MYSTERIOUS scratches and damage to a tree near Corwen are being attributed to a big cat after reports of another sighting earlier this week.

Mountain biker Alex Bond came across the tree alongside the River Dee in Corwen and took a photo due to the highly unusual damage it had sustained.

"It looked to have been used as a scratching post by a very large animal," he said. "I was convinced it was a big cat, as the marks are four or five feet up the tree and with visible large claw marks."

Alex added that recent reports of a big cat sighting nearby earlier this week had made him think the two incidents were linked.

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"After hearing that a cat was sighted near Llangollen I’m sure that’s what made these marks," he said.

Big cats typically refer to suspected sightings of jaguars, panthers, lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs or cougars.

Earlier this week we reported a potential big cat sighting in Llangollen after kayakers Natalie and David Davis got in touch.

The couple spotted what looked like a large, black cat along the canal between the Trefor Basin and Llangollen on Sunday afternoon.

"As we were returning, around half way back close to the Wenffrwd culvert, my husband spotted an extraordinarily large black cat moving in a zigzag fashion across a field," said Natalie.

"I am absolutely certain that the animal we saw was far too big to be a domestic cat and was the wrong shape for a big dog."

Big cat sightings are regularly reported across North Wales, with 12 reported in 2023 on the Puma Watch website.  

The organisation, which collates sighting reports from members of the public, says on its website that it believes the ban on owning big cats as pets - otherwise known as the Dangerous Wild Animals Act of 1976 prompted owners to release their 'pets' into the wild to avoid expensive rehoming costs. 

It claims: "Owners from across the UK travelled to Wales to release their cats in our remote environment, where small but significant populations have thrived ever since.

"Big cats such as pumas are solitary and their hunting range is dozens of miles. They’re mostly spotted in Snowdonia and the Clwydian Hills but range as far out as Prestatyn."