This map shows the high volume of big cat sightings across Worcestershire for the first time and suggests the powerful predators may be nearer than you think.

The scientific case for ‘panthers’ on the prowl in Worcestershire continues to gather momentum as DNA evidence confirms big cats, specifically leopards, are on the loose in Britain.

Strands of hair belonging to a leopard species Panthera Pardus have already been found on a barbed wire fence at a farm in neighbouring Gloucestershire following an attack on a sheep in 2022.

Meanwhile, more genetic traces of the muscular predators have been found in Cumbria, confirmed in tests by a university professor.

The shocking sightings of large leopard-like cats have been reported as recently as this year in Harvington, near Evesham and others date back 20 years.

Many of these encounters are in Worcestershire’s wildest tracts of country. However, not all are in remote areas with one dog walker describing how she fled a Worcester nature reserve with her two powerful dogs, one of which was bred to fight wolves.

Data on the sightings is sourced from the Evesham and Villages Big Cat Group and the information has been used to compile this interactive map.