‘Puma-like’ big cat sighting reignites mystery of legendary beast roaming UK

A spate of sightings of a black ‘puma-like’ animal have reignited claims that a big cat is roaming the Scottish countryside.

There have been multiple reports of the so-called Kellas cat, a hybrid between a Scottish wildcat and domestic breeds, over the last 40 years.

The animals are typically black, often with a white spot on the chest and notably larger than the average moggy.

Among those to have recently spotted a giant feline is farmer and Cairngorms National Park board member John Kirk.

‘It was on Friday night. My wife and I had just come into town at 9.45pm and a very large black cat crossed the road,’ he said.

‘It’s the second time I’ve seen such an animal in the area and I have also seen a similar beast in the night at Boat of Garten.’

The couple, who own Rothiemoon Farm at Nethy Bridge, had been on their way to pick up their grandchildren when they spotted the animal.

‘When we came up to the cemetery and old fuel station a big cat crossed the road in front of us. Both Anne and I saw it,’ Mr Kirk said.

‘I posted on Facebook and I was surprised by the amount of people who had also seen it lately around the outskirts of the town.’

The sighting has sparked recollections of a similar event some 30 years ago, when in broad daylight a number of locals insisted there was a big black Kellas type of feline in a field at Kinveachy.

‘It was bigger than a domestic cat and my late friend Bill Lawson was with me and he also saw it. Many people did,’ Mr Kirk added.

The Inverness Museum and Art Gallery has long documented unusual feline specimens, including the Kellas cat.

A puma known as Felicity was captured in the Highlands in 1980 and is on display at the museum while several Kellas cat specimens were caught in the 1980s and early 90s in Inverness-shire, Moray, and Ross-shire.

The Kellas cat got its name as the first was identified in 1984 near the village of Kellas in the north of Scotland.

They are not a separate species but rather a hybrid between the Scottish wildcat (Felis silvestris) and domestic cats.

After Mr Kirk shared his latest sighting on social media, others quickly came forward.

‘I saw one many years ago between Boat and Aviemore near the railway. I was on the steam train. It was chasing a deer,’ Evril Spencer posted.

‘Nobody believed me, but other sightings were reported on or near the railway line then too. I wonder if this one has been dumped like the lynx?’

Cathy Mayne wrote: ‘I’ve never really processed it properly but I saw a very large black cat, bigger than something like a labrador or pointer, at Creag Dubh, about 15 years ago. I totally believe you!’

Mark Allan added, ‘A friend of mine saw one crossing the road early one morning in Newtonmore. I told her about the Kellas cats. I’m convinced these sighting are these amazing cats.’

Mr Kirk said he had seen similar animals more than once over the years.

He said: ‘One summer evening such an animal crossed the road and stopped in front of Bill Lawson and I. A large black cat, puma like. I spoke to Colin Stewart the local keeper at the time and he said it had been seen a number of times.

‘The other time at Boat (of Garten), at the Carrbridge junction, it was in daylight. This one was more like a Kellas cat on Friday, seen from the tail end. We both saw it and wonder if they were pets that had been released, having got too big to look after.

‘I feel lucky to have seen it twice. I can’t believe it could be the same cat Bill and I saw all those years ago.’

Despite the lack of definitive proof, reports continue to emerge, with people compiling maps and databases of sightings across the country.

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