A group who were out walking in the West Country came across a big cat which is said to have looked ‘completely natural in the countryside landscape’. One of the group said it was not for one moment a scary experience, and compared the sighting to having spotted a deer or pheasant while out on a hike.

Curious to find out the type of big cat they had seen, they carried out a Google search and found they had come across a lynx. The group were also rather taken aback seeing the lynx running away towards a flock of sheep, who were clearly unbothered by the animal.

…

“The four of us were in a line one behind the other, and my friend, who is ex-Army, whistled so we all stopped and looked up. He looked over to and pointed towards the big cat.

“We saw it for about four or five seconds as it ran about 75 metres from west to east just below the Tor. It ran into a field where there were sheep, which did not bat an eyelid.

“It was not a shock to see the animal, it just looked like a natural part of the landscape. None of us were scared, in fact as soon as the animal spotted us, it got out of the way pretty sharpish.

“The press do not help with sensational headlines about these sightings like ‘The Beast Of Bodmin’. I can imagine if you saw a lion which had been growling, you would be shocked, however this animal looked natural and completely harmless.”

…

"Lynx sightings are not as common as other big cat encounters throughout the UK, mainly because of their more secretive lifestyle of living in remote areas. Also there are probably less of them overall, than the black leopard and puma types, which get more mention in the press and media.

"Lynx were once indigenous to the UK, but were thought to have been hunted to extinction around 700 AD, probably for their fur. Some advocates would like to see them returned in a rewilding program in some selected parts of the country.

"In my experience over the years, with many reputable sources of sightings, lynx have been living wild in parts of the UK for decades. The evidence accumulated has now become facts of their scattered existence in Great Britain.