Walkers entering Piddles Wood, a small area of woodland close to Sturminster Newton, were warned to be on their guard following a sighting of a ‘big wild cat’.
The notice pinned to the gate stated: “The cat is larger than a fox, not a recognisable breed.
“The cat looks large enough to be a threat to a small dog and is very similar to a large cat seen in Dorset a few years ago.”
The cat was spotted in the wood at about 4.30pm and a sighting of it was reported two days earlier in Angers Lane, just outside Broad Oak.
Over the years, there have been thousands of eyewitness accounts from people who have seen the elusive wild cat, many of which have been spotted in West Dorset.
A few years ago, there were several sightings a week, including a woman who saw a leopard-type creature running across a field between Bridport and Dorchester.
Farmers have also reported finding unusual footprints on their land or strange puncture wounds, often two in the neck, following an attack on sheep or cattle.
While many sightings are anecdotal, a 2023 DNA analysis of hair and carcass swabs from a sheep yielded a strong match to a big cat species, believed to be a black leopard or Panthera genus, providing compelling evidence.
The theory now goes that many of these big cats were released into the wild after the 1976 Dangerous Animals Act was made law and banned people from keeping dangerous animals as trophy pets.
The rural landscape of West Dorset is believed to be an ideal habitat for these
