{"id":41531,"date":"2024-11-14T13:04:32","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T12:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/6edada4f-736e-446e-81c8-83014ab63ced"},"modified":"2024-11-14T14:26:39","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T13:26:39","slug":"big-cat-caught-on-camera-in-cambridgeshire-most-likely-a-leopard-says-expert","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/rss_feed\/big-cat-caught-on-camera-in-cambridgeshire-most-likely-a-leopard-says-expert\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Big cat’ caught on camera in Cambridgeshire most likely a leopard, says expert"},"content":{"rendered":"

But not everyone is convinced. While one expert says “the form is possibly of a large black cat like a leopard”, another believes it is a \u201cwell-fed but otherwise totally typical moggie\u201d. <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 14 November 2024 at 12:04 PM<\/p>

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A roadworker has filmed what he described as a \u201csix-foot long\u201d, large black panther-like cat in Cambridgeshire \u2013\u00a0but, as ever with big cat<\/a> sightings in the UK, doubts remain.<\/strong><\/p>

Jason Dobney had pulled into a lay-by last Sunday (10 November) morning just outside of Baston, north of Peterborough, with a work colleague when they spotted the animal walking along the edge of a field.<\/p>

\u201cIt was about the size of a rottweiler,\u201d Dobney told BBC Countryfile Magazine<\/em>. \u201cIt had a very muscley front, like an American bulldog, it definitely wasn\u2019t a house cat. It was fixated on walking along, I\u2019d say it was prowling.\u201d<\/p>

British big cat expert \u2013 and host of the Big Cat Conversations<\/a> podcast \u2013\u00a0Rick Minter said the cat was most likely to have been a leopard<\/a>, which can vary in size, with females smaller than males. \u201cThe movement makes me uncertain as it\u2019s not clearly showing a heavy and deliberate predator, but the form is possibly of a large black cat like a leopard,\u201d he said.<\/p>

At the distance the video was taken, he said it wasn\u2019t possible to see the \u201ccharacteristic rounded ears\u201d, while the tail did appear to be \u201cproportionately long at some angles\u201d.<\/p>

But not everyone who has seen the video, or stills from it, is convinced the animal is a big cat. Dobney posted the footage on a big cat Facebook group, and many responses suggested it was just a large domestic cat.<\/p>