reports of puma sightings in sand dunes across North Wales.
Big Cats Rise in Wales
A 2006 BBC study collected over 100 big cat sightings in 18 months across North and Mid Wales to record the rise of their population in the Welsh countryside. The study noted that Wales ranks fourth in the list of big cat hotspots in the UK survey.
More so, the BBC study found an increase in big cat sightings across the country, with almost 60% of those being black cats and the 32% being sandy or brown-colored cats that are believed to be pumas.
Researchers have visited and looked for evidence to support the reports they received. They looked for samples of hair and droppings that were sent for DNA analysis, as well as footprints that might belong to them. Also, they investigated animal carcasses they found to know if it was a big cat or not.
According to The Sun, colonies of pumas across the UK are descendants of exotic pets that escaped and were released from the collections in the 1970s. Puma Watch claims that a black panther was spotted hunting rabbits in Prestatyn beach, while a similar animal was also seen last year at nearby Rhyl. The Welsh government said it would take necessary steps on the big cat sightings.
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