MORE than 30 big cat sightings have been reported to police in County Durham in the past 11 years, but officers in many cases said they could find no evidence of the mysterious creatures.

The large felines, often likened to pumas, panthers or jaguars, have been spotted around the county, from Stanley and Chester-le-Street to Darlington and Teesdale.

A Freedom of Information request to Durham Police has revealed 33 sightings have been reported since the beginning of 2000, although several were categorised as hoax calls.

In September 2002, police went to Maiden Law, near Durham, where they found a disembowelled horse, with the owner fearing it had been attacked by a large cat. Upon investigation, however, officers concluded that the horse had injured itself on a broken wooden fence.

Police were also called to several other animal mutilations, including the carcasses of three sheep near Barnard Castle on December 30 last year.

The caller said the sheep had been “eaten rather than butchered” and that all that remained were their fleeces.

On October 4 last year, officers also found a sheep with its front legs and half of its neck missing, but on neither occasion did they find evidence to suggest a large cat was responsible.

In April 2006, a sheep near Durham survived having its sides lacerated.

Large cat-like footprints were found in the mud around it.

The latest sighting was in a wood in Durham in January when a dog walker reported seeing a “possible puma” at about 7pm.

Sightings have also been reported from Peterlee, Sedgefield, Ebchester, and Crook with four sightings made around Bishop Auckland between April 2004 and September 2005 and seven around Durham City since 2001.

Often the animal is compared in size to a large dog, ranging from Alsatians and Labradors up to a Great Dane.

Meanwhile, in Yorkshire the carcasses of two sheep, stripped to the bone, were found in a field near Kirby Hill, Richmond, causing speculation that a big cat, dubbed the Durham Puma, was prowling in Weardale and the Yorkshire Dales.

A police spokesman said big cats sightings are rare. He said: “Reports of sightings are followed up as appropriate, but over the years no firm evidence has ever been found to suggest a panther or similar big cat has been living wild in County Durham.”

Big cat sightings in County Durham

March 10, 2005
 A693
‘Puma’ seen crossing the road between Leadgate and Greencroft.

May 8, 2005
 Woodland
Man and his wife adamant they saw a puma crossing the road at Woodland at 10.30pm .

April 4, 2006
 Durham
 Farmer reports one of his sheep has been mauled by a large cat. Sheep survived but found with lacerations along its body, footprints in the mud look like those of a large cat.

September 12, 2009
Sedgefield
Panther spotted near Sedgefield Industrial Estate, had a very large tail.

March 1, 2010
Stanley
Three to four feet long cat, believed to be a puma or panther, spotted in woods.

July 9, 2010
Wheatley Hill
At 11.30pm dog walker saw a large animal walking towards him, shone his torch at the creature and described it as a jaguar or panther type cat.

October 4, 2010
Darlington
One sheep found with front legs and half of neck eaten.

December 30, 2010
Barnard Castle
Three dead sheep found that have been eaten rather than butchered and there is hardly anything but the pelts left.

January 26, 2011
Durham
Large animal, decribed as a large cat, possibly a puma, spotted at 7.30pm by a dog walker in a wooded area.