‘Leopard’ could be loose on Dartmoor

FEARS that a big cat is on the prowl on Dartmoor are based on ‘convincing’ evidence, experts claimed last night.

Police played down the threat to human life but one zoologist warned it was ‘not a good sign’ that the animal apparently ran at an eyewitness.

Dartmoor Zoological Society chief Ben Mee, whose staff trapped an escaped lynx on the moor in 2016, said pawprint casts suggest the latest beast was the size of a black leopard.

He said: ‘A 5in-wide print – that’s quite big and totally convincing. The fact this animal reportedly ran towards a witness is not a good sign. That suggests it feels it can take you on.’

James Stephenson, 23, of Harrowbarrow, ten miles west of Dartmoor, said his dog Marley was recently attacked in his garden after dark and was left ‘covered in blood’. Two nights later he says he went out with a torch and saw two green eyes. He said: ‘It started to run towards me. I quickly got back inside. It was very scary.’

A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesman urged the public not to approach any suspected wild cat.