A MYSTERY creature has been caught on a woodland trail camera near Ruthin.

The footage was captured on the camera that had been installed to film deer and badgers in August this year.

The creature can be seen watching in the top left of the screen in the first eight seconds of the video.

It is largely obscured by trees and it is difficult to get a sense of the size of the animal.

The owner of the camera submitted it to Puma Watch North Wales, the group set up to document and investigate big cat sightings in the region.

In recent months, sightings purporting to be of large cat-like creatures have been reported across North Wales, including Conwy, Corwen, Chirk, Mostyn, Rhyl, Ruabon, and St Asaph.

Although some sightings have been explained, Tony Jones founder of Puma Watch, thinks there is evidence of a small population of puma-like cats in North Wales.

He added: "Big cats such as pumas are solitary with a hunting range of dozens of miles. They’re mostly spotted in Snowdonia and the Clwydian hills but reports of sightings in urban locations some distance from these areas are becoming more frequent.

"As seen with Llandundo’s now-famous goats, who have taken to roaming the town’s deserted streets during the coronavirus lockdowns, it’s likely that the reduced levels of human activity over the last year is encouraging big cats to roam further from the hills into more populated areas."

Earlier this year, the Welsh Government responded to the recent spate of sightings and confirmed the steps they take to investigate any reported to them, including taking casts of paw prints.