British hunting guide spots panther-like big cat in fields near his home

A man claims he spotted a panther-like creature prowling in the fields near his village.

Gordon Welsh, 50, was walking near Blackdog in Aberdeenshire when he saw the animal. He says it looked like a mix between a panther and another animal.

He captured the “solid-looking” beast on video, saying it was bigger than a greyhound. The man has worked as a hunting guide and deerstalker in the past so knows “the difference between a domestic cat, a feral cat and that cat”.

He said: “I was just walking at the time and I’ve just seen it like limping – that’s what caught my eye. I was like: ‘The hell is that?’ But then I was like: ‘It’s nae a cat, it’s too big.”

Mr Welsh believes, like many others, that there are big cats such as panthers roaming the UK countryside. Such claims have not been proven.

He said this is not the first time he has seen one, adding: “From the way it was moving, the tail size and that, it was slightly like a panther, but it could be a crossbreed. 

“I’ve seen them plenty of times, I’ve seen lynx, I’ve seen panthers, I’ve seen crossbreeds – they’re all over the place, trust me. To be quite honest with you, most will think you mad, but these things are out there, as a certainty.”

Gordon put the video on a Facebook group for big cat sightings in Scotland. Other social media users agreed it “looks like a black panther”.

One said: “It’s clearly a panther, look at the size of it.” But others said it just looked like a larger-than-usual house cat.

Mr Welsh says the amount of deer and smaller animals in the area could be a pull for big cats.

He added: “They would not bother humans, really. They’re more skittish of us than of anything else. He was only out during the day because he was hurt, or was just taking the path of least resistance across a park.”