Residents in Edinburgh spot big cat footprints

The paw prints were found in the snow in Newhaven, leading residents to fear a big cat is on the loose.

11 January 2011 16:25 GMT

Residents in Edinburgh are convinced that a big cat is loose in the capital after spotting huge paw prints in the snow.

The homeowners in Newhaven believe a puma or lynx has been forced to come in to the city to search for food during the big freeze.

Nora Robertson found the prints while she was out walking near her house in Andrew Wood Court.

The 81-year-old said that they often get foxes in the area but the footprints were too large for the mammals.

She said: "It was still dark so I had my torch with me, and the light reflected off one of these large prints.

"I followed the track all the way to my neighbour's garden, which showed it had jumped up over a wall.

"I've never seen anything like this. We get a lot of foxes around here and there is a lot of woodland and unused paths."

Experts on big cats said it is possible the animal came into the city to try and find food.

George Redpath, a member of Cupar-based Big Cats Scotland, said: "It's unlikely but not impossible.

"We have been getting more sightings in Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow.

"Perhaps - as foxes have - they have come into cities more to scavenge for food, particularly after the freezing weather we've had over the last months.

"It can be difficult to tell from prints in the snow, it can sometimes distort the real size of a print. It is hard to confirm any suspicion like this until there is a conclusive photograph, but the sightings continue.

"We just don't know what type of cat they could be. In Scotland we've had puma, lynx and possibly leopards."

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/east-central/219799-residents-in-edinburgh-spot-big-cat-footprints/