Pair's puma sighting – is the beast back?

By mary harris mary.harris@courier.co.uk

THE big cat is back – and it could be roaming in a wood near you.

There have been new sightings in Tunbridge Wells of what is believed to be a puma, also known as a mountain lion or a cougar.

This time the larger, gingery-coloured animal appeared from the undergrowth in Knights Park in Longfield Road.

And staff at nearby Frankie and Benny's restaurant reported hearing a ferocious night-time fight between two animals last weekend.

The county's expert Neil Arnold was contacted by two women who were "unnerved" when 200 yards in front of them in woodland at Knights Park the big cat stopped, stared for about 20 seconds before slinking back amongst the trees

Mr Arnold said the pair were so worried during the incident 10 days ago, they backtracked.

The author of Mystery Animals of the British Isles: Kent, who has spent the past 20 years researching the wild cats, said he had received eight reports this year of evidence or sightings across Tunbridge Wells and surrounding villages including Rusthall and Penshurst.

Mr Arnold said: "People don't ring in about a domestic cat. She was adamant what she saw.

"She said it was enormous, about 4ft long, much larger than a domestic cat or fox and having a very long tail, which was curving.

"The animal was a puma, 100 per cent. They can reach 5ft in length and the tail is what many people talk about, it is 3ft long and curls down and back like an 's' shape.

"They were spooked, they didn't fancy going any further."

He said the cat would be living off rabbits, pigeons and pheasants but it could kill a sheep.

The kills are distinctive because of the abandoned carcasses which have the head left, fleece peeled back and the soft flesh 'rasped' away by the sharp tongue.

At Knights Park, restaurant Frankie and Benny's supervisor Ashish Patel told the Courier: "Behind the restaurant there is woods and last weekend it sounded exactly like animals fighting and screaming or an animal being killed.

"It was very strange, we were surprised."

But Mr Arnold said people should not be unduly nervous about walking in Knights Park woods.

"They're no threat to humans but they are wild animals. They say in the USA, if you are close enough, maintain eye contact with the cat, as it's about respect.

"Don't approach it. The concern is if it is cornered, provoked or injured. That's my concern, if one is injured by an idiot who decides to shoot one," he said.

It is not the first time the puma, which Mr Arnold said had no home unless the female was breeding and had a territory of up to 70sq miles, has been seen in these parts.

He said large cats have been recorded in the British Isles for several centuries, but most of the animals seen in local woodlands were offspring of many released from private collections of puma, black leopard and various other cats in the 1960s and 1970s.

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