Sightings of big cats across Hertfordshire have long been reported, including The Beast of Brookmans Park and St Albans Cat. Here's a history of the county's eyewitness accounts.
Although the UK has no known big cat population, that hasn't stopped people claiming to see them across the country, and Hertfordshire is no different.
A Freedom of Information request to Herts police in 2016 revealed 26 reported sightings going back to 2011, while a 2022 FOI showed 10 reports since 2019.
Whether it be large domestic cats or something entirely different, people are convinced they have seen something, and many spoke to us about what they witnessed.
The Beast of Brookmans Park
One of Hertfordshire's hotspots for big cat sightings is Brookmans Park. In fact, so many have people have reported seeing a big cat in the village that the unidentified creature earned the nickname The Beast of Brookmans Park.
Back in 2009, Chris Dingley was among those to have a close encounter with the beast, when he spotted a big black cat near Hawkins Hall Farm in Datchworth.
"It was about 6.30am and I was driving over to my son's house to collect some tools," he told the Welwyn Hatfield Times.
"I saw this big black animal in a field so I got out and had a look. It was initially about 30ft away from me, but as I got out it moved deeper into the field.
"You could tell by the way it moved it was definitely a cat, but the grass in the field was about seven or eight feet high, so there's no way it was a domestic one."
Our newspapers have also received reports of sightings in Brookmans Park, Welham Green, Northaw, Potters Bar, Essendon, and Sherrardspark Wood over the years.
More 2009 sightings
There were a spate of eyewitness reports of big cats in 2009, including a compelling tale from Stevenage's Bill Brown.
Bob claimed he spotted a large cat, which he described as looking like a small mountain lion, while he drove to work along Hatch Lane, between Weston and Baldock.
"It took a great leap out of a ditch at the side of the road and disappeared into the standing corn," he said.
"It was sandy coloured and not a dog or a deer. It looked more like a small mountain lion. I didn't stop to see where it had gone."
Another sighting that year came from a man out walking near Clothall Common in Letchworth, who claimed to have spotted a large black cat in a field.
"It was definitely a big cat. I was walking along the edge of the field and watched it go into some woodland," he said.
Sightings aplenty in 2017
2017 saw even more sightings, with one even captured on video.
A taxi driver from St Albans captured footage of a supposed big cat next to road just outside of the city, although plenty claimed it was just a normal domestic cat.
That wasn't the only St Albans siting that year, as Alistair Divall saw what he believed to be a panther while he was out jogging on the Alban Way.
Alistair, who was employed as a TV presenter and broadcaster, has worked at Paradise Wildlife Park and was sure of what he saw.
"That’s definitely what I saw and I am completely sane. I can tell the difference between a cat and this big cat," he said.
"Funnily enough I wasn’t scared. It didn’t threaten me in the slightest."
In March of that year, a motorist thought he saw a panther bounding through fields in Wheathampstead, and a dog-walker discovered the grizzly scene of a mutilated muntjac corpse nearby.
Also that year, the same man had not one, but two encounters with big cats in Tewin.
The 37-year-old, who wished to remain anonymous, was on an evening walk around the village with his five-year-old son when the toddler spotted two big cats in the distance.
The man admitted he did not know what they were, but was "100 per cent" sure they were big cats from their movements.
He saw the same animals just two weeks later, adding: "They both stopped and looked, and then trotted away. I was shocked, thinking, 'what the hell have I just seen?'"
More convincing evidence came from Aldwickbury Park Golf Club, when Stuart Braggs came across large footprints the side of his hand in a bunker.
“There’s no way it was anything else but a cat, it’s definitely something reasonably large."
"I am convinced the creature is out there and hope it continues to live safely and secretly amongst us."
'Big cat' captured on camera
In 2019, St Albans resident Olly Fairbrother and his wife Natasha snapped of what they believed to be a big cat in their garden.
Natasha, who spotted the animal three times from about six to 10 feet away, said its body was about three feet long and came up to her knee.
The couple also said the animal ripped a large section of bolted corrugated plastic from the roof of their rabbit enclosure.
"I am not a big cat expert so I really don’t know, and I’m sure there is a logical explanation, but I’ve seen the video and know how shaken Natasha is by it," Olly said.
"It is not one of those in-the-distance sightings, and I know you can get big domestic cats, but this is big."
If you've had any big cat sightings around Hertfordshire recently, contact daniel.mountney@newsquest.co.uk.
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