Kelvin Diffey said he was taking an evening walk along his local river when he noticed an animal in the distance.
At first, he thought it could be a dog. However, as he got closer, he said he became convinced it was not.
The pictures attached are of an actual panther t\ken in the wild some years ago.
‘Panther’ spotted in Longham (Image: Kelvin Diffey)
Kelvin took several photographs of the animal and watched it for a few minutes before it ran off towards the woods.
He said: “I was having an evening walk down my local river in Longham when I spotted something in the distance.
“At first look I thought it was someone’s dog, but when I got closer it definitely wasn’t a dog. I quickly got my phone out and took a few pictures and, realising this was some sort of big cat, I was pretty shocked.
“After a few minutes looking at me, it ran off towards the woods.”
PICTURES: Big cats on the prowl in Dorset – “There are around 30 leopards in Dorset alone”
The sighting adds to a long history of reports of unusually large cats across Dorset.
Dorset Police has previously recorded reports from members of the public of animals described as panthers, black leopards, lynx or puma-type cats.
A Freedom of Information request made by the Echo in 2021 found eight reported big-cat sightings in Dorset between 2018 and 2020, including in Poole, Dorchester, Weymouth and Sturminster Newton.
In July 2018/2019, two sightings were reported in Poole, including one account of a black panther said to have been seen sitting in a tree.
In 2021, Southbourne based-big cat expert Jonathan McGowan said: “There are around 30 leopards in Dorset alone because it has such a high deer population.
“Most of the big cats are very shy and keep out of the way because they want to remain undetected.”
More recently, in October 2023, Hamworthy woman Mary Abreu reported a close encounter with a large, dark animal while walking in Wareham Forest near Lawson’s Clump.
She said the animal shot across the path in front of her.
“I knew it wasn’t a normal animal”, she said at the time. “It seems odd to even describe it as being a cat – it was far too big to be a cat.”
Big cat reports remain unverified, and sightings can be difficult to assess because of distance, lighting, terrain and the possibility of misidentifying large domestic cats, dogs or other wildlife.
However, police advise people not to approach an animal they believe could pose a risk and to report an immediate threat by calling 999.