Black Leopard in a South Devon Wood - 2023
On the 5th of September 2023 I visited a wood in South Devon with a friend called Martin, who looks for signs of big cats with me, who also had his dog with him. As we walked down a track we met a lady who had two dogs with her, both off their leads. As we all chatted, I advised her to keep her dogs on their leads in woods at all times! As she listened to me, out of the woods on the left appeared what looked like a black leopard about 100 feet beyond us and in the shade of the trees! It looked at us and then disappeared back into the woods! My warning to the lady was certainly vindicated! It was 10:30 in the morning. I now have a photograph of what I believe to be the same animal, taken at dawn 18 days after I saw it, showing its back and long tail reaching to the ground.
On the 5th of September 2023 I visited a wood in South Devon with a friend called Martin, who looks for signs of big cats with me, who also had his dog with him. As we walked down a track we met a lady who had two dogs with her, both off their leads. As we all chatted, I advised her to keep her dogs on their leads in woods at all times! As she listened to me, out of the woods on the left appeared what looked like a black leopard about 100 feet beyond us and in the shade of the trees! It looked at us and then disappeared back into the woods! My warning to the lady was certainly vindicated! It was 10:30 in the morning. I now have a photograph of what I believe to be the same animal, taken at dawn 18 days after I saw it, showing its back and long tail reaching to the ground.
Martin (MBCS) Team Member
It's very interesting that I have spoken to 3 independent witnesses who have informed me that they have seen a large black cat within a few hundred yards of this location! Another friend and big cat expert told me that a holidaymaker who contacted him told him that he saw a big black cat and cub very nearby during the Summer of 2023. Perhaps our leopard was checking out the dogs, as she wanted to feed her cub! I would not be surprised! Keep your eyes open and your wits about you when YOU visit woods and if you have a dog or dogs, please remember this story!
Photos
Here we see two photos taken in the same location. The first one shows what I believe to be a black leopard and the same animal I saw on the 5th of September 2023 and the second shows a dog, for size comparison. The first photo was taken at 6:30 am on the 23rd of September 2023 and the second photo was taken at 7:37 am on the 28th of September 2023.
Black leopard walking in a South Devon wood. Photo copyright Alex Bowler 2023.
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A dog walking down the same track in the South Devon wood. Note how much higher the leopard is!
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Footprint
This right hind leopard footprint was found on the 19th of February 2024 in the same location.
Leopard footprint in a South Devon wood. Photo copyright Alex Bowler 2024.
Leopard footprint in a South Devon wood. Photo copyright Alex Bowler 2024.
Leopard footprint in a South Devon wood. Photo copyright Alex Bowler 2024.
Suspected Black Leopard Walking In The Woods
I suspect that this film, taken on the 20th of April 2024 at 1:51 am, shows our leopard friend walking through the woods at night! Just look at those lantern-like and forward-looking eyes! The film has been zoomed in and cropped, so in reality the cat was much further away from the camera. The roe deer footage is very helpful for scale. NB The camera would have moved slightly when being opened to change the cards, so the positioning of each animal is not exact. It's difficult to make an exact positional cropped copy of the day time film because some of the background details in the night time film are not visible and vegetation changes all the time anyway. The overall scale is clear however.
Suspected Puma In A Devon Wood
I think this film and photo show a puma walking in the same area where the leopard was, on the 18th of July 2024 at 12:24 am. See how long its back is and how high it is at the back end. Check out those chunky legs and big hind foot too. The roe buck deer walking along the track gives approximate scale.
Suspected puma in a South Devon wood. Photo copyright Alex Bowler 2024.
