Eagle-eyed Brits reported a whopping 38 big cats to police in 2022, new figures show.
A cyclist even claimed to have been bitten by a puma in the same area dogs were attacked by a “three-foot tall wild cat” near Downham Market in Norfolk.
According to a Freedom of Information request from The Sun, the panicking public claimed to have spotted pumas, cheetahs, leopards, and even lions roaming across the country.
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A Savannah cat was spotted near Bolsover in Derbyshire and the nation's capital was even hit by a suspicious sighting after someone reported a “large cat without a tail” sneaking into Hyde Park.
There were also two Savannah cats seen in Barnet, while officials from Cambridgeshire Police confirmed two reports of something resembling a panther.
Worryingly, someone in Leicestershire called the police to say she had spotted a lion at the bottom of her garden after hearing a “commotion”.
The highest number of cases came in Kent, where five big cats were spotted – although it was not detailed exactly what they were.
None of the supposedly-wild beasts were caught, meaning that they are still roaming Britain's streets today.
The last actual evidence of a big cat in the UK came in 2011 when experts from Durham University tested hairs found in north Devon.
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Those samples proved the existence of a leopard living in the area, while two deer carcasses tested in Gloucestershire a year later proved that only foxes were living in the area despite reports of a big cat being responsible for the grim findings.
Top animal tracker Rhoda Watkins told the Daily Star last year: “I am absolutely convinced we have big cats in the UK. The evidence is there, the science is there.
“We’re starting to get access to DNA analysis and forensic science, which is really useful.
“But what’s convinced me is the evidence of the bones.
“When a big cat kills something it leaves tooth impressions in the bones of the animal it has been eating.”
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