A couple have spoken of their shock at seeing a black leopard running across a field at Kingsnorth.
Eugene and Karina Rivers, of Hadleigh Street, Kingsnorth, saw the animal while walking their three-month-old Welsh terrier puppy Jasmine off Cheesemans Green Lane at 9.30pm on Sunday, May 29.
Mother-of-three Mrs Rivers said: “When we got to the railway line I saw in the distance what I thought was a dog.
"It came right across the horizon but we couldn’t see an owner. This thing was travelling so fast I could hardly keep my eyes on it.
"It got to the opposite corner from us, it did the whole length of the field in less than 10 seconds.
“It ran differently from a dog, putting its front two legs forward first and then its back legs followed.
"Then I said 'Oh my God, that’s not a dog’. We grabbed Jasmine and huddled in the bushes and just watched.”
The 31-year-old nurse continued: “It was definitely a cat but it was huge and black and the way it moved was not the way a normal domestic animal moves.
"Then as quick as we had seen it, it got to the edge of the field and disappeared.
"I was quite shocked to be honest. We were both a bit unnerved by it."
Auto-electrician Mr Rivers, 44, said: “We were both a bit shocked really to see that so close to such a built up area.
"It was quite hard to rationalise it in your head. You think it couldn’t be real and you tell yourself it’s not real but it wasn’t a dog. It was just very strange.”
Mrs Rivers added: “I’ve told a few people where I work about it and they looked at me like I was a loon but we know what we saw and how we felt.”
After walking home, they looked on the internet and reported it to Neil Arnold of Kent Big Cat Research, who collects data of exotic animal sightings in the county.
Mr Arnold received a second report of a big cat, which he believes could be the same animal, in the Kingsnorth area the day before.
An eight-year-old boy spotted a large animal in long grass spying on a domestic cat and ran to tell his father.
“The animal was described as a metre tall on its haunches and had yellow eyes which would fit the description of a black leopard,” said Mr Arnold.
“Ashford is such a vast area. There’s so much forest and a lot of cover which runs down to Romney Marsh, where I’ve found a lot of signs of a black leopard.
“I think there’s at least three or four between Ashford, Maidstone and Romeny Marsh.
"There are reports going back to the sixties so it’s certainly a viable breeding area.
“I’ve done quite a few talks in Ashford recently. It’s amazing the number of people who come up and see me afterwards to say they’ve seen one.
“Sadly, sceptics still argue these animals do not exist even though hair and faeces have been analysed and proven to belong to large cat species, sheep and deer have been found dragged high up into trees and eaten.”
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