Six-foot leopard-type-creature caught on camera in Gloucestershire

A Leopard-like creature 6ft from nose to tail is caught on video bounding across a field at dusk — which an expert believes is final proof Britain's Big Cats really do exist. The film was taken by teaching assistant Coryn Memory close to the site of a recent spate of deer killings. But it was not an isolated sighting. Coryn, 45, says she has seen the animal, described as a "slim, black leopard" in a valley outside Stroud, Gloucs, five times — before finally getting the evidence on film.

She said: "It was around for about 20 minutes and luckily I had my camera. It was probably 300 yards away and I don't think it was aware I was there. It came in and out of the field and at one point seemed to be having a root around, probably for small animals. At one stage a fox was in the same shot so you could compare the difference in size.



Coryn added: "I would describe it as a small leopard-like Big Cat and I think it's been around for a couple of years. But I don't think it's a danger or threat." Wildlife expert Frank Tunbridge, who has spent 25 years investigating Big Cats in the Cotswolds, described the film as "conclusive proof" they exist. To work out the animal's size, he was filmed with a cut-out of a Big Cat at the spot where the "Beast Of Stroud" was filmed. That footage was then superimposed over the original.

It showed the Big Cat was even bigger than his estimate — 6ft long and 2ft high to the top of its shoulder. Frank, 65, now believes the animal may be a new species of Big Cat unique to Britain. He said: "This is the best footage I've seen. This is a Big Cat, but a British Big Cat — a type peculiar to Britain, a hybrid between leopard and puma."

With news video.