“Big Cat” sightings are normally associated with the wilderness of Derbyshire, Cumbria or the Highlands but there were 25 reports in London in just five years. While lionesses of the footballing kind were seen by thousands parading down The Mall on Tuesday after their Euros victory, between 2019 and last January, the Met Police received many calls from people reporting they had seen the real thing.
There were also pumas, tigers, lions, leopards, cheetahs and lynx roaming the densely populated capital, many claimed. Only one sighting, a possible Savannah cat, was confirmed, while some were listed as unconfirmed or false, such as being found to be large, stuffed cuddly toys.
But while many fear callers are crying wolf, it was only 24 years ago the “Beast of Barnet” was finally caught. Since the late-1990s rumours of a big cat roaming north London filled pubs and school playgrounds after various sightings were dismissed as false or inaccurate.
But then a lynx was spotted in a back garden in Cricklewood in May 2001, with armed police and zoo officials deployed. After four hours, the female, later named Lara, was cornered in a stairwell of a block of flats. It was believed she escaped or was freed by an owner keeping her illegally and had a broken paw and was malnourished.
After three years, she was sent to France where she had numerous cubs before dying in 2009. As for present-day sightings, the most recent call, in January, reported two baby tigers fighting near London Zoo in Regent’s Park. But as the area is busy and no further calls were received, officers did not respond and the sighting was listed as unconfirmed.
Last year, a worried neighbour said there was a large tiger in next door’s garden in Hammersmith and Fulham, but refused to knock on their door. It was later discovered to be a cuddly toy. And in 2023 a lioness was allegedly spotted in Bromley but as no further calls were received, police did not respond.
That same year, a lynx was reported in a communal garden in Haringey but the caller was not sure if it was large domestic cat so again no response was made. Both sightings were listed as unconfirmed.
Of the remaining claimed sightings, another tiger was found to be a stuffed toy in Ealing, while a possible bobcat in a cage in Hillingdon turned out to be several rag doll cats. The only possibly confirmed incident was when a large cat, first believed to be a cheetah, was found to be a crossbreed from a Savannah cat that was cornered but escaped in Hampstead Garden Suburb, in May 2020.
An RSPCA spokesperson said: “While some sightings are genuine, they are very rare. If a member of the public believes they’ve spotted a big cat at large, they should contact the police. They can also get in touch with their local authority which is responsible for zoo licensing and Dangerous Wild Animals Act licensing, as the animal may have escaped from premises that hold these types of authorisations.”