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A Plymouth man has recalled the two separate incidents where he claims he saw a big cat, after reading about the sightings in Harrowbarrow and Callington.

Steve Swatton, 63, said big cats are in Plymouth as he has seen a large fawn cat and a large black cat on the outskirts of the city, in 2004 and 2016, respectively.

Mr Swatton said he "feels sorry" for the people who speak out about big cat sightings in Devon and Cornwall, as they are rarely believed and end up being "ridiculed".

Last week, Cornwall Live reported about the village of Harrowbarrow being stalked by a suspected puma or panther.

James Stephenson told of how the animal attacked his Labrador Marley and later ran at him in his garden, as it emerged that several cats have gone missing from the village near Callington.

There was also a sighting in Praa Sands, in which Becky Abrey captured the black cat on video.

Mr Swatton said: "There’s loads of them around, I feel sorry for people that do get trouble with them as they get ridiculed for it.

"I know at least nine people who have seen it.

"Those cats are getting braver as they are getting used to us. It’s only going to be a matter of time before someone is seriously injured."

Mr Swatton, co-owner of Flex Fitness gym at Valley Road, said the first time he saw a big cat was around 15 years ago, near Newnham in Plympton.

He said: “It was probably about 50 yards in front of me, I saw a real big cat and I knew it wasn’t a normal cat because of the tail.

“It was fawn in colour and had a dark brown mask on its face. It looked just like a Burmese cat but three times the size and it had a collar on.

"I looked in all the books, it was a bit of a mystery."

Mr Swatton the read an article in the Plymouth Herald about a similar cat sighting and discussed what he saw at the pub.

He said that he was met with laughs, but one gentleman overheard the conversation and came over to explain where he believed the cats had came from.

Mr Swatton said: "Someone came over and said I believe you, I live in a house over in the next field."

The man told Mr Swatton that he used to work at a local Wildlife Park and helped build mesh cages for the big cats.

Mr Swatton said: “[The man said] ‘I could see the runs I was making were not going to hold as it was chicken wire’, that solved that mystery.”

More recently, in August 2016, Mr Swatton said he saw a "huge black panther" when he was walking with his friend's son, Brad Bugdale, near Sparkwell Village.

Mr Swatton drew the creature as he doesn't own a phone and couldn't capture the beast.

He said: “I couldn’t understand why nobody else saw it. It was watching us watch it, it was very tall and very muscly. It was the same sort of shape as a greyhound but bigger and bulkier.

"It was about five to six feet long, with a tail about 5ft long.

Although not scared, Mr Swatton said the sighting took the pair by surprise.

He said: "It was very sleek and about the size of an Alsatian. It was like looking at a shadow as it was jet black, as black as you can get.

"It was very powerful looking and its tail was very long too.

"What struck me about its tail was where it hung down its hindquarters it was very long and the same thickness all the way down. It was a perfect bow shape; if you put a piece of string across it, it would look like a strung bow."

(Image: Penny Cross)

He added: "It was watching us and I think we spotted each other at the same time as we were about 50 – 60 yards away.

"Then all of a sudden it disappeared and hopped over a hedge into the scrub land which leads into the forest.

"I ran up there as I thought there might be a chance of seeing it, but it was gone.

"It was probably more scared of us than us of it. I wasn't that scared at the time but thinking about it now if I had been cornered it could have got a bit nasty, as it probably weighs about 60/70lbs – heavy enough to bring a deer down."

Shortly after that, a man visited Mr Swatton at his gym to say he believed he had "unintentionally" killed the large cat.

Mr Swatton said: "He was coming back from up north on the A38 near Ivybridge and it was 1am and pitch black.

"He told me that he looked up and there was huge black cat that looked like a jaguar, he said he didn’t have time to put his breaks on.

"It did £1,000 worth of damage to the car."

Big cat sightings in Plymouth

There have also been numerous sightings of big cats around Plymouth down the years - and Police launched a lion hunt on Dartmoor in November 1998, after a 20-stone big cat was allegedly spotted running along a country lane in the South Hams by a shocked motorist.

Paul Gourley, 42, of Cheston Caravan Park, was driving his van along the Wrangaton Road near South Brent at 9.15am when he said he saw a six-foot-long lion coming towards him.

He said: "He was about 15 yards away when he ran off into a field towards Wrangaton. I think he had just had something to eat - his mane was covered in blood."

Mr Gourley then asked his wife Ellice, 47, to contact police, saying: "I thought if I reported it people would think I was stupid." Mrs Gourley said: "We had to do something. If someone finds a child eaten someone is going to ask why didn't you report it? We had to say he had seen something for safety's sake.

"Paul looked shocked when he walked in the door and I stood there with my mouth open when I heard."

Police investigating Mr Gourley's sighting located a paw print this morning in the gateway to the field near Shute Cross crossroads.

They also contacted the Sparkwell-based Dartmoor Wildlife Park to ask if any of its lions were on the loose, only to learn they were all accounted for.

The park's lion expert Robin Godbear came to the scene to analyse and take a plaster cast of the paw print.

He said: "Judging by the print and the description we have, we could be dealing with a lion. It does not sound like a puma.

"I don't think it is fully grown - probably about two-years-old. But it is still much larger than any dog."

He added: "Anyone who sees it should not approach it. They should slowly walk away. Don't run - lions associate running with prey."

Pc Dave Eldridge of South Brent Police said it was too early to comment on what action would be taken.

He said: "We responded to a call from a member of the public this morning, who said he had spotted a lion.

"We searched the nearby field, but found nothing. We did, however, find a large print in the mud. It looked very big, so we called for expert assistance."

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Constabulary said: "We are taking this matter seriously."

Pumas allegedly released the zoo

Keen golfer Hermann Welch claimed he nearly mowed down a wild panther in 2004 after a pack of pumas were allegedly released from Dartmoor Zoo.

The 75-year-old was driving to Welbeck Manor in Sparkwell 12 years ago when a "black panther" leapt from the overgrowth, darted in front of his car and disappeared into woodland on the other side of the road.

He reported the sighting to friends and family - only to be ridiculed - and he even rang the zoo, who dismissed his claims immediately.

However, the Zoo's current owner, Ben Mee, claims a pack of pumas were released during the 1980s and lived on nearby land, terrorising farmers and their livestock while feeding on scraps of rubbish in the village.

(Image: SWNS)

Ben said: "Pumas were released in the Sparkwell area in the 1980s and there were many sightings of puma in this area up until 2010.

"I even saw one when I first came here in 2006."

It has been claimed famous circus entertainer and former Plymouth Zoo owner Mary Chipperfield released three pumas into the wild when the zoo was forced to close down in 1978, it is being claimed.

Ms Chipperfield died in 2014 - but her husband, Roger Cawley, has dismissed the claims.

Mr Cawley, who now breeds rare white tigers in Spain, said: "We had no dealings with the old Dartmoor Wildlife Park and certainly never released pumas or any other wild animals on Dartmoor."

However, when The Herald reported Mr Cawley's denial last year, the widow of a delivery driver contacted us to say there had "definitely had been dealings" because: "My late husband picked up pumas from Plymouth Zoo and took one to Dartmoor Wildlife Park."

(Image: SWNS)

Driver 'stopped for petrol in Plymouth with live puma in back of pick-up truck'

A puma was once transferred between Plymouth Zoo and Dartmoor Zoo on the back of a pick up truck - and left a petrol pump attendant so terrified he only agreed to fill-up the vehicle if the driver stood guard with a shotgun, the driver's widow has said.

Pamela James contacted The Herald with this amazing anecdote after reading claims the former owner of Plymouth Zoo, circus legend the late Mary Chipperfield, had - either by accident or by design - released three pumas on to Dartmoor, when they were supposed to be transferred to the zoo at Sparkwell.

This claim was denied by Ms Chipperfield's widower, Roger Cawley, who said: "We had no dealings with the old Dartmoor Wildlife Park and certainly never released pumas or any other wild animals on Dartmoor."

Mr Cawley's denial prompted Mrs James to to ring The Herald to say that there "definitely had been dealings" because: "My late husband picked up pumas from Plymouth Zoo and took one to Dartmoor Wildlife Park."

Mrs James said her husband Tony, a self employed heating engineer, had been friends with Dartmoor Zoo's then owner, Ellis Daw, since childhood - and would often use his pick-up truck to do odd jobs for Mr Daw, with one particular job proving to be the oddest of the lot...

"It was a bit of a farce," said Mrs James of the incident, which happened around the time Plymouth Zoo closed in 1978.

"My husband was bit apprehensive about it, but he (Mr Daw) said it would be fine because the puma would be in a crate."

However, the wooden crate the puma was stored didn't do much to put her husbands concerns to rest.

"So, he took a shotgun with him," said Mrs James.

"He (Mr Daw) said 'why have you got a shotgun?', and my husband said 'because if it escapes from this crate it's dead.'

"He (Mr Daw) said 'you can't do that - I've paid a lot of money for him'.

"There used to be a petrol station at Colebrook, and, on his way back from Plymouth Zoo, my husband stopped there to fill-up.

"The petrol pump attendant said he wasn't going to go anywhere near my husband's pick-up, because the puma was growling and crawling at the crate in the back.

"In the end, he got my husband to stand guard with the shotgun while he filled up - all the mechanics came out of the garage and were laughing their heads off."

The puma wasn't the only animal from Plymouth Zoo Mr and Mrs James had fond memories of - as they also got their very own 'Tiger', the name they gave to the German Shepherd dog they adopted, which was the puppy of two of the zoo's guard dogs.

Now living in Tavistock, Pamela lived in Sparkwell with her husband Tony, who sadly passed away five years ago, at the time of the incident.

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