Wild boar like this can be found in Kent

by James Scott

More than 50 reports of escaped big cats and exotic animal sightings have been made to Kent Police in the past three years.

A Freedom of Information Act request by the Kentish Express reveals police have received 52 calls about dangerous wild animal sightings since January 2008.

These included wild boar on the loose near Ashford, an emu seen near Paddock Wood and a wolf sighting in Sturry near Canterbury.

Most reports were of large black cats, making up 15 of the sightings, followed by big cats with 10 sightings.

Other reports included four wild cats, three boars, two wolves, two lynx, two leopards, one cheetah, and an emu.

Police also recorded five hoax calls and two in which the animal was unknown. Someone reported a large orange cat on a roof in Maidstone town centre last July, but it turned out to be a fox.

There were also four reports of wild dogs, or dholes, in the days after a pack escaped from Howletts Wild Animal Park near Canterbury in February 2009.

Officers helped to find an escaped emu in the Brenchley and Horsmonden ward of Tunbridge Wells in June 2009, and guided two wild boar into a field in the Downs West ward of Ashford last August.

In the majority of cases, the police reported the sightings to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) and local zoos but took no further action.

Police Freedom of Information administrator Laura Brenchley said officers only went to the scene if the animal posed a risk to members of the public.

“The police would attend an incident if a member of the public was injured or if the animal was a danger to members of the public,” she said.

“However, the majority of the calls were reports made some time after the sighting and therefore police attendance would not have been a practical use of police resources.”

“We work closely with external agencies such as the RSPCA as they are better equipped to deal with animals than the police.”

South Kent police received 12 reports about dangerous wild animals on the loose in the countryside.

These included wild boar and wild dogs on the loose in the Downs West ward of Ashford, and large black cats in Lydd and Weald Central, Ashford.

A large grey and white spotty cat was seen in the Lympne area and it was reported that a large black cat had killed five sheep in Sandgate.

Have you seen a big cat? Or do you think it's just cobblers? Post your comment in the box below.