Derbyshire mum relives ‘big cat’ encounter – after ‘wild animal attacked owl’ at Peak District campsite

Tracy-Jane Fielding, from Glossop, has come forward to share her experience of encountering a ‘big cat’ at a Peak District campsite – after recent reports of potential sightings.

Tracy said she was reading in her caravan at the site where she was staying with her husband and son. She had not sensed anything out of the ordinary – until she heard what she described as the ‘horrific’ sound of one animal attacking another.

“It was terrifying when I heard it. I looked quickly out of my caravan window, and because we have lights outside, I could see that it was a big, black wild cat. It was different to a dog because it had a long, flowing tail.

“I had heard the noise and the screech from the animal it had eaten, and I was trying to identify that – I think it was a barn owl with white feathers. It made this leap and pounce, it roared, and then there was this awful screech for dear life as the owl was trying to get away.”

Tracy said that she was so shocked by what she had seen during the incident in the early morning of October 27 2021, that she was unable to take a photograph – with the ‘wild cat’ quickly bounding off away from her caravan.

“I have my phone with my 24/7, and I had it in my hand then, but I looked through the window and I wasn’t quick enough to take a picture because it was quick and I was in disbelief.

“It was very quiet – I didn't hear it before as I was lying on the front sofa of the caravan, which is against the wall where it happened, and they are paper thin. Normally I look out when I see and hear anything – I didn’t notice anything until it had pounced on the owl.

“Where I had seen it start running from, it must have laid down to get a better grip or something, as you could see the ground was pressed where it had laid down. The paw prints were about as big as my husband’s snow boots.

"I’m now convinced it was a black panther.”

She added that she was previously unaware of any wild cats in the Peak District – but was now sure that there must be a significant number living across the region.

“At that time, I didn’t even know that we still had wild cats in the area. I live in Glossop and we have a place here called Cat Wood, and I thought the last wild cat in England had died there or something. Since then, everyone has tagged me into anything they see about black cats, and somebody shared your post and that’s why I got in touch.

“When I came home and told my mum, she told me she had seen one up The Nab in Glossop. She said when she saw it, there was no doubt or other explanation as to what she saw.

“There must be a lot of these cats to have all of these sightings. They must breed, otherwise they would have surely died out.”

Last week we reported that a pair of wild campers came across what they believed was a big cat during a visit to a Peak District beauty spot.

On Monday, September 26, Josh Williams and his friend Ben were walking from Mermaid’s Pool on Kinder Scout towards Edale – returning home after a night of wild camping in the Peak District.

They had just passed Jacob’s Ladder when the pair spotted what they thought was a wild cat in a nearby field.

A week earlier another wild camper – YouTuber Novice Wildcamper – believes he heard a big cat growling while recording a YouTube video in his tent in the Peak District.