It seems King Charles and Queen Camilla have an unexpected guest at Highgrove House—a prowling panther.
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The large feline was reportedly seen hunting a fox near the King and Queen’s estate in the Tetbury civil parish within the Cotswolds last month. According to an eyewitness, her three dogs startled the animal, causing it to flee, as reported by the UK outlet Daily Star.
This follows a report from May of a black panther sighting in the area, near the M5 highway. Big cat expert Rick Minter is on the case, sharing details of these encounters—including one near the royal estate—on his podcast.
“A dog walker near Tetbury watched a black panther cornering a fox at dusk,” he said, per the Daily Star. “Her three big dogs were on leads, but they rumbled the cat, which rushed away, and the fox emerged from its trapped situation and left the area, keeping close to the walker and her dogs, seemingly wanting their company for safe escort.”
Minter received reports of a black panther spotted stalking deer in an area north of Stroud.
He explained the witness “noticed an orange hue to the animals’ otherwise dark fur, suggesting it was a leopard in its black form, which most of the credible ‘panther’ sightings would seem to be”.
Minter has also been investigating the M5 highway sighting and says a nearby farmer reported livestock being affected.
“In May, a driver claimed to have seen a black panther lurking in the scrub by the M5 motorway verge in south Gloucestershire,” Minter detailed.
“In following it up, I found that the neighboring farm at that spot reported that its cattle had been on edge and were behaving nervously for a few days around the time of the sighting,” he added.
An Expert Weighs in on How a Panther Allegedly Found Its Way to King Charles’ and Queen Camilla’s Estate
Recently, Minter curated an exhibition titled Depicting Britain’s Beasts: The Art of British Big Cats at the Nature in Art gallery in Gloucester.
“No doubt they mainly originate from discarded trophy pets, but they now seem to be playing their part as predators in the ecosystem,” he added. “Among other things, the exhibition showcases the big cats’ feeding habits on natural prey like deer with tooth marks on bones as evidence.”
However, King Charles and Queen Camilla aren’t the only high-profile Brits with panthers on their tail…
Earlier this year, reports emerged of a possible giant feline near pop singer Ed Sheeran’s countryside home, where he lives with his wife Cherry Seaborn and their two daughters.
A black panther-like creature was spotted just five miles from his property. A resident saw the animal and quickly took photos on their phone.
The animal was spotted in Eye, north of Ipswich, Suffolk.
Matt Salusbury, who runs the Big Cats of Suffolk website, said:
“The witness told me they’d seen a large black animal walking up and down along the tree line at the end of a field behind their garden,” Matt Salusbury, who runs the Big Cats of Suffolk website, explained, per the Daily Star.
“The distance from where they were to the animal when they photographed it was a good few minutes walk. They observed it for more than five minutes before it sat down with its head up,” he added.