Wrexham: Woman spots 'big cat' at caravan park near Chirk Castle

A member of the public says she spotted the big cat near Lady Margaret’s Caravan Park, adjacent to Chirk Castle and the town's Kronospan factory on Tuesday, March 28 at around 8.45pm.

She shared her encounter with online forum Puma Watch, which collates reports of big cats across the country.

According to her report she spotted the beast on top of a "low structure".

She told Puma Watch: “I was a passenger driving down from the Chirk Caravan site – next to the estate – and I saw a very large animal on top of a low structure.

“I can’t give any more detail because it was completely backlit by the industrial area, behind what looked like a factory or a mine, but the animal was way bigger than a dog.

“I kept trying to look again but the hedges were too high.

“She [the driver] didn’t believe me so I searched wild cats in the Chirk area and found Puma Watch.”

But this is not the first time big cats have been spotted around Chirk with two further encounters being reported to Puma Watch in recent months. 

The first came from a man who reported another sighting in December near Chirk town centre - just 800 metres from where the big cat was seen in March.

That encounter happened at around 10.30pm on Friday, December 30, 2022, when the member of the public said the animal crossed Trevor Road into the churchyard, coming from the direction of the Ceiriog Valley.

The man told Puma Watch: “The animal walked across Trevor Road, and was startled by my car headlights.

“It ran away into the churchyard to the side of the road.

OTHER NEWS:

• Pensioner in court for first time, aged 74, after admitting drink driving
• Small change to Oswestry McDonald's plans granted planning permission
• Yellow weather warning for wind for Shropshire and mid Wales

“I got a very good view and I’m certain that it was a leopard – it was too big to be a pet cat and the wrong build.”

And just a month prior to that, on Wednesday, November 23, 2022, at around 8.15pm, a large black animal was reportedly spotted near the Chirk woods, by a man walking his dog.

He told Puma Watch: “I was walking my dog on the field next to my house and I heard branches snap in the woods behind my house.

“My dog was nervous at this point and then I heard a large thud against the wall that lines the woods behind my back garden.

Want to stay up to date with all the latest stories from Oswestry and the surrounding area? Click here to sign up for our morning and daily email newsletters and click on the + for the ‘Morning Briefing’ and the 'Daily Catch-Up'.

“I shone my torch up and there was something large and black looking at me and my dog for a good 10 seconds, my dog was nervous and was backing up towards me slowly and cowered between my legs and it just dropped down back into the woods without making a sound.”

For more on these sightings you can visit Puma Watch on https://pumawatch.co.uk/