Big cats in Yorkshire: A history of sightings

A panther-like beast was spotted in Drax, near Selby, back in 2006 by a farmer who saw it hunting in his fields. There was a spate of sightings reported to police in the area around the mid-2000s.

First reported in 1994, when a woman claimed to have seen an escaped lioness near Driffield. Police took the sighting seriously, and conducted a large-scale search believing it could have come from a private zoo. Sightings continued for several years afterwards, as well as incidents of mutilated livestock and large footprints, but nothing was ever found.

One of Yorkshire's most famous big cats, it has been seen numerous times since around 2000. Described as black and panther-like, it has been spotted prowling woodland and fields around the town, and has been photographed on occasion.

In 2013, Lee Clifford from North Cave took a startlingly clear photo of what was apparently a puma's face after he spotted it while walking in woodland near Hull. He believed the creature had been attracted by the fish he was eating for lunch, and he also found several stripped animal carcasses nearby. The animal's head was much larger than a domestic cat.

In 2016, a man called Michael Armitage photographed an animal he believed was a panther in Low Marishes, near Malton.

Perhaps one of the most unlikely incidents occurred back in 1947, when a woman claimed to have been attacked by a large cat in her garden in Hull. Neighbours also saw a creature at the back of the street, and she had to have stitches after being mauled in the leg. Its identity was never established.

Several residents of the village of Burley-in-Wharfedale, near Ilkley, came forward in 2010 to say they had seen a black, puma-like animal the size of a labrador stalking the area. One man said it did not seem worried by his presence when he saw it in a field near the railway station.