Is a panther on the loose in the Peak District? Teen claims video from camping holiday is proof of ‘big cat’

A teenager has reported seeing a panther roaming the Peak District, publishing a video online of what he claims is a sheep being mauled.

Seventeen-year-old Josh Williams has been met with support and scepticism after sharing footage of what he saw when camping with his friend Ben Burns in the Derbyshire hillsides.

A dark animal is seen in the film moving around Mermaid's Pool in the footage, which was shot by Josh on his mobile phone at a distance.

Panthers are most commonly found in Africa and Asia but while Josh admitted he could not be sure what the animal was, he claims it was a “big cat”.

“We honestly had no idea what it could be if not a big cat,” he said.

“It was in a field of sheep with no different animals around, and it appeared to have a long black tail, so it definitely wasn't a sheep.

'We didn't hear much noise coming from the wild cat, just the occasional crunch, which made me think it was feeding on something like a dead animal - most likely a sheep.”

He said surrounding wildlife was “unbothered” by the animal but that it “stuck out like a sore thumb”.

Josh added he might have stayed longer but was conscious of needing to catch a soon to depart train.

Josh added: “I was glad I managed to capture it on video after the event unfolded as I knew that nobody would believe me if I told them I had seen a panther in the Peak District the first time I went camping.”

Online reactions have ranged from those who believed the sighting was something extraordinary to those who felt it was probably a bull, a dog or a sheep.

Stephen Milnes wrote on Twitter: “Amazing. Some of the most convincing footage I’ve seen. Grew up with reports of sightings of the Rutland panther. Always felt like there must be a few out there. Now it looks like there’s at least one in my current home of the Peak District. Super exciting.”

But a Twitter user called Patricia wrote: “It’s a black and white cow on it’s side licking itself as if the sheep in the back ground would be lying there with a panther in the field....”

In an online forum, ‘Harry Hampshire’, wrote: “That’s a Calf, a baby cow.”

Another commenter, Amy Green, added: “Send these lads back to school and a trip to the zoo, so they can see what a panther looks like. This is a cow.”

DEFRA and the RSPCA have both declined to comment.