Annie Mitchell, 71, said she looked out of her window on Monday when she saw the large black cat which was bigger than a Labrador roaming on old tennis courts outside her home.
In the most recent report of a sighting, a terrified walker was convinced he saw the huge animal roaming on Dartmoor moments before stumbling on a half-eaten deer carcass
Experts have admitted there are likely a few big cats living wild in rural Britain which are mostly thought to have been kept as exotic pets which have since escaped.
Large housecat? Well-fed dog? Or could it be that the creature roaming close to the village of Brydekirk in this bucolic corner of Dumfriesshire last week was, in fact, a black leopard?