Black leopard pawprint clue to the 'beast of Balbirnie'

Published on Thursday 2 February 2006 01:59

A BLACK leopard is almost certainly roaming wild in Scotland, police said last night.

The mysterious big cat has been seen by dozens of witnesses and even caught on film, but all efforts to identify it have failed. Now reports say zoologists have identified the animal's pawprint as that of a leopard.

PC Mark Maylin, the wildlife officer with Fife Police, said that the new evidence could solve the mystery of the "beast of Balbirnie".

There have been numerous reports of a large, dark-coloured animal in Balbirnie woods near Markinch, Fife.

He said: "We've had a plaster cast of the animal's footprint examined and the conclusion was, it was certainly not a dog.

"Experts were as certain as they could be that it was an exotic cat. They couldn't specify the species, but due to reports of sightings we've had about a large black cat, it's almost certain to be a black leopard."

PC Maylin rejected suggestions by Fife dog owner Callum Scott that the print had been made by his St Bernard dog.