A WITNESS has described seeing a big cat, they believe could have been a puma, prowling the outskirts of St Asaph.

They described the encounter which took place when they were walking along Chester Street away from the city centre at 9.30am on Saturday.

They were approaching fields when, they claim, they were spotted by the creature which began following them.

Scared, they crossed the road, turned around and walked back towards the centre.

In a report to Puma Watch North Wales, the group set up to investigate and document such sightings, the witness said he was “very concerned” and that it was “very scary experience”.

 

Big cat sighting in St Asaph has been added to Puma Watch North Wales interactive map.

Big cat sighting in St Asaph has been added to Puma Watch North Wales' interactive map.

 

He told Puma Watch: “We spotted a large cat...about the size of a Border Collie sheepdog. It was watching us walk past with our Jack Russell.

“We kept walking down the road towards the river. The large cat was following us...keeping parallel with us.

“We got very concerned so we crossed the road and walked back up Chester Street towards shops.

“Very scary experience.”

Martin Jones, founder of Puma Watch, said the sighting has been added to the group's interactive map.

He said there had been other sightings in the area.

He said: "Another sighting occurred on the outskirts of St Asaph back in June when Stephanie spotted a 'large black puma' jumping and running through long grass.

"A suspected puma was also spotted few miles away at Rhuallt Hill back in January. Footprints were also found in Meliden over winter, with many other nearby sightings featured on our interactive map."

"Big cats such as pumas are solitary with a hunting range of dozens of miles. They’re mostly spotted in Snowdonia and the Clwydian hills but reports of sightings in urban locations some distance from these areas are becoming more frequent.

"Earlier this year, the Welsh Government responded to the recent spate of sightings and confirmed the steps they take to investigate any reported to them, including taking casts of paw prints.

"When big cats were banned as pets in the 1970s, it was legal to release them into the countryside to avoid expensive rehoming costs. Owners from across the UK travelled to areas like Wales to release their cats in the remote environment, where small but significant populations have thrived ever since."